０４☆２０２５




i'm about four hours into my flight, unable to continue sleeping in my typical 1-hour bursts. i'm simply too awake. but it's 7 am in tokyo, so it's for the best that i stay that way until we land so that i can set my body up to wake up early. this is my first window seat in a long time, and i've been enjoying the clouds. i really like flying through them.

seven hours in and i ordered a kitsune udon for 500 yen and scarfed it down as quickly as i could with a fork (a serious dexterity debuff), thereby dooming myself to a case of the soup sniffles.

eight hours in and i'm zoning out and listening to music...
☆ ︎english maffin by polyABC
☆ ︎like a starberry by chocolat
☆ ︎白日 by grapevine
☆ ︎one night alcoholic by hanumaan
☆ ︎snowism by swinging popsicle
☆ ︎nefi + girly by asobi seksu

does anyone else really like the feeling when the plane touches the ground?


the view from the "vibes konbini"...



☆ hat: giami
☆ vest: gift
☆ top: tsumori chisato
☆ pants: diesel
☆ shoes: secondhand

☆ cardigan: frapbois
☆ top: US polo association
☆ shorts: diesel
☆ boots: rockem


☆ top: muchacha
☆ jeans: diesel


i obviously wore more than just these outfits, but who has the time to shoot them all... the cowhide boots were a gift from my friend ivy and they are very comfortable to wear. i don't have any particular allegiance to the brand diesel, but i do like their jeans a lot.




a house in the process of demolition.

food:

café d'otto ☆ i found my appetite severely diminished due to the constant adrenaline of travel, so i had a small ochazuke that was topped with a house-made bell pepper miso. it was a really cute spot and the food was good -- i'll have to go back and eat a proper meal someday.

yumemaru ☆ another place at which i wish i had eaten more. i ordered the oden set and the daikon was very juicy. the guy who runs the place is very kind and we had a good chat.

bakery ai ☆ when i get morning pastries, i tend to get one savory and one sweet. i think i got a hamburg-pan and an anpan...

shops:

medel music ☆ a CD shop where i found lots of great stuff. relaxed atmosphere and a good balance of CDs and records.

ningyō no kodomoya ☆ they mostly specialize in classic japanese dolls and decor, but they have a steiff section in the back where you can see teddy bears wearing kimono and japanese armor and such.


left: ayumu vs. prima dolly ginger in her original state... here the difference between matte and gloss, as well as the subtle differences haircuts can make, are very apparent.
right: miss endurance in a custom outfit by warusoneko. her base doll is asha alvira. the newer dolls have such bright makeup!

aoki shashinkan / warusoneko ☆ a photo studio and blythe top shop down in marugame in kagawa prefecture. about an hour by train. it's run by the sweetest couple and i love watching their youtube videos because they get along really well. they will bring anything you want to see out of their personal collection and have so much knowledge on dolls, toys, crafting, and photography... they were kind enough to give me a tiny book, a pair of socks, some original stationery and an original comic, and a lift back to the train station because it was dark outside...

with the exception of my brief trip to kagawa, i had a nice time staying in a smaller area and getting to know it more intimately as opposed to scurrying across town all day. i'd love to stay in okayama for longer next time. since i have friends from there, i'd love if they'd be so kind as to show me all their favorite spots. my friend got me a pin of a cat with a silly expression that i am keeping on my bag and praying i don't lose... precious memory!





art:

kyotographie -- yokota daisuke ☆ a collection of hazy and gritty photos displayed in an old house, this leg of the kyotographie event cleverly uses the building that hosts it to contextualize the works on display. yokota explores how memories are shaped through the passage of time through multiple processing, often using experimental processes such as sticking rubbish to his film during development. through the erosion of the subject's true appearance, he creates room for the viewer to see themsleves.

"as we go through the act of repeatedly recalling our memories, i believe these memories change in relation to what is happening to us now."

liminal suite by akina tokiyoshi at bna alter museum ☆ by taking photos of objects and creatures from every angle and collaging them together into three-dimensional sculptures, tokiyoshi explores form and boundary. this analog approach to what one would typically do by 3D-scanning was very intriguing to me.

food:


ninomiya ☆ a stylish spot with really great food. i forgot what exactly what we ordered, but there was a gratin, an ankake, and ume-kyuuri salad... plus an assortment of skewered meats.


parlor kissa kessha ☆ a cozy spot that plays good music, has its own small newspaper, and serves the most delicious hayashi rice. my grapefruit herb soda came in a cute showa retro glass, and the pudding was both bitter and sweet, the perfect ending to a great meal.


nobara coffee ☆ a coffee shop run out of an old house. tucked away between more houses, it's quiet and very relaxing. i was full from just having had hayashi rice, but i got to try a bite of my friend's donut, which was beautifully moist. i also had some tea. the room we were in boasts a sizeable collection of antique cosmetics containers, and the afternoon light pouring in from the backyard made us sleepy.

boulangerie cafe hallu ☆ a quick breakfast of ham cheese croissant and orange fromage danish. the croissant was beautifully flaky, and the orange was super juicy.


maana atelier ☆ exceptionally stylish with fabulous earthenware. it looks like they do workshops and such as well. both the duck udon and the clam soy milk udon were divine.


cacao market ☆ i don't usually go for chocolate, but i tried the mild aztec chocolate frozen beverage and it was really yummy! i think i want to try the gelato next time, but i want to save room for wagashi as well...


food stall ☆ i had grilled sweetfish for the first time at yasaka shrine... delicious!




i'm very grateful to my friend who hosted me in her lovely home, as well as my friends who came out to hang out with me! it was my first time in kyoto and being able to see the cherry blossoms was magical. it was a wonderful but short time... there's lots more i want to see.



food:

saizeriya ☆ it's just a normal family restaurant, like the japanese equivalent of olive garden or cheesecake factory or something. my friends ordered everything they like off the menu and we ate family-style. why is the booze so cheap? i got too drunk.


cafe oranda ☆ yet another retro kissaten. i don't smoke cigarettes, but secondhand smoke is my guilty pleasure... i had a yuzucha instead of coffee, and we both ordered sandwiches.

junkissa american ☆ i had an anmitsu with sweet black beans. the inside is gorgeous and made me feel like i was in a movie. i wish i had worn a suit... it could have been so picturesque!





shutter and love girls are dancin' on in tokyo / conceived and edited by kohtaro iizawa

really cool photo anthology featuring work by women photographers:
yurie nagashima ☆ saori tsuji ☆ masako kobayashi ☆ mie iizuka ☆ yasuko shiratsuchi ☆ kohide nakashima ☆ ayako kaneko ☆ yukari ojima ☆ aiko nakano ☆ maya ☆ mariko takahashi ☆ miwa tosaki ☆ manaco okamoto ☆ kumi oka ☆ aya fujioka ☆ mika ninagawa


aya fujioka

mie iizuka

saori tsuji

i also got a cool t-shirt, a pin, and a phone charm at 十四才, a curated secondhand shop between amemura and namba. i am too lazy to photograph them. sorry.



food:

by this point, i was feeling too fatigued to make decisions and mostly ate konbini food. my default meal was a hijiki and edamame onigiri, a small salad, oolong tea, and a white peach pudding for dessert. sometimes i'd switch it up with soboro-egg onigiri or some sandwiches. the jersey milk pudding is also really yummy!


kamay kitchen ☆ a restaurant that specializes in filipino-japanese fusion. sekihan and adobo is a really good combination.

kissaten gion ☆ super whimsical interior -- i got to sit in the swing seats! the napolitan was excellent and i had a ginger ale for the first time in ages. next time i will be sure to get dessert, but i was stuffed by that point.

bara ☆ a coffee shop with an incredible collection of cup and saucer sets. i want to try the mont blanc and the apple pie next time i go.

boulangerie bois de boulogne ☆ a quick breakfast of ebi-katsu sandwich and apricot shiro-anpan with kuromame-cha on my way to buy some kitchenware gifts.



i went out with friends for dinner that ended up being mostly drink. i forgot the name of the place but it was rowdy. skewered meats and beer are always a good idea. not eating enough before drinking is not... but i had fun so the hangover was worth it.

shopping:



everyone went on and on about how nakano broadway is the best place to find cool stuff but nobody bothered to mention the horrendous lighting. it was a sensory nightmare and i actually got a bit lost. however, there is a shop packed floor to ceiling with cool showa era merchandise run by a chatty guy who knows where everything is somehow. i bought a bromide print of ultraman fighting gomora in front of osaka castle.



the top that makes me look like a chocolate salesman is from LOVER SOUL, and the tie is from another vintage shop in koenji.


my solo exhibition...


i'm deeply grateful to isaac at such as gallery for all his guidance and patience in helping me put this show on. i learned a lot and hope i can do another show there someday. i also feel very thankful to have so many friends who would come out of their way, some from prefectures very far away, just to support me... as well as my friends and family back home who cheered me on the whole time. thank you all from the bottom of my heart!



photos by such as gallery







☆ shojo toshi by tujiko noriko
☆ mini skirt by hideki kaji
☆ play by dj codomo
☆ rebis C.T.I.A./O.S.T. by shinkichi mitsumune
☆ sweety lounge vol 2 by various artists
☆ full scratched by plamo millionsellers
☆ OTRL by tamio okuda
☆ the return of the space cowboy by jamiroquai
☆ looking for the summer by browny circus

thank you aywen for the jamiroquai album ^o^ the rest were lucky CD shop and book-off finds. i usually buy an even split of albums i have and haven't heard before, and this time is no exception. it's fun to see what sounds my eyes lead me to find. i'm enjoying full scratched a lot right now and my favorite track is テーゼ.



i was feeling pretty lazy most of my trip, so i didn't take my dolls to shoot as much as i wanted to. it's also hard to balance shooting and hanging out with friends, so i tend to only shoot my dolls when i'm alone. i can take as long as i want to without feeling bad. the dollies should not be complaining, though, because most of the shopping i did on this trip was for them.



my best and most serendipitous find was the orange rement dresser that i've been searching for for over a year. when i saw it in the case at dollyteria, i got so excited i had to pee, so i asked the shopkeeper to put it aside for me while i ran to the toilet. in time i'll test the light inside (yes, it's supposedly functional!) and make a new lampshade.

everything else that i got (may or may not be pictured):

☆ retro flocked bunny (仔兎ピョン、三英のぬいぐるみ)
☆ hoppy bottle and glass with stool (黒ホッピーと丸椅子緑、酒のある悦び第四弾)
☆ bath cleaning set (おふろの準備セット、おふろの想い出)
☆ pink mini table (ミニテーブルピンク、昭和ノスタルジック第二弾)
☆ green storage (カラーラックグリーン、昭和ノスタルジック第二弾)
☆ licca shoes (ノワールブーティーチョコブラウン、Licca closet series シューズコレクション スイートカラー)
☆ quarterly report book (会社四季報２０２４年２集春号、豆四季報)
☆ mini book by warusoneko
☆ miniature pistol
☆ light orange clear glasses
☆ yellow cat-eye sunglasses
☆ green and red floral + lace kimono set
☆ deep purple cat socks by warusoneko
☆ mini blythe box charm (skate date) (thank you aywen!)
☆ siumai box lunch (シウマイ弁当横浜版、崎陽軒 ミニチュアコレクション)
☆ prima dolly ashlette stock outfit
☆ dear darling round collar white short-sleeve blouse
☆ crossbody bag by NATURAL☆LOVE
☆ brown loafers

there might be more that i'm forgetting about... it's easy to buy a lot of stuff when it's all tiny.

if you're wondering who that doll is, she's a former cinnamon girl who i picked up for about 30 dollars on JP mercari. her eye mechanism is broken and her face is ever-so-slightly cracked, so i'm going to fix her up and customize her. she looks really cute with her makeup sanded off... i really love blythes with short hair, but i really like my dolls the way they are... i think if i can welcome home love jaylah (i saw her in person and she's really cute...) i would give her a stylish bob.



this is what i'm listening to lately...

☆ boku no popper by sparta locals
☆ the radiator hums by cursive
☆ over the sky by 黒石ひとみ
☆ vega by キセル
☆ sentimental bus by roly poly rag bear
☆ 水色 by UA

thank you for taking the time to read everything! i hope spring is treating you kindly.

laika ☆