The Tokyo Look Book

Stylish To Spectacular, Goth To Gyaru, Sidewalk To Catwalk

Seeing as I was holed up in the library yesterday I perused the aisles and stumbled upon this book which looked very interesting (talk about how sometimes judging a book by its cover can come in handy huh?). The author Philomena Keet profiles and photographs people on the street dressed in the latest various trends of Shibuya and Harajuku. Little known fashions outside of these centers but very fashionable in these areas. In this book we are introduced to trends such as: Gyaru, Visual-kei, Decora-kei, Hime-kei, Lolita, and Cosplay. It was like getting the real scope on the trends in Tokyo, no second or third rate information here. If you want to devour all that is Japanese or more specifically Tokyo trends, then this is the book to read. Full color photography

 
You can buy here Amazon

PONPONPON

Enjoy the colors! More Japanese awesomeness or craziness whatever you want to call it. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu started out as a fashion blogger and quickly went to promoting her own beauty products and starring in Harajuku fashion shows. Now here she is with art by 6% DOKIDOKI.

Hello Kitty Recliner

Kawaii and comfort at its best, Hello Kitty chair from Rinkya stores reclines 4 ways! Get yours now.

Hell Girl Wallpapers

Just sitting in the vault: Hell Girl wallpaper from Funimation, right click to download (these are all big enough for widescreen):

Hell Girl

Hell Girl (aka Jigoku Shōjo) is one of my guilty pleasures that I ascribe to and I like to regularly decompress in front of the television with something chocolatey, dim the lights, and turn Hell Girl on Netflix. You can also find it here on Funimation and on Hulu.

Your grievance shall be avenged.

That is the tagline of the show, Hell Girl is for those that need their anime a little darker than most. The premise of the show: "Beyond the veil of midnight lies a website, HellCorrespondence.com. Type in the name of the one upon which you desire retribution ... And it will be served." Hell Girl, Ai Enma will appear and offer you a magical straw doll with a red thread wrapped around its neck. Whether or not you pull the thread is up to you but pulling the thread comes with a price, not only will she ferry the soul of your tormentor into hell but when you die, your soul will also belong to hell. 

pleasant huh?

For your remaining days, you are left with a tattoo on your chest to remind you of this obligation. Over the centuries the correspondence has changed from written to now being done on a website and mobile. There is not much known about Ai, except that she lives with her grandmother and even less about her companions that accompany her. In later episodes we begin to learn more about her. She can be very cold at times and mysterious but that is why I like her. She keeps to herself and that is the charm of her character.

  It can seem a bit repetitive at times, some episodes are more better than others. You are basically watching a show where you know how it is going to end. Are they going to pull the string? Still it's good fun watching those who deserve it get their comeuppance. It's just a show after all. Or is it? Does such a website exist?  
I'm going to give it 8 straw dolls out of 10.  

Creepy Japanese iPhone Case

This just might be either the most creepiest or most fabulous iPhone case I have come across just yet.

For $65 you get a case that will surely freak out your friends and those lucky enough to be around you. Mmmm, just think...what if you set your phone to vibrate on this bad boy?? (via Digitaltrends)

Japanese Street Fashion

Japanese Streets is one of my all site favorite web sites. You can log on and see the latest Japanese street fashion and culture featuring real people. Many types of fashions are covered including Harajuku, Decora, Goth-Loli, Cyber-Punk, Mori Girl etc. They also feature a blog, picture archive, shopping, and a community to meet other members. What I like to do is download pictures so I can print them out and tack them onto my walls for inspiration for my art, clothes, and crafts. You would be surprised with how many ideas you will come up with when you do this.

Japanese Streets

Japanese Streets was one of the first fashion blogs on the net started by photo-journalist Kjeld Duits 

on November 22, 2002, and also the first to cover Japanese street fashion. You can find all of his extensive work in the photo archives.

Some of my personal favorites:

I absolutely must get these!

She looks so sweet and cotton candy-ish!

I love fuzzies! look at those colors

I want to paint a bag of my own like this

She looks so comfortable and cute!