(Day 3) Visual Grammar

I haven’t lived at home in many, many years, and when I did, I had to get up and make my own breakfast. You can imagine my sheer delight when I travel halfway across this small world to find myself with a motherly-type figure who will look after me with such care. Every morning, without delay, she had prepared me a sumptuous breakfast that she delivered on her way out the door to yoga, swimming, appointments, etc. It sure beats the pre-packaged snacky foods I would eat in lieu of proper grub.


In case you are wondering, “r” and “l” are the same sound in Japanese…so I am now named after Tiger Woods’ wife Elin!

Today was my first day in which I was to entertain myself. After prepping myself and enjoying my delicious breakfast, I headed down into the heart of Tokyo to one of my favourite shopping haunts, Harajuku. This place can always vacuum up any dollars I’m willing to dish out and I’ve been waiting over a year to dish them. Away we go!




The Daiso – cheap 100 yen (~$1.20 CDN) shop, but I didn’t spend any money here…perhaps I should have and then left, but that would never satiate me.

Though I haven’t been to Harajuku in over an year, some things just don’t change. Take, for example, this freaky rabbit-head mannequin (taken Nov/09):



I first met her a year ago and though she hasn’t budged from her perch, her clothes have changed and a pompom acquired on her ear (taken Sep/08):


Either way, it is very creepy, yes?

In all seriousness, I will say that a shopping trip to Harajuku is not complete with out a crepe (or two…tee hee!) While this might sound odd at first, once you’ve tasted these cones directly from heaven, you will be a believer. Continuing with this holy talk, my favourite place is ‘Angels Heart’.




It is very popular with the ladies…


…and the not-so-ladylike.

I wish that North American merchandising would take a hint from the Japanese and stick hotties on their products. Even the unrelated ones – like bath goods. I suppose the definition of the word “hotties” might differ as well. It’s not like I want to see Nick Carter on my shampoo or anything.



One of my favourite shops down in this area was a strange clothing shop called ‘Closet Child’. I was quite saddened to find that the shop had moved up a floor into a smaller space and turned completely gothic. Lame. Many of the shops here sell interesting stuff, so really, it’s onwards and upwards.







I came across some very skinny (yet handsome) men wearing too much flannel:


(Yes, these are the same men on the bath product ads. I can’t resist.)





Phew! I made it to the far end of the street with only buying a necklace, some mascara, a Vivienne Westwood coat…and possibly some other things. But! Eh…I’ve got nothing. Let’s keep on shopping.


This is a different man-boy group named Arashi. They are crazy-huge in Japan.

I continued to saunter:



When out and about in Tokyo, you can immediately see the sheer number of dollars spent on clothes here – down to the smallest detail. “What? This Chanel bracelet? This old thing?” “This is my Gaultier scrunchie!” “I just bought this Gucci belt last weekend.” Yikes. I’m sadly outmatched. However, a quick review of consumer trends here shows that this dynamic is slowly changing – and the popular shops are now our North American cheap-o mainstays:





But this is not why I’m here – let’s refocus on the oddities that make up the various fashion subcultures here. I had often passed a department store at the corner of Omotesandou and Meiji called La Foret and I figured there was no time like the present to examine every floor of this place.




I’d so wear that. If I was six.



Wasn’t that fun? Now, we have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s head down the luxuriously appointed Omotesandou Avenue, which is dimpled with some of my favourite brands.








The cool Audi building on Meiji Dori.

Before continuing my hardcore shopping trip, I needed some sustenance. Since I love convenience store items in Japan (always fresh and flavourful), I stopped at a Family Mart and settled on a sandwich and chocosnaks.



I’m not sure if I’ve blogged about this before, but in Japan, it is really poor manners to eat in public places, unless you are in a park, seated, or if you’ve bought something and need to eat it immediately but there is no sitting area (like my crepe from before). These are the acceptable conditions. Otherwise, food consumption should take place within the confines of restaurants or your home. Since I’m poor and homeless here, I have no other choice except to eat convenience food on the go. Therein lies my challenge. In a jam-packed pedestrian paradise, where can one hide and peacefully consume a sandwich? In the past, I’ve tried to hide around corners, in alleyways, or just generally not seem to care if they stare at me…but I don’t want to be shunned! I thought I’d found a deserted alleyway entrance to an apartment building, but of course, the second I ripped open my sandwich package, a herd of people come tromping through. A backdoor entrance to a store – suddenly gets a delivery. An alleyway between buildings – someone already there on their cell phone. I tried to find the most deserted area I can, but “deserted” is still ridiculously populated with hair salons and tea shops. I finally find a small concrete wall beside a motorcycle and plop myself down. People constantly pass, but I’m determined to eat my damn sandwich. So when people come, I hide it in my atlas and pretend I’m reading.



Wouldn’t you know it, the owner of the motorcycle comes by the second I’ve taken my first bite. I look absorbed in my atlas. He fumbles with his helmet and his backpack for a full 10 minutes as I study each word on the page with intense focus. I just want to eat my sandwich! At least my settings in front of a kimono shop are tranquil.



He eventually leaves and I can consume my sandwich in peace…you know, between groups of passing pedestrians. Least relaxing lunch ever. On to Omotesandou.









I did some checking out of the wares in Omotesandou Hills and bought some tights. I swear, this mall is as relaxing as a spa…I could spend all day on the benches in here.

Despite the numbers of people in Japan who smoke, they are still trying to send a good message for the sake of the children:



Next up is MORE shopping…and I’ve already got my hands loaded down with bags. I doubt I’ll buy anything down here today – this is Aoyama and you don’t walk out of here with spending less than a good chunk of change on any given item. But it’s still fun to look.


The Comme des Garçons flagship. *must…exercise…restraint…*


The Prada flagship.


Cartier…


The intensely fun 10 Corso Como shop.

This all-day shopping extravaganza had my feet ready to wither away, so we packed it in and headed down to the subway for the long ride home.

Arriving back at my home station, I was ready for more shopping. (Ha ha…what?!?) So I headed in to my favourite Parco to maybe spend more ¥.



Just as Harajuku demands crepes, so does Parco and purikura. I can’t walk past this machine without giving it a shot. Clearly, I need to practice more.






Once I arrived back at my home base, I unloaded my hoardes of bags and the wonderful Tomoko served me up some cake to tide me over until dinner.



Oi! I’m surprised I haven’t gained 10 lbs today alone.


Everything is accompanied by tea.




Yummmo.

Have any of you ever watched TV in Japan? Depending on who is reading this, I know some of you have and some of you have not. If you haven’t, you’d better get in on this ridiculousness. So all these man-boy groups have their own TV variety shows and the most bizarre things take place. My show this evening was the very-popular SMAPxSMAP, hosted by…well, SMAP. This evenings’ episode involved the members, coupled with some female comedians, stuck in some little booths surrounded by giant balloons that increased in size when they answered a trivia question incorrectly. You see? Then they get pushed closer and closer together if they are wrong. Hilarity ensued.








The lady in this picture used to be man – pretty impressive, hey?



The night was capped off with some snackings I picked up from the Daimaru at Parco.



Ah, another fabulous day spent in this lovely country. All too soon they will be over and the shopping bliss will stop. But not today, nor tomorrow. In fact, tomorrow we head over to the outlet mall in Iruma as it is a holiday and Maya has the day off. I’ve never been, so I can’t wait to find out what is in store (literally!)