Kitty-san

On the theme of kawaii, I mustn’t miss mentioning Japan´s Kitty-san or Kitty White キティ・ホワイト Kiti Howaito, who is a white Japanese bobtail cat, a fictional character produced by Sanrio. She was first designed by cartoonist Yuko Shimizu. Kitty-san is found on everything from school supplies, stamps and flower arrangements to consumer goods such as Swarovski´s high end Hello Kitty range. She also has her own theme parks. To make Kitty, who was named after a cat in Lewis Carroll´s Through the Looking Glass, more interesting, her background story is that she was born in the suburbs of London as England was trending in Japan at the time. Have a great weekend everyone!

It´s all about presentation

In the land of giftu, gift wrapping and presentation are as important as the gift itself. Common small gifts are food and snacks.Anything French seems to fly well with the Japanese. At Nicholas Charles they sell choux cream pastries with mousses and creams instead of the usual custard. Flavours are for instance, basil flavoured mousse with strawberries mixed with balsamic vinegar, rose jelly and raspberries mixed with raspberry mousse and caramel custard with caramelized apples. To top it off, two pieces of chocolate, bunny ear style, are added. Kawaii, des.

Let´s continue our stroll through Ginza

Today most of the day has been a day with rain and thunder. A stroll through Ginza reveals if not all so at least most of the European luxury brands and their beautiful window displays. If you don´t find them represented in Ginza, Aoyama is a safe bet. These are the windows of French luxury brand Hermès.

Hold on to your hat

A stylish way to keep the summer heat at bay is donning a hat, that´s what the Japanese do. These were spotted at CA4LA  カシラ (pronounced Cashira) in Ginza.

A stroll through Ginza

Have a great weekend everyone!

In bloom

It might be easy to assume that Tokyo is nothing but a stone or concrete city with narrow streets, the latest SUV car models winding its way through streets no broader than pavements.Yes, this is a two lane little street, wide like a smaller bicycle lane (outside of Japan, that is).However, if you stroll along the back alleys it might give you a taste (if ever so tiny) of the French Grasse, the world´s capital of perfume. Roses are in full bloom and these are heavily scented. Lovely!

Ikebana

Hope you´re all enjoying a great week with some warm and sunny weather!

Talking to the man in the moon

This is not a light bulb. It´s 2.22 and I am wide awake, admiring the full moon.
And a little nostalgia for those of you who cannot sleep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6uCzHftco

Ikebana for the Japanese tea room

Today´s ikebana arrangement for the Japanese tea room at the Sogetsu head quarters, Tokyo. Arranged by a master teacher. Intense, don´t you think?

From my balcony

Today I returned back to Tokyo after a short visit to Scandinavia. This rather dramatic moon is currently my company in my jetlagged state (time: 1.40am).
Have a great weekend everyone!