Last night I died and went to the most beautiful heaven.

There was a ridiculously amazing band there playing a huge set in a small, intimate venue surrounded by the most adoring and loyal fans. The lead singer looked like an angel and sang like one too and I spent the whole time swaying to the music with the biggest grin on my face.

I can hear what you are saying,

“Gem, put down the drugs and step away” or “Quit babbling, woman, it was clearly some sort of dream”

Oh no, friends, this was no dream or drug induced delusion. This was L’arc~en~Ciel playing their first ever London show at the indigoO2 ^ ^

Crazy, eh? 20 years they’ve been together, they have a huge back catalogue of excellent songs and yet this is their first time here. Judging by last night I am sure they will be back again, but I feel so happy to have been at their first one as I’m sure they will play a bigger venue next time and the whole show just felt so special.

Highlights of the show

* My Heart Draws a Dream - I got all emotional as this is my favourite song and probably one of the only Japanese songs that I genuinely know all the words to. Hyde’s voice is just so intense and it was just an absolute pleasure to get to see this live.

* Chase & X X X English versions - I love listening to songs in Japanese, but it was quite nice to hear both these songs in English as I’d never heard them before. I thought it was very sweet that they did this and I think they did the same at their Madison Square Garden show too.

* Ken MC - This was so funny watching him read out some stuff from a bit of paper about visiting London and then talking about the bag of things he’d bought for Tetsuya from “Cool Britannia”. Tetsuya began pulling various touristy items out of a bag including a tube map which Ken said was “a tube map for his arse” ???? Mentals ^ ^

* Tetsuya MC - “Do you want to eat my banana? Do you want to suck my lollipop?”. Of course he actually had a basket of bananas which he then proceeded to chuck into the crowd.

*Ready Steady Go - I guess this is the song that will always be the most popular at their gigs as it’s just so energetic and fun.

* Anata - They put the lyrics up on the screen in romaji so everyone could sing along. A Japanese dude next to me seemed extremely surprised by this and shouted “Sugoi!” (Cool!)

* My husband - Fair enough not part of the show as such, but it was funny listening to my husband attempting to sing all the songs in his made up Japanese and there was a young Japanese girl next to us who seemed highly amused too and kept giggling through the show. It was all very cute and I hope he doesn’t mind me posting about it ^ ^

There were of course many more wonderful moments through out the whole show and it was just perfect. The huge video screen behind them was great and gave each song a nice feel. There was fancy pyro and it was also fun watching the whole crowd be sprinkled in feathers and streamers. It was like a huge show on a tiny stage.

At the end of the show Hyde told us they would see us again and I really do hope they come back again soon.

On with the pics. Click the pic below to open the gallery (apologies that a few are a little blurry)…

Larc-en-Ciel

I can’t really put into words how much I adore this little lady. She is the cutest and oddest girl on the planet and I absolutely love her to pieces for it. She is so refreshing and I just smile every time I watch one of her videos or see a photo of her.

She may be young, but she really is my ultimate idol and if I had an ideal customer it would be her. She is 19 and how many 19 year olds do you see dressed like her? I am so bored of walking around my town seeing girls still in their teens wearing beige cardigans and pumps. Even little pre-teens wouldn’t be seen dead with giant hair bows or frilly knee high socks and skirts. It’s weird! Why is everyone in so much of a hurry to look like old grannies or of course those girls who are desperately trying to look older to get into bars or get with older guys, etc. Just enjoy your youth!! This is your time to go crazy and have fun with everything and ESPECIALLY fashion while you are young enough to get away with it.

I’m 29 and wear frilly skirts with pompom hairbands and I get some proper odd looks, nasty comments and often have people laugh and point. Am I too old for it? Well, perhaps. Do I care? Hell no as I know I look awesome and have been somewhat blessed with appearing younger than I am anyway (hope that still holds when I’m in my 50′s or something). I will wear these clothes for as long as I can get away with it and even then one day I plan on being that old lady in the loud dress with lime green eyeshadow and a pink rinse. It is sad though that being bright, colourful and happy is seen as being weird. The world is becoming a pretty boring place. I would rather die than swap my clothes for Ugg boots, jeans and a cardigan. Ick!

Anyway, enough ranting from me. I will do a proper post on Kyary-chan one day soon, but for now here is her new video for her single ‘Candy Candy’ in all it’s crazy glory…

So I am totally worn out from my weekend in London at Hyper Japan, but it was all worth it. Here is a write up of the event and a bunch of photos too.

Friday….

It was an amazingly beautiful day in London and I was very happy to arrive to see no queue at all and so just sat on the steps waiting for it to open. Friday is only a half day as the stalls set up that morning and early afternoon. Inside the venue it was really nice and quiet, not too crazy like I’ve been used to before. It was lovely to be able to walk around and properly look at things and work out where everything was. Sadly a few stalls weren’t really open yet, but the majority were. Due it to being quiet it also meant there were not a lot of people dressed up so that is why there is a distinct lack of many fashion photos for the Friday, but I managed to grab a few. Also spent the day posing for photos myself which was quite nice ^ ^

All the usuals were there such as Tofu Cute, ARTBOX, Manga Entertainment, JP- Books, Jaltour and Third Window Films. Was also nice to see a few new stalls for 2012 such as Cakes With Faces (a stall run by my lovely talented friend, Amy, who does very cute graphic designs) and CYBERDOG (which had a few 6%DOKIDOKI items, but they needed more, damnit!)

There were loads of food places, although sadly no sushi places which was a bit weird and also the amazing bento place from the past events were nowhere to be found. Luckily I found a place selling okonomiyaki (a sort of cabbagey pancake thing) and so chowed down on that. Japan Centre, Tofu Cute and CyberCandy all helped to fill any belly voids later that evening with their endless array of colourful snacks.

A nice amount of stalls this year selling various trinkets such as jewellery, hats, the usual figurines and anime merch, manga, kimono, cute stationery, DVD’s and CD’s. It was all a little girly though I think. Most stalls seemed to be aimed at girls and all the guys who visited with us this weekend seemed a little bored and fed up that there was nothing that they wanted.

Saturday….

Still no mega queue like last year and so we got straight in, but definitely a lot busier than the Friday and it got more packed into the afternoon. More stalls were open today such as the Lolita bring & buy stall, a makeover stall and a cosplay photo wall. Tons of stuff going on the stage today including another performance by Na-chan which we sadly missed, but there was also traditional Japanese dance (see videos), a Japanese Street Fashion show and a talk by the Japanese film director Satoshi Miki and actress Eri Fuse. There was also the cosplay awards, but I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage to see or take any photos. I will post up some links later in the week to any pics I can find from the event.

Namco Bandai Games and TOEI Animation had teamed up and were showcasing the newest games on various different platforms, but mainly seemed to be 3DS and the new PS Vita. Of course there was lots of One Piece and Dragon Ball paraphernalia about including a giant Chopper and Luffy was wandering around the event posing for pictures.

Niconico were back this year after not being at last year’s event. I stayed clear as I am not a fan of being interviewed, but saw lots of other people having a laugh and messing about in front of the camera. They interviewed some of the stall owners and stage performers as well as casually chatting with anybody they could drag in who walked past.

Fashion wise there was mostly lolita stuff and not much else. You will see in my photos that it was mostly sweet lolita girls roaming around and very few people dressed in any other style. The fashion show showed a mix of different styles which was great, but even at the end of the show there were prizes for people in the audience who were dressed in J-fashion, but they all seemed to go to lolita girls too and a few decora and fairy-kei girls at the back looked a bit put out. Then again pretty much everyone who joined in with the competition were in lolita so they probably weren’t noticed. Hopefully next year there will be more of a mix. I hope to have my own stall there at least anyway, probably selling some of my short yukata ^ ^

Highlights….

Sushi Awards 2012 - We paid to try a sample of sushi from each of the five nominees. They were AMAZING. My favourite was Cherry Blossom sushi by Chef Matsuya at SO restaurant, but they were all great. Also was quite surprised to see that one of the entries was a sweet sushi roll with strawberry and popping candy. Nomz ^ ^

Natsuko Aso - Apart from being the cutest thing ever, she is an idol star from Japan and performed a few songs for us at Hyper Japan. She is mainly known for singing songs in anime openings/endings. We loved her and I was also quite amused by a guy who is quite possibly her greatest fan going mental in the row behind us swinging a towel and a glow stick around. I know this is the done thing at idol gigs in Japan, so it was nice to see it happen over here. I think she might have been a little ill though as sometimes her voice broke during singing, but she kept on going and kept smiling and it was just lovely.

Introduction to sake - EAT JAPAN were running some workshops during the events. They were free, you just had to get in quick to be booked in as they only sat around 20 people. This one was for sake and never to pass up the opportunity for free booze, hubby and I grabbed a place. A lady ran us through the sake making process and then we got to try various different types of sake and she explained to us what each one was and how they compared. It was very interesting as I didn’t have a clue before.

I <3 Umeshu – Similar to the previous workshop, but this time about yummy ume (green plum) wine which is my personal favourite Japanese drink. We tried five different drinks and then were given a can of umeshu soda to take home too. I am still amazed this event was free as hubby and I came out wobbling. We bought a bottle of one of the wines by CHOYA and will probably buy more online again in future.

Satoshi Miki & Eri Fuse interview – These two were very charming and also amusing to listen to as they played off each other very well. They answered questions from the audience and a few clips from their movies were played. We bought the box set of movies after the talk and went to get them signed. They were very lovely and signed all three DVD’s for us and hubby was pleased to have his first mini conversation in Japanese with them ^ ^

Japanese Street Fashion Show – A nice mix of different styles including Classic Lolita, Sweet Lolita, Punk Lolita, Decora, Gyaru, Otome and Fairy-kei (my favourite <3). Also nice to see a couple boys with Punk and Gyaru-o styles.

So on with the pics. Click the image below to see the rest of the gallery…

Hyper Japan 2012

D’oh, haven’t updated in a while so thought I’d check in.

Currently I am wishing away my week til Hyper Japan. I can’t wait ^ ^ I promise I will take a whole bunch of photos and pop them on here as soon as I get back. I’m currently deciding on whether to wear some of my usual fairy-kei clothes or wondering if I can dare to wear my short yukata (can be seen in this post here). Hmm, I guess I will see how I feel on the day, well, I am going on two days so will just take it with me anyway.

In other news I now have a Tumblr account where I am having amazing fun just searching through tons of beautiful pics. I am mainly reblogging things at the moment as I’m sort of using it for Shibby inspiration so if you follow me you will see loads of cute fashion photos, funny animals and photos of Tokyo. I put some of my own Tokyo pics up there too for anyone who is interested. So please follow my Tumblr ^ ^

I have also redyed my hair. Not very exciting news for you all, but I am happy to be sporting a stronger shade of teal. I am happy when my hair is happy ^ ^

It's me! ^ ^

I will be back on Monday with all the lovely piccies for you.

G x

Normal business cards? Pah! There is nothing normal about the majority of things I like (apart from tea, cause I am British of course) and so I wanted something a bit more interesting.

That was when I discovered Mini Cards by a company called MOO. They’re about half the size of normal business cards, but the main selling point for me was that you could get a box of 100, but have 100 different prints on the back of each one.

Amazing ^ ^

So I ordered a box and chose 10 different prints, so of course I got 10 of each print. They arrived just now ^ ^

I am in loooooove <3

Look at how cute they are! They come in a lovely little box too, are printed on really strong card and they are wonderfully clear. I have my images on the back of each one and then of course my image with all the details on the front of every card too. I put a QR code in there (oooh, technology!) and that seems to work well even using the crappy camera on my BlackBerry.

I am a very happy bunny ^ ^

Every day I read something new about Japan and fall in love even more <3 <3 <3

I am already very familiar with and a huge fan of the Shinto concept of 魂 (tamashii) which means ‘soul‘ or ‘spirit‘ and unlike a lot of Western religions, lots of things are considered to have a soul such as large rocks, trees, houses and even dolls or cuddly toys. So throughout the year in Japan there are various festivals, or I guess funerals, for things most of us in the West so easily and thoughtlessly dispose of.

In Shinto, being an animistic religion, it is believed that to simply discard something that has served you well is disrespectful and would anger the object’s soul. If something has given its life to you, or say in the case of dolls or cuddly toys have given you unconditional love, then surely they deserve a proper burial (see 人形供養 Ningyo Kuyo)? Anyway, this brings me on to the tradition of the Harikuyo Festival.

 針供養 Harikuyo meaning ‘needle memorial service‘ is practiced in most parts of Japan on February 8th.  Today it is mainly celebrated by people who rely on needles for their livelihood such as seamstresses, tailors, embroiderers or leather workers, but it is a tradition that has its roots in Buddhism and has been practiced for hundreds of years. In the past, pretty much all Japanese women would sew on a regular basis and so would dress in their best kimonos and flock to their nearest temples to give their old, used and broken needles a proper send off. In respect there would also be no sewing done on this day.

Needles are taken to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple where they are offered prayers of respect and gratitude then pushed into their final resting place of something soft, usually a block of tofu or konnyaku jelly, as a reward for their hard work and long service. Normally at the end of the service everything is wrapped in paper and laid to rest at sea. It is hoped that by being respectful in this way, the power and energy of the needle will pass to the owner and also make them better at their craft for the following year.

I think this is just beautiful and I love the idea of being truly grateful for the small things in your life, not being wasteful (see もったいない - mottainai) and not taking things for granted. If it wasn’t for these tiny tools, you would never be able to achieve your goals or do what you love. You can’t do everything by yourself and things that are helpful to us should not just be thoughtlessly disposed of and then replaced.

I will certainly take a moment to pause and reflect before I dispose of any sewing needles in future and I hope that this wonderful festival will inspire you to do the same.

Happy sewing for 2012 ^ ^

(Photos from – kikuko.web.infoseek.co.jp, madebymrswoo.blogspot.com and japanese-embroidery.blogspot.com)

In just over a month it will be time for more Japanese fun and amazingness as HYPER JAPAN is back, woo hoo!

It is the biggest J-culture event in the UK and covers pretty much everything including fashion, food, anime/manga, music, art, language and anything else you can think of. Last year they even had a stand showing off fancy Japanese toilets! I have been to every event so far and am very much looking forward to this year. I’m sure they have tons more guests and events to announce yet, but so far I am already sold on the UK Sushi Roll Championship and plan on nomming everything I can get my paws on. Also looking forwards to seeing singer and actress Natsuko Aso perform live.

Here is the video for her single “Eureka Baby” which is also used as the ending theme for the anime ‘Baka to Test to Shokanju Ni!’

Me and Panda chan (from Tofu Cute) at last year's event

The fashion shows are always amazing and this year they are showcasing a variety of different Japanese street styles such as lolita, mori, gyaru, visual kei and fairy kei. I will be sure to take a whole bunch of pictures as I’ll be mooching about with my camera and will also be ready to pounce on anyone cute, colourful and generally dressed wonderfully.

My lovely friend Amy who owns Cakes With Faces will be at the event so if you go please make sure to drop by her stand to check out all her cute drawings and buy a t shirt. The link to her website is also in the side bar on the main page of my website ^ ^

I will be sure to do a full write up  after the event once I’ve no doubt finished eating all my sweets and playing with whatever cute stuff I’ve spent all my money on.

HYPER JAPAN 2012 Spring event will be held on Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February at Brompton Hall in Earls Court. Tickets are available now on their website. Come and join the fun ^ ^

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - posted by her on Twitter at New Year ^ ^ Click to follow her

So it’s 2012 which means I should probably get on with Shibby or it will never happen, ya know what with the world ending and stuff this year, right? Pfft..

I don’t normally make New Year’s resolutions anymore as I never stick with them, but they’re normally silly things like to stop biting my nails or lose weight, etc. This year though I have definite things that I will do, things that I NEED to do in fact to get anywhere in my life.

The main ones are..

1 - Actually make and sell some clothes. All my designs are done, they are there on paper all ready to be made into patterns, cut, sewn and sold via my currently empty Etsy shop. I just need the money to get this all done and this year is looking much more secure. I have plans in place to make sure I have the money this time round *fingers, toes and dreadlocks all crossed*

2 – Try to blog AT LEAST once a week, but preferably more. The gaps between posts on here is crazy, especially since I seem to constantly post things on my personal Facebook page which I’m pretty sure most of my friends don’t really care about, when really I should put that stuff here where people interested in the same things can read and hopefully enjoy.

3 - Continue learning Japanese. I can now read hiragana and katakana and know a fair bit of vocabulary. Just need to get on with kanji, grammar and general sentence structure so I’m not just blurting random words at people.

4 - Go to Japan at the end of the year and practice my hopefully newly learned Japanese. Planning on going for Christmas and New Year where I can go mental buying 福袋 Fukubukuro or “lucky bags“. First stop would be SUPER LOVERS followed by 6% DOKIDOKI ^ ^

5 – Reiki II course. I did Reiki I last year and this year I hope to do level 2 which will then give me the wonderful gifts of being able to distance heal and also I can get insurance to do this as an actual job. I’ll be able to make lots of people feel all wonderful and make a few pennies on the side to support Shibby. I already got a table for my birthday so I’m all sorted ^ ^

I really hope 2012 will be a good year for me as last year was a pretty terrible one. Lots of things to look forwards to this year, but I will save that for another post. I hope you all have a wonderful year too and please keep reading. I have a spangly new Facebook box there in the side bar so please like my page and you can of course also follow me on Twitter ^ ^

Love Gem xx ^ ^

Miyavi - Kabuki Rock

Well I didn’t really plan on writing another post so soon, but I figure I have had a lot of things inspire me recently that I thought I would share.

First up we have music. I have been extremely influenced by some of the Japanese acts I have been lucky enough to see this year, namely X Japan and Miyavi. Both acts have at one point been very much visual kei, so much so that their fans still chose to dress in costume for their gigs (you can see here and here)

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ- I have loved this girl for a while after constantly seeing her pulling cute and quite often weird faces in KERA magazine. She has always pretty much summed up the term ‘Harajuku Girl’ for me and so it comes as no surprise to hear her debut mini album has been named ‘Moshi Moshi Harajuku’ (to be released on the 17th August 2011). The first single from this album is the amazing PONPONPON with the craziest video I have ever seen, the most wonderfully catchy song and a set designed by the founder of one of my absolute favourite brands, 6%DOKIDOKI. Check it out…

Japanese brands/designers – I have a huge list so will only post one for now and I may as well start with the last one I just mentioned, 6%DOKIDOKI. This is probably my biggest inspiration as I completely get their concept.

6%DOKIDOKI girls

6%DOKIDOKI Harajuku shop

I have been lucky enough to visit their shop in Harajuku and it was just wonderful and I now own an amazing vest with fluo teddies on it ^ ^ Most Western folk don’t really get it and I get some odd looks for sure, but it’s fun to break the mold. My designs have a very similar vibe and I aim to put more fun into others people’s lives and wardrobes

I will leave it there for now, but will certainly be back with more later in the week.