I realized I never posted the photos I took in Japan while we were on our monthlong trip there in August of last year.  So sorry!  I got super-busy in September after getting back…there was so much to get caught up on…you know how it goes!  So here they are, for those who’d like to see…

Little Tot spent so much time watching this tv show with its dancing chair characters and songs about eggs.

The entrance to Takeshita Doori (tah-KEH-shtah doh-ree), the best shopping street in Harajuku and where Gwen Stefani got her ideas for the Harajuku Lovers line.

Purchase photos and posters of established and up-and-coming bands here! Some signed…most not. (Alot of Johnny’s Junior…they just keep getting younger and younger.)

Goth/emo/punk clothes on the side alleys…

I totally should have bought this tunic. I’m now kicking myself that I didn’t.

Lolita upstairs, Goth and Punk downstairs. The swastika tee is completely appropriate.

Chunky, clunky shoes. It’s 1998 again! (I’m wearing my DIY velcro letter shirt…it said “All work and no play makes me a dull girl” and I rained L’s down Harajuku’s streets that whole morning, to my chagrin. I think I lost 4 L’s altogether. Just the L’s.)

A couple clothing stores.  Super-cheap!  (Well, not the goth stuff.)

Promoting some Tanabata [Japanese Star Festival, 7/7] event.

Best. Crepes. Ever. For the first time in my life, I had one without whipped cream – I chose the blueberry sauce and frozen yogurt. It was tangy & delish!

Girls like this are commonplace in Harajuku [but probably not so much at 10 o clock in the morning, when I was there].

Omotesando-Doori (oh-moh-teh-san-doh doh-ree). A street lined with the swanky luxury stores. Note the good-for-nothings sitting about on the railings to the right, watching the rich go by.  It’s how the disenfranchised, disillusioned youth spends their time.  And picks up chicks.

The disillusioned youth.

Popples were totally IN last summer!

I sooo wanted to go but was afraid I would be kicked out for being some sweaty foreigner missing L’s from my shirt.

It’s like Christmas in August at Louis Vuitton!

Guy in a skirt. For an article about the recent Japanese trend of guys wearing skirts (not in some Vivenne Westwood/Commes getup, not some goth outfit…just a plain ol’ skirt as part of their wardrobes…click here.)

Just some people.  I love BEACH!

Coca-cola with Green Tea Catechins in it. It tasted like Coca-cola, if I remember.

The local convenience store haul. Cherry- and espresso-flavored Kit-Kats, Durian [stinkfruit] flavored Hi-Chu (soooo good, surprisingly), Pear-flavored chewing gum, Cheese- and Tuna Mayonnaise-flavored Jagariko Potato Sticks, Koala’s March cookies filled with milk pudding flavor, and Make-Your-Own Kinoko no Yama (chocolates shaped like mushrooms with biscuit stems).

I am partial to the Pizza potato chips.

With real globs of cheddar and emmental cheese on them! Heaven.

Taking a nap with Little Tot, away from the cicada noise, under the air conditioner. Yes, I sleep with one hand tucked into my sleeve. It’s weird.  At least the potato chips are close at hand.

We went to a fancy Japanese ryokan with hot baths, courtesy of the in-laws. This was one course of the 5-course dinner there.

Breakfast was off the hook, too.

Saw a sheepdog show at a nearby farm/attraction. The rancher [shepherd??] is some guy [and his dog] they flew in from New Zealand.

You know you are in hell when you’ve waited an hour and a half for a turn at the train table at a 4000+ person plastic toy train event – and you only have 5 minutes to win your child’s everlasting love and a 70-piece railway set that takes an architect to put together sitting before you.

From my MIL’s recent Japan Vogue. I want everything. (Except the denim/leather chaps.)

We also went to a street festival. Where the heck was it? Meiji jingu??? I honestly don’t remember right now. This was the red devil from the festival.

The street vendors mostly look like this for some reason.

Super, super crowded.

Little Tot scooping the goldfish at the goldfish scoop game. The name says it all.

The entrance to the Embellir shop at Shibuya – where I stocked up on rhinestones and itty-bitty fake food. That reminds me – I better start making some cutesy food jewelry! I finally have all the components, just gathering dust in my office.  As you can see, even the door is decked out in Swarovskis.

A model on a photoshoot for a magazine. They’re probably shooting the November issue – which means a hat and gloves in
August.

One of the few fahsionably-dressed girls at 10 o clock in the morning. I like to get my shopping done early and avoid the crowds – but also end up avoiding the fashionable girls too in the bargain.

More disillusioned youth in Shibuya.

The globe at the Disney Sea entrance, where we spent a day. (At Disney Sea itself, not at the entrance. Though that might have been possible if it were really crowded that day.)

A souvenir from Japan: a new front bumper for our Mazda.  Thank you, Hub – just what I always wanted.  Best line ever from airport security: “What the hell is that – a whale bone??”

Hope you guys all had a great summer! Did you go anywhere exciting?
xoxo
Carly

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