Showa Kinen Park

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a drizzly day today, I suppose rainy season is getting started. However, I'm going to show you pictures from  nice sunny day! I went for a picnic at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa.

I was suprised at the size of the park, it's huge! It's the one place I've been in Tokyo where you can look around and not see a single tall ugly building. It almost felt like I was back in Sussex.

The park includes a lake, bicycle track and a herb garden. I took this picture in the herb garden, it's really pretty! And I saw a fat little lizard sunbathing among the herbs :)

Blouse: Franche Lippée

JSK: Innocent World

Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

I wanted to make a light-coloured, dreamy classic coordinate like Fanny Rosie! Do you know her? I expect you do, since she is very popular, but if not she's a Canadian lolita with the most perfect classical outfits.

There's a cafe at the park serving all sorts of drinks and herbal teas. I had lavender tea. It was a delicate taste, and very relaxing.

I drank it surrounded by lavender bushes! 

It was a windy day but I still really enjoyed the picnic.There were wild flowers and strawberries growing in the grass, and I had a nice view of the lake.

There's also a Japanese garden. It's beautiful! Unfortunately the trees were full of hairy caterpillars.... I am fond of caterpillars so I was quite pleased to see them at first, until one tumbled out of the tree an inch from my nose. I kept my parasol up after that.

I met a wise old cat in the Japanese garden! I saw three cats in the park, this one, a roly poly ginger one, and a scrubby black one. Why are there so many stray cats in Japan? Everyone seems to love cats and feeds the stray ones, but where did they come from?

There was also a bonsai garden. Some of the trees were 300 years old.

I hope that you enjoyed the photos. If you fancy going to a park for a relaxing day, I think this one is the best in Tokyo!

See you next time,

Sapphira

Sakura start to bloom in Koenji

 Hello dear readers! How are you?

The season I've been waiting for has finally arrived- cherry blossom season! I'm very excited. Although I have been to Japan many times, it is my first time to experience this. 

Wednesday was a public holiday, and it was the first day that the sakura began to appear! By the afternoon, the ones near my apartment were blooming quite a bit.

In my excitement, I put on a spring outfit. It was a bit chilly though, to be honest, but I stuck it out.

Onepiece: Metamorphose

Overdress: W<3C

Parasol: Innocent World

Bag: Jean Paul Gaultier

This outfit features two of my latest purchases, the long lace overdress which I got in a second-hand shop in Daikanyama and my beloved embossed JPG bag.

My first lolita friend had a green version from this line, and Rizzell has a bigger pink one. If I could, I'd collect every version! Artherapie made a similar line last year, but the Jean Paul Gaultier ones have so much nostalgia, and I think they are more beautiful. I was looking wistfully at this one in Closet Child for a long time, and pounced on it the other day when I saw they had lowered the price.

As for the lace overdress, I hope I can make some interesting coordinates with it. It's a bit different from my usual style, but it seem to be very versatile.

I did some shopping, and stopped for tea at an interesting cafe near a temple. The inside is like a woodcutter's cottage, an English tea room, an art gallery and a forest all in one!

I think it was called Nerken, which I thought might mean something romantic in German, but doesn't seem to. The closest I can find is "nelken" which means cloves according to google.

Anyway it was a very nice place, and the biscuits were nice too!

Tomorrow I'm planning to go to Inokashira Park to enjoy the sakura even more and visit the animals at the petting zoo. I'm very excited!

I hope you enjoyed this entry, see you again soon!

Sapphira

xxxx

PS Apologies to the sleeping beauty who can be glimpsed in the right of the above picture.... Hope you don't mind being on my blog!

横浜人形の家 Yokohama Doll Museum

Hello dear readers! How are you?

Today I'm going to share some photos from my visit to the Yokohama Doll Museum. I found out about it by chance wandering around Yokohama one year ago, but on that occasion it was closed! I'm glad I managed to make it back there in a day it was actually open.

First of all, here's my outfit:

Headbow: Ange

Cutsew: axes femme

Jumperskirt: Innocent World

Bag: Metamorphose

Others: Offbrand

My petticoat looks so flat again! It seemed fine in the morning....

I feel like this outfit is a bit different from my usual style, perhaps the colour combination and the cardigan? But I'm pleased with how it turned out! 

Being a port, Yokohama has an interesting history of cultural exchange with foreign countries. The first exhibit we came across was a doll illustrating a sad little story from Yokohama's history- the little girl with red shoes. 

She was a girl from Shizuoka whose mother gave her to be adopted by American missionaries, thinking this was the best thing for her. They took her to Yokohama in order to travel overseas, but before they left they discovered she had tuberculosis, and she died without leaving Japan. Her mother didn't know this but went on thinking about and sadly missing her daughter.

You can read more about it here:

http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/japan/attractions/AkaiKutsu.htm

A song that was composed about her going away in her pretty red shoes is a very well known nursery rhyme in Japan (it's the first song in this video). 

Well, on to happier things! The next room was dolls from around the world. It seems like every civilisation that there has ever been has made dolls, and there were cases and cases of dolls from Japan alone, all of them varied and reflecting the different regions where they were made.

Apparently this one is the Japanese version of me!

We certainly have similar legs.

I really loved the Thai dolls! Thai costumes are so beautiful and I love the elegant way they turn out their hands and feet. I want to visit Thailand some day!

On the next floor there were Japanese dolls on one side and European dolls on the other. This pretty doll was very interesting, because though she is Japanese she was made using French doll-making techniques. I really like her cute expression and her elegant height and slim figure. She's wearing an outfit for a particular dance which I've forgotten at the moment!

There was also a Japanese doll's house with such cute accessories! I have a doll's house at home that I'm still working on (I will take pictures sometime) and now I really want this Japanese one. Just look at all the perfect little plates and cups and squids!

On the European side, there were some examples of automata. I'm really interested in them but they are quite rare so there's not often a chance to see them. They had a couple here and they also had videos of them in motion. This writing pierrot was my favourite!

He was very lifelike and very dainty at the same time. There was also a dancing Rococco couple but they just turned round and round and made you giddy.

This last case showed the difference betwen the way that Japanese dolls and European bisque dolls are made. Both girls are very cute! I was suprised to learn that the Japanese dolls usually have human hair. There are some creepy stories about the hair continuing to grow....

As we left the museum, there were a few more things on display,  dolls that have been made very recently. I liked this one because he reminds me of Közi!

 Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I think this museum is well worth a visit. Hina Matsuri is coming up next month, so it seems like the perfect time to go!

See you next time,

Sapphira

Lolita Trip to Yokohama (part the first)

Hello readers! I'm going to split my photos from last weekend's outing into two posts, so here is the first:

So, last weekend, the Tokyo International Lolitas travelled to Yokohama to see an exhibition about the life of Marie Antoinette. Here's our group!

Many thanks to Sarah for the photo! I loved her tricorn hat and perfectly rococo hairstyle <3

The exhibition was very nice indeed, with a varied selection of things related to the queen, including portraits of her family, prints and engravings recording events of the time, small items like jewelery boxes and watch chains, some rather puzzling 'almanach des erotiques chantantes' (something like that) and some gorgeous reproduction dresses, which we were allowed to take photos of. I'll share them here!

I want to make this dress! The embroidery and textile work was so detailed and interesting.

An "English style" dress. Much more subdued and dignified compared to the other dresses on show. I can imagine wearing it quite comfortably. I'll take it!

Chemise a la Reine. I based my outfit on this style (see below). Marie Antoinette requested 'something simple' to wear at her retreat, Petit Trianon, and her dressmaker came up with this. At first people were shocked at such unqueenly attire (it looks a bit like 18th century underwear or 'chemise', which is how it got it's name) but the style really caught on and was worn throughout Europe. I absolutely love it! I'll take one of these too~

Super duper fancy dress! I could not fit in my apartment if I wore it :(

Now I'll show you my outfit:

Inspired by the chemise a la reine, I went for a pink and white colour scheme. My make-up is pink too, and I pencilled on a couple of beauty spots. Rococo ladies used to stick on silk ones, called mouches. I think I read somewhere that they also stuck on eyebrows made of mouse skin, but don't quote me on that one....

Full outfit:

~Rundown~

Headdress, onepiece: Handmade

Others: Offbrand and vintage

Here's a close-up of my headdress. I like the little spray of pearls! I can feel them waving about when I walk, haha.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! Look out for part two, coming soon~

Sapphira

xxxx

The sleepy cats of Nekorobi

Hello dear readers!

Regular readers may remember my visit to Nekorobi cat cafe earlier this year (click the name to go to their homepage). During the summer hoilday I decided to go and pay the cats another visit and see how they're doing.

Everyone had grown! And everyone was very sleepy that day....

A bit like Postman Pat's cat!

Flat out....

really flat out!

A disgraceful pose for such a pretty cat! Still cute though~

Look at that pudgy cheek!

Haruki is smiling! 

Awake and snooty.

Burt looks grumpy even while sleeping.

I like him, I think he's got a yanki attitude! 

I really enjoyed my afternoon with the cats and I'm already looking forward to my next visit!

Before I go back to revising for my Japanese exam, here's a snap of my outfit that day:

Blouse: Anna House

JSK: Innocent World

Cuffs: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Hope you liked the photos! See you next time.

Sapphira

xxxx

Kiyosumi Teien

Hello dear readers! It's a rainy day here in Tokyo. I hope that means it's going to be cooler for a few days!

I recently visited a Japanese garden recommended to me by my friend liemzie.

It was really beautiful!

There's a big pond in the middle of the garden, and stepping stones in the shallow parts. The building you can see is a tea house! It was so nice to be surrounded by nature for once. I'm still getting used to living in a big city and I really miss trees and plants and little birds. There are a lot of singing cicadas and giant ravens near my house but it's not quite the same!

Here's my outfit for that day:

Onepiece, bag: Metamorphose

Parasol: Innocent World

Others: Offbrand

There's a little shop selling food for the carp that live in the pond, so I bought some. It seemed that the pigeons and turtles were also very fond of this food and lots of them gathered to try to grab a bite! 

This one even crawled out of the water and chased us for food!

I had a lovely time at the gardens! Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx

平塚の七夕まつり~Tanabata festival in Hiratsuka~

Hello readers! How are you today?

Last Saturday it was the 7th of July. This day is the Japanese star festival called Tanabata!

There's a romantic legend about Tanabata, which involves Orihime and Hikoboshi, a couple who lived on opposite sides of the Amanogawa river. Long long ago, Orihime spent her days weaving beautiful fabric for her father to wear. She liked to please her father, but she was rather sad because she never had time to meet anyone to fall in love with. Her father felt sorry for her, so he introduced her to Hikoboshi, who herded cows on the other side of the river. The two fell in love right away and were duly married, but since they both neglected their work after getting married, Orihime's father was angry and forbade them to see each other anymore. However, Orihime begged her father to let the couple be reunited, so he agreed that on the seventh day of the seventh month they would be allowed to meet again.

This was the first time I experienced a Japanese festival, and I really enjoyed it! It was very busy in the streets of Hiratsuka, with a real party atmosphere. There were decorations put up by various shops, like the one above (it's by Mos Burger!), lots of food stalls and many people wearing yukata (summer kimono), including me!

It's by no means perfect, but I put it on pretty much entirely by myself including tying the obi, so I'm quite proud. I had a really good teacher though, my friend from Kanagawa who I was visiting on this day. She advised me not to wear geta if you're not used to it, it might hurt terribly and ruin your day, and besides that many Japanese girls do not. I matched my bag and hair accessory to my sandals to make it more balanced. Next time for my hair, I'll try an updo with braids.

I look extremely derp in this picture, but I wanted to show you some of the festival food. We had this (slightly pickled cucumber on a stick), Hiratsuka curry-pan (deep fried bread with curry inside- very yummy!), takoyaki, yakisoba.... lots of nice things! There was also some entertainment on the main stage, dancing and so on. We caught a bit of hula dancing!

It was so much fun, and I really enjoyed wearing yukata! There are various summer festivals throughout the season, so I hope to go to another in a month or so. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! If you come to Japan, please try to catch a festival! I'm sure you will enjoy it, and it's something you can only experience here. I think you should try wearing yukata too!

See you next time,

Sapphira

xxxx