Damn, You've Got Some Wicked Style

3/8/10

Today was my first day in Japanime/Manga University’s office. They started me off with easy tasks like coming up with tweets for their Twitter page and commenting on artwork that people post on the Facebook page. For lunch, Mari and Naomi (Glenn’s assistant) took me to my very first 回転寿し (conveyor belt sushi restaurant).


I had egg, shrimp, and tempura sushi, and was introduced to the deliciousness that is 大学いも (College potatoes).


These are sweet potatoes that are crispy on the outside and coated in honey, and soft and fluffy on the inside. Sooooo yummy~! Bradley likes them too.

After working in the office, I went out for the evening, making a quick stop in Shinjuku to buy a kanji dictionary from Kinokuniya, and then going to one of my favorite places in Tokyo: Harajuku.


Harajuku is home to Takeshita-doori, a pedestrian street lined with funky clothing stores stacked on top of each other and hidden in back alleys. You need to pay close attention to each building because the best shops are hidden in basements and on upper floors along the street. And you will find all kinds of clothing stores here. Everything from the hip-hop scene with bright splashes of colors to the J-rock boutique run by a middle-aged woman whose customers include members of Dir en Grey to the shop with rabbit-faced mannequins wearing whimsical skirts and dresses to the gothic lolita store pumping hyperactive, techno versions of Disney songs.


Along with a few crepe stands scattered along the street.



At the end and to the right of Takeshita-doori is La Foret, a high-end shopping mall with booths for some of the bigger-name designers. The building is huge, but the only floors that matter at the two basement floors, which feature goth-loli and j-rock brands, including my personal favorite: Putumayo.


I didn’t actually buy anything because my hips are far too large to fit into anything a skinny Japanese girl could wear, but it’s always fun to look at. I took plenty of pictures while I was in the stores and walking up and down the street, so check out my Photobucket account for the rest.