Hyper Japan Spring 2012

Hello readers!

Today I'd like to tell you about a Japanese cultural event happening in London this month.

It's Hyper Japan!

I've attended both previous Hyper Japan events, the first in 2010 as an honourary KERA model, and the second last summer when I was again in a Lolita fashion show. This year once again I'll be walking the catwalk with other J-fashionistas, modelling Classic Lolita.

Hyper Japan 2010

(photo courtesy of Cross Media and Hyper Japan)

This year's catwalks (organised by the lovely pixie_late) will have a mix of street styles including Dolly Kei and Mori Girl as well as Sweet, Gothic and Classic Lolita. As well as that there will be prizes for the audience! Quite substantial prizes too- wigs from Gothic Lolita Wigs. Put on your best outfit and see if you'll be a winner! 

Elegant and Sophisticated Lolita Fashion Show at Hyper Japan 2011

As well as the fashion, I'm looking forward to the food! If all the foodie pictures from my recent posts have made you long for some Japanese cuisine, Hyper Japan will be the place to go. KOBE has some particularly delicious offerings including gyoza and yakitori! For a bit more sophistication, how about Feng Sushi? 

I'm also excited about the Japanese dance performance. We don't often have a chance to experience this sort of performance outside of Japan, and it's sure to be beautiful and hypnotic. I'm also quite interested to see Beckii Cruel! I think she's very cute, and I wonder what her live performance will be like. Will she sing? Or just dance? Well, we'll find out in a couple of weeks!

Hope to see you there! I'll be doing a write up with lots of pictures after the event.

HYPER JAPAN 2012 Spring will be held on Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February 2012 at Brompton Hall at Earls Court, London. 

D Talk and Handshake

Today's post is another Japan write up!

Since I bought the A- and B-type package of D's latest mini album, I got a ticket to a fan event. 

Huang di ~Yami ni umareta mukui~

皇帝（ファンディー）～闇に生まれた報い～

A- and B-type. A-type comes with the PV, and there was also a making-of dvd included in the package.

Happily my stay coincided with my friend's, who is a big fan of D. As I wrote last time, we had fun shopping together in Harajuku. The next day was the event! 

The event wasn't until the evening, so before that I did a bit of shopping in Shinjuku. There was a time sale in Marui One, but I didn't get anything. However, I did go back to Closet Child for something that had caught my eye before.... here's a teasing picture!

Sometimes my camera takes super-clear pictures!

Pretty lace~

I wore my new Emikyu jsk and vintage lace collar blouse, plus a lot of perfume! According to our old friend Novala Takemoto, who likes perfume a great deal, eau de parfum does not fade, whereas eau de toilette quickly loses it's scent. Therefore I always buy/ask for eau de parfum, but it seems to fade anyway. I bought some with me to touch up before the handshake! I wear Paul Smith Rose, a simple rosy scent. Any readers know of a good rose perfume? I'd like to try another one next time!

The event was held in a community centre in Yotsuya. It seemed like a funny venue, but the auditorium was really quite nice, and luckily huge enough to accomodate the many fans.

Seeing the other fans was great fun for me, and very interesting. We were 80 or even 90% Lolita! A mix of sweet, classic and gothic outfits, tending to be fairly toned down. I did see a harlequin bonnet though! Although it was probably 99% girls, there was a good mix of ages. I noticed a slightly incongrous girl who looked rather like Xiaxue sitting in the front row. I'm sure it wasn't really Xiaxue but maybe this girl caught her appearance on NHK's Tokyo-Kawaii TV and admired her style. Everyone was nice, and I met a very sweet lady who spoke good English- we've talked on twitter a little since!   

It was quite a long wait to get in. First we queued outside to get numbers then we waited inside for our numbers to be called. When we were let in the staff stamped our flyer with a little dragon stamp. I've mentioned before that my year is dragon (this year) so it's a really lovely momento!

He's quite a cute little dragon!

On the left the questionnaire, on the right the flyer/ticket

Once seated we were given the little form above to fill out. The top box is for your question, and the bottom box is where you write what you'd like each member to say. Unfortunately I couldn't read it at the time and didn't fill it out! At least I got to keep it.

The event was called a 'talk and handshake'. The talk part was the band answering questions. They came on stage wearing their suits from the PV, and very nice they looked too. I had expected them to be wearing street clothes and no make-up. I wouldn't have minded either way I suppose!

They all sat down behind a desk in the usual sort of way, and a staff member with a rather alarming hat (huge, electric blue, woolly, bobble on top) sorted through the little questionnaires and asked them some of the questions. 

I'm afraid neither I or my friend could follow much of the talk, but evidently HIDE-ZOU was being the star that evening. He took off his jacket and did one-armed push-ups at one point!

Although we couldn't follow it closely it was nice to see the band smiling and laughing so happily, and all the talk was very jolly! It was nice for me since I arrived in Japan after the tour was finished and so didn't get to see a live. 

I think the talk lasted half an hour or so? Next up was the handshake! Oh, I feel nervous now just thinking about it. We went up row by row. A lot of people brought presents and letters. The first person I shook hands with was HIROKI. He said "Hello!!" very brightly in English! In fact the others all said "Thank you" in English, which I thought was ever so sweet of them. But perhaps I liked "Hello" best.

Ruiza's fringe needed cutting and the way he looked through it, blinking, was very cute! I wished ASAGI a happy new year, and when he replied voice was so refined and gentle. Tsunehito kept touching his eyelashes during the talk. I suppose he was checking that they were fastened on properly. 

They are all wonderful I think, and I'm really happy that I had the chance to go to that fan event! I can't wait to see D again!

D are having a European Tour this year! Here are the details:

[D Europe tour schedule]

Date / Venue / City / Country

04/20 Replugged Club, Wien, Austria

04/22 Feierwerk, Munich, Germany

04/24 Legend54, Milano, Italy

04/27 Poste à Galene, Marseille, France

04/28 TGS Ohanami, Toulouse, France

04/29 Apolo2, Barcelona, Spain

05/01 Divan Du Monde, Paris, France

05/02 Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland

05/04 Werkstatt, Cologne, Germany

05/05 Charlatan, Gent, Belgium

05/06 Knust, Hamburg, Germany

05/08 Gloria, Helsinki, Finland

05/09 Plan B, Moscow, Russia

I just copied and pasted from the OHP, so please check here it in case there are changes after this!

Thanks for reading,

Sapphira

xxxxx

Shopping and shopping and more shopping!

Another Japan write up!

This time I'll tell you about my shopping excursions in three different locations.

Before going to Nekorobi, I spent a bit of time around Shimokitazawa and Ikebukuro. 

I love going to Grand Bazaar in Shimokitazawa! The selection of second-hand Lolita there is usually more classical in taste, and since Shimokitazawa is a bit out of the way, it's quite peaceful. I also did some shopping at Mikazuki Momoko, the 300 yen shop. There are a lot of cute items there- household goods, hair accessories, socks, stationery etc. And all 300 yen! Well, 315 yen with tax....  

On the same day I visited Ikebukuro's Closet Child for the first time. The sections for Lolita, VK, Goth/Punk and dolls are all on one floor, but somehow the shop seems quite spacious and it's probably the most comfortable Closet Child I've been in.  

I also went to Sunshine City, the huge shopping complex in Ikebukuro. It's a huge place, with restaurants, an aquarium, and some rather nice shops such as Anna Sui, OLIVE des OLIVE, SWIMMER and axes femme, a romantic brand that is also popular with Classic Lolitas. 

I got a cutsew from axes femme! I really like this brand- they have a lot of very nice, detailed, fairly inexpensive items. Unfortunately I don't think this photo really shows how pretty the cutsew is. In Mikazuki Momoko I got a fur chou-chou, a glasses case and two pairs of socks. I can't resist bargains! I also picked up a Rose of Versailles sheet mask from the combini on the way back to the hotel. This one with Rosalie's picture is my favourite that I've tried so far. 

The next day I met my friend who was also visiting from England. We went shopping in Harajuku. Here's my outfit for that day:

I'm wearing my new socks and chou-chou!

We started off at Laforet, and checked out Justin Davis, Jane Marple, Nile Perch and all the Lolita shops on the basment 1.5 floor. Yes, Laforet has a bit of a strange floor system..... I was tempted by the teddy bear tights in Nile Perch but since I'm so long-legged I didn't want to run the risk of them not fitting. After Laforet we did Takeshita Doori and shopped our way back to the station. It's so much fun shopping in Tokyo with a fellow Lolita and a good friend! I hope we'll meet there again someday.

I got a couple of really nice things that day! Here's the loot:

The fur muff is from Innocent World. I've wanted a muff for the longest time, and this one is very handy because it's a pochette as well! There's a little pocket at the front fastened with a ribbon. I kept a heat pack and a handkerchief in there- perfect for winter! I had a little conversation with the shop staff- they were really kind! I'm glad I talked to them, even though my Japanese came out a bit strange.

The argyle socks are from Metamorphose. I liked them because they are rather British/Jane Marple-ish, and the colour scheme is perfect! Navy and bordeaux is a wonderful combination I think, and I want to start wearing more of it. I also like the bit of gold sparkle. I think they coordinate well with the axes femme cutsew.

We also attacked Daiso, the famous 100 yen store! There's a big one in Takeshita Doori with four or five floors. We both got some bottom lashes. I haven't tried mine yet, but my friend did and wasn't pleased. Still, I'll have a go sometime! I got some cross-type lashes, but they were a funny size so I cut them in half and they work quite well as subtle half lashes. The other item I got was moko-moko pants! Moko-moko (fluffy/puffy) items are super popular in Japan at the moment. I actually got some moko-moko roomwear last year at Uniqlo in London, and I highly recommend it! You can also get moko-moko socks of various lengths, moko-moko leggings, moko-moko pyjama sets, moko-moko tummy warmers, moko-moko room shoes....

Ah yes, I also wanted to show you this picture of pretty plastic bags:

The white part of the axes femme part looks like lace.

Well, that's all for this materialistic post. I hope you enjoyed it, and remember- if you get one new item this season, make sure it's moko-moko!

Sapphira

xxxx

Nekorobi Cat Café

This is the next in my series of Japan write-ups!

Now reader, have you heard of such things as cat cafés?

This idea came to Japan from Taiwan some years ago. At these establishments you can play with cats while enjoying some refreshments. 

Being what is commonly known as a cat lady, I had to visit one! After some research I settled on Nekorobi in Ikebukuro.

Here's my outfit:

So, off to Nekorobi!

When we entered, there was a small gate and then a glass door. This is to prevent cats from running out and getting lost! On entering we were greeted by the sight of a huge cat asleep on the counter! His playmates were also around the peaceful-looking room, sleeping, lounging, and chasing each other. Before we could join them, we had to exchange our shoes for slippers, put our things away in lockers and wash our hands thoroughly. 

Haruki-chan (centre) was stretched out on the till counter when we arrived

As well as playing with and observing the cats, you can play with the wii or iPad. I used the iPad to email a lot of people saying "I'm at the cat café!!!!"

The cats are beautifully looked after, with bright shining eyes and soft fur. They are all exceptionally lovely to look at. Well, lovely might not quite be the word for Kiyomori-chan, but he has his own very special charm!

Definitely one of my favourites. I'm also a fan of Haruki-chan, the prince of the place! He's very big and very handsome, and he played with me for some time, chasing the fishing rod. At one point he grabbed it and ran off, dragging me behind him! He's so strong, I had to let go!

I had liked Burt-kun (named after the Mary Poppins character) from his pictures on Nekorobi's website , but he unexpectedly turned out to to have a yanki attitude! He strode around with a tough-guy walk, starting fights and sniffing at things loudly and disdainfully. When I tried to pet him, he totally snubbed me!

 Burt-kun sulking under the table. Shortly after this picture was taken he attacked the cat above him.

Just the same he couldn't disguise the fact that he was cute! My friend took a liking to Kuririn-chan, the huge, milk-tea coloured, emerald-eyed Persian. He looks like a lion! 

In spite of having so much fur, he didn't have a single knot! He must take to grooming a lot more kindly than my Persian, Nikita.

Since our stay was enough to almost fill the points card, we got the feeding bonus. We were given a little dried fish and kibbles to feed the cats with. I gave all mine to Kuririn, since he looks like the sort of chap who appreciates food. Haruki-chan was rushing around to hoover up the leftovers!

This little fluffy thing is Aisha. I have to admit, I totally fell for her! She's very small, with very soft fur, and the most delicate little face. Most of the cats (a notable expection is Haruki) don't interact with the human guests so much. This is understandable, being the nature of cats. However, I think Aisha-chan and I made friends! We had a good game, me tickling her and she grabbing my fingers. I'm afraid I was too busy playing with her to take any good pictures, but if you check this section of Nekorobi's website you can see the all the cats' biographies and plenty of pictures (English page here).

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the café, and I hope it wasn't cat overload. The next installment will be much more Classic Lolita-related (shopping!!!!)

I'll leave you with a few more pictures.

Bye bye!