Harajuku Joshi (Harajuku Girls)


What the place Harajuku is? 
Harajuku is the general name of the area in Tokyo. It is from Harajuku Station to the Omotesando area. Takeshita Street is famous street. As we see the history in Harajuku, it goes back a long way. Actually I don't know the history before I was born, but for example, a lot of young people were crowded at Takeshita street in 1980 because many shops dealing with apparel, talents' goods, etc. gathered shops, gathered there intensively. In 1990, some import shops came at Omotesando, and this area was called Ura-Harajuku. 

 Read, See and Know Harajuku with a book "Hara-J (Harajuku-Joshi)" 
There is a book I recommend for you. The book's name is "Hara-J". There are many snap shots in the book and even if you don't know Japanese words, you could enjoy and know about Harajuku's atomosphere. Watch a video immediately below. It showed all pages of this book! 

 Skimming thru "Haraj"


 Do you need more? You can see more photos and videos at Hara-J Official Website. 

 Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's Making of Hara-J


I guess many women's magazines control Japanese women's fashion. There are so many magazines for women. How many girls books are there in Japan? Click here to learn it. 

 Wanna buy this book? If you want, please make your order on PIJ with this link. 
http://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/12076712/, and go to How to order it on PIJ. 
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Official Watch for Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Conan THE MOVIE

"Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Conan THE MOVIE" is now showing at the theater in Japan. Both of Lupin and Conan are super popular Japanese anime in the world now. 
Check the official website! 






Official Watch will be Released! 
In commemoration of the cinema release, a Japanese company has released a special watch in a limited quantity. (5000 watches in the world!)
Check the watch's detail page! 

 Watch's Feature
There are only Japanese words in the page, so I pick up the feature translating in English here. They say in the page that it is the first time a watch with Lupin and Conan to be released in history. It comes with a special watch box and the body itself has high performance. Of course, it was made in Japan. Now they are accepting orders online, and they will ship out in the early of February 2014. Also, there are 3 types in the size. (S, M, and L) I could see "S= 15 cm, M = 17.5 cm, L = 19 cm" in the page. You need to choose which size do you like. 

 Watch's price
Item price: 29,300 yen 
Domestic Shipping: 630 yen 
and... 
International Shipping: Approx. 2,500 yen

 Total: 32,430 yen
(How to make order for the item)

 Please note that the above total price is my estimate price. The total may change in a little range. If you make order from us, you need to pay for the total includes commission and handling fees. If you like to know about our fees, please check our information page. 









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Kuroko's basketball x BEAMS T-Shirts 2014




Kuroko's Basketball (Tadatoshi Fujimaki) and MANGART BEAMS T will release their collaboration T-shirts "T. KUROKO" in January 2014. Now we can make order for the T-shirts on BEAMS Online Shop. 

 What is Kuroko's Basketball?
Kuroko's Basketball is Japanese anime (manga) known as Kuroko no Basuke (黒子のバスケ) or Kurobasu, which began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2008. Why is this anime so popular? I need to say nothing. You will understand if you watch it. (you can watch at AnimeFave with English sub!)

 What is BEAMS? 
BEAMS is an apparel chain store begun in 1976 in Japan. Usually they import products from overseas and sell them in Japan. I often visited the store in Amemura in Namba, Osaka. There were many cool items, but it was little bit expensive for me in that days... 

 Kuroko x BEAMS T-Shirts
Now they are accepting orders for the T-shirts. All each price is 5250 yen and there are 4 sizes from XS - L in size. They will accept your order until December 13 and will be shipped out from January 14 2014. 

 Hurry up to get it! 
Kuroko T-Shirts on BEAMS Online Shop 

 You can order through PIJ! 
How to order at Japanese Online Stores
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Where does Itasha (decoration cars) go?

Many Itasha took part in "Minkara Open Meeting 2013" which was held at Yamanako lake in Japan. Itasha is a car decorated or painted with anime characters. I introduced some really "Itai (痛い)" cars here. Enjoy it!







(All pictures via from Alfalmosaic)
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FUJIFILM instax mini 90 NEO CLASSIC Upgraded Cheki

"instax mini 90 NEO CLASSIC" is an instant camera manufactured by FUJIFILM in Japan. It was released on September 20 in 2013 and it is a camera Cheki upgraded. 

What is Cheki? 
”Cheki” is a way to call a product "Instax" by FUJIFILM. In Japan, we call it "Cheki" for a long time, but I knew that it has been called "Instax" overseas. 


Useful functions hinge upon the upgrade
In comparison with Cheki released before, this new version camera has many useful functions for modern people. Regardless of instant camera, it has progressed strongly in the functional aspect and picture quality. A thing I would like to tell you in this camera's functions is "Double exposure mode". By selecting the double exposure mode and pressing the shutter button twice, you can superimpose two different images in one frame to create an artistic photo. (via intax.com). Actually I didn't use a function like that and I'm really interested in it. 

Where can you buy? How much is it? 
Actually, I don't know if you can get the camera in your country. Perhaps, there may be some your country's version instax already. Here, I show you prices at online stores in Japan. If you like, please order the camera on our website PIJ. And this is "How to order products from the online stores in Japan". 

FUJIFILM ONLINE
Price: 19,800 yen
Shipping in Japan: Free
In Stock now (12/11/2013)

Sakatsu Shopping
Price: 16,300 yen
Shipping in Japan: Free
Only 3 left in stock (12/11/2013)

Yodobashi.com
Price: 18,600 yen
Shipping in Japan: Free
In Stock now (12/11/2013)

It would be great you take pictures at Christmas party. Because you can give a picture to someone in the party as ONLY ONE CHRISTMAS PRESENT. 
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Top 7 of Japanese actress hired for TV commercials in 2013




On December 10, Nihon Monitor Corporation announced a ranking of Japanese actress who is most hired on the TV commercials in 2013 in Japan! Let's see it! 

1. Emi Takei (17 companies)
2. Mariko Shinoda (15 companies) 


3. Rola (14 companies) 

4. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Ayame Goriki (12 companies) 

5. Kasumi Arimura, Aya Ueto, Haruka Shimazaki (AKB48), Kanon Tani, Becky (11 companies) 
6. Tomomi Itano, Yuki Kashiwagi (AKB48), Mirei Kiritani, Haruna Kojima (AKB48), Maki Horikita (10 companies) 
7. Yuki Amami, Satomi Ishihara, Yuko Oshima (AKB48), Tsubasa Honda, Atsuko Maeda (9 companies) 

(referring source: Nihon Monitor http://www.n-monitor.co.jp/english.html)

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Little different Christmas in Japan



I often see illumination for Christmas coming. Since early times, in Japan, people have practiced Buddhism and Shinto for a long time, so there is a little difference in Christmas from overseas. 

 What does Christmas mean to Japanese people? 

 Streets, buildings, stores and houses are decorated with twinkling color lights during this season in Japan. As you already know, Christmas is originally the annual Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and a widely observed holiday around the world, However, Christmas Day is not a national holiday in Japan. Christmas in Japan is a little different from Christmas in western countries. Usually, people in Japan enjoy celebrating Christmas regardless of their religion. It is like a festival and commercial matter for many people. 
Christmas food in Japan

 Important Christmas food for most Japanese are cake and chicken. Almost fathers buy cakes after thier works and get home to celebrate Christmas Day. Oh I must not forget the chicken. (my favorite food). In Japan, it is very popular to eat chicken in Christmas Day. Kentucky Fried Chicken stores are crowded with a lot of customers at the day. 



Home illumination excited with feelings of competition

 In this season, road in the night is light with the twinkle lights decorated with their homes. Daddy tries hard to decorate his house for their family using his holiday. As a house have lights, next door neighbor have more lights. Seeing it, daddy decides to raise the amount of lights, and the neighbor do the same thing again. In the result... 





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