Hyper '13

Why hello there. I'm sorry it took so long for me to make this post, however it called for a lot of preperation and time, which is something I've been very limited of recently... kind of. Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about the amazing Japanese cultural convention I went to last week on Saturday called Hyper Japan. You may not realise this but I am a big lover of oriental (especially Japanese) culture and so I was so excited for this. If you're wondering what it is, it's basically a huge hall decked out with stalls of plushies, food, books and clothes. There's also a gaming section and a mainstage which had loads of entertainment on it all day. So let me show dem shit I got:

Ah yeah, there were loads of snacks! I got so excited when I saw the Tofu Cute snack section. I bought cookies'n'cream pocky (which is a chocolate coated biscuit stick in case you didn't already know...), some strawberry chocolate drops, Panda biscuits, a variety of mini sweet boxes, strawberry and chocolate cream filled wafer biscuits and Matcha (green tea) pocky. Oh my G, green tea flavouring is so delicious, I consumed so many green tea flavoured things that I swear I went into a mini coma. On top of all this I also had multiple flavours of Doriyaki (which is a pancake filled with custard) and some green tea ice cream.  

I also had this incredible carbonated lychee drink which required you to push a marble into the bottle to actually get any drink out of it. This marble proved to be a difficult task for my tiny human brain, however I with my colossal amount of strength and wit I completed the quest with only a minor bit of perspiration... The drink tasted like pink lemonade. I have found new levels of love for lychees now. 

At the counter they had a basket filled with all of these charming badges of food characters, so I picked up a few. I think my favourite one is the pineapple 'hur-de-hur' which i bought for my friend. He just looks so mischievous.

I then went onto the Tofu Cute stall, which had clothes, accessories and stationary. I am a huge sucker for cute things, especially character like Rilakumma and so forth. So when I saw this Rilakkuma tape I was ecstatic. This reaction was the same for my plushie Panda case (I'm still thinking of a name), it was brilliant timing as my former make up case was broken and since Pandas are my favourite animals he just fit the description hands down. I also bought these plushie key rings, a green tea roll and this humurous evil pineapple man for my friend. 

The next of my incredibly adorable purchases was this Rilakkuma purse, I just I couldn't contain my inner fan girl appreciation when I saw this insanely endearing character sittin' on a stall. I just think it's too cute that tears well up in ma eyeballs whenever I look at it (hypothetically, of course)...

Or course, it wouldn't've been a successful convention if I didn't buy any anime whilst I was there. I bought the second season of The World God Only Knows since I enjoyed the first so much and I also bought Spice and Wolf since I've been meaning to watch it for so long. The only sadness I had for the stall is that it wasn't cheap. Everything was the usual retail price, meaning I had to control myself when it came to the stall (which was really hard, as I wanted everything).

Now moving onto the more traditional side of Japanese culture, you may remember in a post I wrote about my favoured housing types here that I wanted a Furin wind chime, similar to the ones I see in all of my animes. I just find the sound so tranquil, so I made a be line to the stall when I saw them all hanging in the entryway. I know you're meant to hang them during springtime, and by your windows, however I want mine with me all year round, and there's no space near my windows to hang it, so having it by my bed will have to do. 

Whilst I was there, I saw so many beautiful kimono's and jackets (which I have forgotten the name of) which I wanted to buy. However being teenager I tend to not splash out loads on unique items of clothing which I would hardly ever wear (as each outer kimono was over £100...), one day I know I'll own an amazing kimono, however for now I settled for an Obi tying scarf, which is the strip of fabric you tie round your waist to hold your obi in place, I think. I was going to buy an Obi, however they too were a little pricey for an item I would look at more than wear.

I also bought this tiny cat charm. There were many different colours which all had different meanings, i.e. pink was for love, green for health, however I ended up choosing the plain white one, which was for happiness. He now proudly sits on my sewing machine in the direct light of day, soaking up all the energy.

In comparison to my hand this is how weenie he is. It's just too eye-poppin' cute!

I decided also to buy a fan from one of the stalls, as they always have a lovely image painted on them, this one happened to be a geisha, and well, I think they give off such a nice aesthetic. I now have two on my wall, as my chummy Hannah gave me one a while back. All I need now is one more and my collection for now is complete.

Wow guys, we're halfway there. If you're still reading have cyber pocky as a congrats! This next item looks a little pointless and when my mum and I saw them on the stall we too were a bit unsure of the practicality of them. However it's an umbrella with a hard plastic case so you can keep all of da rain out of your bag when you're finished using it. I was happy with the choice I made because she looks like these dolls I used to collect when I was younger called Momiji. 

Now next to Tofu Cute, this next stall was one of my favourites. It was called Miwary (link to shop) and all the produce is hand made by a textile designer called Miwa Vicary. The most astonishing things about this shop was not only that it was all hand made, but Miwa was right infront of you the whole time sewing her tiny head pins and fabric tea cups. I honestly have so much love for her products and will definately be buying more. Whilst I was stood there in awe of her, I picked up a silk brooch for myself and a hand sewn panda grip for my friend. 

Beside her stall was another called Something Kawaii which sold unbelievably sweet stationary and other accessories. Even though I loved it all I was a little stunned by some of the prices, so I ended up only buying these wooden pins. I pinned my little Totoro to my dungarees and cannot wait to give the little panda man to my friend. 

As I mentioned previously there were also book stalls, which did not only sell manga but also sold more cultural orientated pieces as well. Being a huge fan of the fashion over in Japan, mainly for their courage to be so experimental, I picked up The Tokyo Lookbook and I cannot wait to read it. (it is also on my list of 'books to read after summer' next to my Bowie books).

That was all I bought there, I know not much right! I quickly also wanted to share some of the Polaroids I took during the day. Sadly I think there's something wrong with my Polaroid as I could never seem to get the subjects central:

This was a Geisha I met before she went on to do a performance and I also met the runner up for the fashion competition they had on the main stage. She was my favourite as her clothes were just so bright and colourful, I wish I had the guts to go out looking like that.

See, doesn't she just look so groovy. I also met the Japanese superstar Yun*chi who was wearing one of the most amazing outfits I have seen in a long time. It was basically a kimono which she had jazzed and moderned up with stripy tights and rocking horse shoes. She was so adorable, I just love Japanese people!

I had to take a photo of the shop assistant of the Tofu Cute stall as she was just oozing kawaii! 

Then for fun my mum and I went into a photo booth and got a few photos taken with the Alpacas, as for some reason they are the favoured animal amongst Japanese plushie and logos. Who knew? 

So even though very tiring and slightly crazy, I had a brilliant time overall and I can't wait to take my friends next year as I know they'll love it. And also thanks to my mama who came with me, even though I think she felt a little out of place when she saw all of the hardcore COS-players and Lolitas walking around. 

Wow, that was long. However you all deserved a long post, seeing as I have been a little sporadic with my posting regime. Also I shall be leaving you for a couple of weeks as I am off on holiday today for a fortnight. I may be able to post whilst I'm there, but don't be disappointed if I don't as we'll have a lot to catch up on when I get home. I hope you all are having a merry time as well since this weather is just so Tropicana right now!