Mameshiba Madness

So there I was rummaging around in Don Quixote's, a massive shop in Harajuku specialising in cheap tat, when I discovered a Mameshiba keychain. I had seen the normal Edamame keychains in other stores but this one had a little dog's face on the middle bean and I just HAD to get involved. I had no idea what I had let myself in for!

Since that fateful purchase I have learned that Mameshiba is a Japanese bean dog ("mame" coming from Edamame which are soy beans to us in the West and "shiba" coming from the breed of dog) that appears in people's food to tell them a piece of trivia. My favourite part of the videos is how after the talking bean dog imparts his trivia the people involved turn grey and cannot finish their food - they seem to be genuinely disturbed by him yet it still works as advertising!

I am sure that words are not conveying how brilliant Mameshiba - when you see him for yourself you cannot help but fall in love with his little bean dog face. He is second only to my beloved Rilakkuma (whom I shall be boring you, er, blogging about very soon). They have turned what I foolishly assumed was just a cute face on a soy bean into a charming, eccentric and entertaining fellow that I regurlarly check up on in case he has any new nuggets of trivia for me. The Japanese are so good at creating back story and quirks for their characters, even if it is just a way of selling merchandise it seems forgivable when the character is more than just a face on a plush as is the way in the West.

I will end this not with pictures of Mameshiba merchandise but with the videos that are the reason I came to love the different beans that make up the whole brand, and I am sure you will come to love them too!

p.s. I shall only post the first few as there are currently TWELVE of these vids! To see them all visit this lovely person's youtube channel











All together now!

Shibuya 109 - Your Wallet Will Suffer

I'm not a particularly girly girl, I do enjoy to shop but not for clothes so much as other things (gadgets and computer games are my weakness). However, Shibuya 109 (pronounced "ten-nine") which is a circular tower building that contains shops solely dedicated to girls broke me down. Before I knew it I had succumbed; 3 dresses, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of jeans, 1 handbag, 1 pair of sunglasses and even then I could have bought more.

The strange thing about 109 is how unashamedly girly it all is, every shop has bright lighting and glitzy window displays. The shop floor is staffed by at least 6 girls who are either helping girls to find what they want or trying to tempt you in by calling out things in Japanese. Most of the time I didn't have a clue what they were saying but even though they knew that I couldn't understand them they still spoke to me like I was just as important as the native girls. The music thumps loudly whilst the neon lights flash and somehow this bombardment of your senses seems to work, I started to "oooooh" and "aaaaah" at the clothing and accessories as if I was a natural born girly shopper. It totally sucks you in and doesn't let go.

I particularly liked the names of the shops, they are almost all in English but don't really mean anything for example "Love Drug Store" "Girlsville" "One Spo" and "Moussy". I got some killer skinny jeans made by Moussy btw.

At the very top of the building there is an area where you can grab yourself a bubble tea and have a sit down, not that it is any quieter here because the techno music is still being pumped out and there are screens dotted around showing you pictures of ecstatic girls proudly holding up their purchases to the camera. Talking of cameras, no photos are allowed which was a shame because words just aren't enough when describing this experience. I visited many department stores during my trip but none compared to 109.

The official 109 site translated into English can be visited by clicking here you can see all the shops and most of their ranges via this website.

Just spare a thought for all the poor boyfriends stuck in there, it really IS all for girls.

How It All Began

I thought the first post for this new blog of mine should explain why I am dedicating a blog to a city from which I live thousands of miles away and why I feel I have any authority to talk about it! I visited Tokyo for the first time in June 2009 and fell head over heels in love. I stayed in a traditional Ryokan located just off Dogenzaka in Shibuya, which in itself encapsulated what I loved so much about the city - the fusion of the old and the new. Upon removing my Yukata and leaving the inn with the Tatami flooring, Futon bedding and Onsen bath I was immediately surrounded by the bright neon lights and modern architecture of Shibuya which is known for it's youth culture and fashion scene.

I stayed in Tokyo for 10 nights and as each day passed I found more and more to love, from the warmth of the people to the futuristic gadgets that have been integrated into every day life. Not to mention the shopping, the food, the beautiful gardens in the middle of the urban sprawl, the districts retaining the Edo period buildings, the breath taking temples/shrines, the manners and social etiquette that can seem oppressive at first but once you accept that it is for the good of everyone you really don't mind being told where to stand when waiting for the train/bus etc. I'm not saying the city is perfect or that everyone will fall in love as I did, I'm just trying to convey to others how flippin' brilliant I thought it was and share the brilliant things with them.