Tokyo Midtown

[runner]

katajikenai senchou


something served like that on rice can usually be sushi, yes.
but what makes sushi sushi is sumeshi.
su-meshi, su is vinegar, meshi is rice. also known as shushi-meshi or shari.
sumeshi is the rice cured and seasoned generally with vinegar, salt, and sugar.
the reason I put "generally" above is because the way you make sumeshi (the proportion, the quality of those ingredients, particular use of other ingredients, the technique for mixing them, the temperature, etc) is what makes difference, the important part of what your sushi your own. so an authentic sushi place would be super picky about preparing sumeshi first of all.
so something served other way with sumeshi can also be sushi.

then there are some kinds of sushi. these below are the ones very popular all over the country.
there are other types of sushi locally available too (the idea of eating tsukemono as sushi is not something you'd often see around tokyo certainly btw), some of which are so vernacular that I cannot eat them to be honest.

inari-zushi

maki-zusi

chirashi-zushi

temaki-zushi

oshi-zushi

kakinoha-zushi

 

[softgrey]

senchou sounds better than captain, imo...


thanks for all of those links runner!
so helpful and omoshiroi...


the last one- kakinoha-zushi is especially appealing to me...
the pressed sushi and the preserved toppings just seem totemo oishii...
plus they are quite lovely wrapped in their leaves like a little package...

i hope i will get to try all of these varieties eventually...
i had no idea that there are so many...
i think most westerners think of sushi only as raw fish on rice...
i also saw a cooking show where they showed how to season sushi rice and to fan it so it cools...
it really is more complicated than it looks...

i got to go to a real izakaya in LA...
did i tell you?
we ate so many things...
and it was all very reasonable and very good...
but we still didn't share food the way it's really done in Japan...
we all just ate what we had ordered...
...

the only 'izakaya' i know of in NYC is just silly...
each dish is really small and really expensive and you can easily spend more than $100 on a meal...
it's really tasty...but it's not really an izakaya...
just a fancy japanese restaurant with small dishes...


i was actually amazed at how much more japanese culture you can find in LA...
it makes sense since it is closer to Asia, but it is disappointing because one always thinks of NY as having everything...
and it does...
just not tons of it...
NYC is definitely more influenced by Europe...imo...
this was the first time i really understood and experienced that fully...

 

[softgrey]

here are some fun paper goods purchased in tokyo...
@museum shops, tokyu hands, loft, etc...
i REALLY controlled myself because there were seemingly endless options and paper goods become a heavy thing to carry around...

NYA~!!!


*some lighters i got had shinjuku and omotesando, etc written on them...
lighters seemed like a good souvenir...
i especially love the silly bic polka dot ones which are not available here at all...

 

[softgrey]

....

 

[Melisande]

かわいいいい！(*^o^*)/

Kawaii! Love your selections, ranging from the cutesy to the cultural.

That's too bad you didn't share the izakaya dishes, I can see how that might happen. It seems strange to us though, like ordering chips or olives and eating it all yourself, lol. I guess, as you know, the thing is that in Japan each dish is usually cheaper (like 4 dollars?), so we just order a whole bunch, often multiples of each, and consider the food, as great as it is, as secondary nibbles to the drink. Gaaa, I miss izakaya...the endless ice-cold mugs of shochu sours and hot crispy calamari and the crazy drunk conversations.

 

[softgrey]

かわいいいい！

i'm gonna take a wild guess that this says kawaii?!?
...

thanks M~!
i felt like a bought so many things but it looks rather tame and sensible when it's all together like that, no?
of course, i can't bring myself to use any of it yet!
i just like looking at it ...
...

 

[Melisande]

Good guess!
Oh yeah it's a totally reasonable amount, esp. since the photos overlap.

And hey I didn't know you're a cat person!
I love the word "koneko" (or "koneko-chan") meaning kitten.
I just think it's a super cute word.

 

[runner]

thanks for the pics softgrey
I was wondering what the little nya socks are like. it's a great sock (in some way it looks like catfish or loach too).
the buy seems to have been edited nicely, though it might have been a natural result.



two new colors of the watch designed by tokujin yoshioka for issey miyake
water blue and sea blue
it's 25g.

fashionpress

 

[softgrey]

Good guess!
Oh yeah it's a totally reasonable amount, esp. since the photos overlap.

And hey I didn't know you're a cat person!
I love the word "koneko" (or "koneko-chan") meaning kitten.
I just think it's a super cute word.

thank you for teaching me a new word!
i knew that neko is cat but did not know about kitten...
i recently watched a film called '24 eyes' about a teacher in japan and she always called the little students "____chan"...
i got to understand this as an affectionate diminutive and find it very charming as well...
...

 

[softgrey]

thanks for the pics softgrey
I was wondering what the little nya socks are like. it's a great sock (in some way it looks like catfish or loach too).
the buy seems to have been edited nicely, though it might have been a natural result.



two new colors of the watch designed by tokujin yoshioka for issey miyake
water blue and sea blue
it's 25g.

fashionpress

yes!
i can see a catfish or loach there as well...
...
i had been looking for some animal socks from merci beaucoup, since they did that great animal collection that season, but found nothing...
so i was especially please when i cam across these...
btw-i only like the nya face...
the skinny little body it has isn't very kawaii to me...
...

lovely colours on that watch...
you know, i had not realised until i got back home that the issey miyake watch that i love so much was designed by him...
i had been wondering when you said that you remembered that i like his work, what the heck?- because i didn't understand that this was some of his work...
silly me!!!
......

 

[softgrey]

i need a little help on this kudasai...

i got this spray in tokyo...
frankly, i thought is was a bar of some hair wax, because it was taped shut so i could not open it in the store...
imagine my surprise when i got it home and it is a spray?!?!...
......

i know it is some mens stuff and it is a very strong spray...
it's very sticky!
can someone please read the label and tell me what the important things are that i should know when using it...?

like- should i use it like hairspray at the end of styling...?
or at the beginning before blow drying?
should i even use a blow dryer?
use on dry hair, wet hair?

help, kudasai!

 

[softgrey]

also-
i got this little microwave steamer...
is there anything i should know from the label?
the main thing i don't know is how many minutes...

domo arigato in advance!

*eta- hmmm- maybe it's too hard to read this?

 

[Melisande]

Basically 1-2 minutes for 50 grams of veg, add 30 sec. when steaming 100g.
HTH

 

[Melisande]

Re the hair spray it doesn't mention wet/dry hair or hair dryer as far as I can see.
A bit foggy, but it basically just says to massage the product well into the hair after each spray to style, and to use about 10 to 15 sprays per head (of short hair I presume). It says you can spray directly on the hair or apply it to your hands first, and they recommend finishing up by applying by hand.

 

[runner]

yes!
i can see a catfish or loach there as well...
...
i had been looking for some animal socks from merci beaucoup, since they did that great animal collection that season, but found nothing...
so i was especially please when i cam across these...
btw-i only like the nya face...
the skinny little body it has isn't very kawaii to me...
...

lovely colours on that watch...
you know, i had not realised until i got back home that the issey miyake watch that i love so much was designed by him...
i had been wondering when you said that you remembered that i like his work, what the heck?- because i didn't understand that this was some of his work...
silly me!!!
......

ahh I see, the nya body. today's japanese girls tend to like certain cuteness. something cute but also somewhat creepy and uncanny. so ne-net had to prepare it in both ways. the entire nya for them who have that particular/vernacular taste and the face version for those who don't need the surprising element.

of what tokujin did, the most familiar work internationally might be this exhibition from 1998.
he was there for "Mise-en-scène ".

ISSEY MIYAKE MAKING THINGS

designed by Tokujin Yoshioka

The composed theme of the hall is "Moving". "It is possible to express the function of clothes or a production process of it with new skill..." There is a sensor controlled mechanism used for the exhibition, that is effected by the movements of the people. "This is not only to move, but to bound, indirectly expressing the shrinking of clothes. And the material, the pleats, can show comical movements or expressions. They are very interesting". This exhibition had a new record number of visits here.

from here



around 10:30 if you are interested




artgene

 

[runner]

let me guess that the shiseido stuff for having short hair erected is something someone who always has no time in the morning is supposed to use. maybe like someone who wakes up and has to go out soon and wants to style as quickly/easily as possible. basically for the half sleeping hair right after being separated off the pillow, so not wet especially, and originally for the head without any diligent idea of using a blow dryer.

 

[softgrey]

thanks so much for translating M and for interpreting runner!
that makes sense...
and seems perfect for me...
i HATE styling my hair---...

that is so interesting about the issey miyake exhibit...
i saw that show here in NYC...
it continues to stay with me...
it was so nice to see the footage of the kids interacting with it...
my heart still beats a little faster when i think about it...
the sense of lightness and joy i felt when i was at that show is something i will never forget...
i often wish that it would be done again because i'd like to take everyone i know to go see it and experience it for themselves...

that - and the boiler room featuring yohji's inverted wedding dress are the two most remarkable displays i have ever seen of 'fashion as art'...

again~i did not realize it was his exhibit design...
i guess i really do like his work...
even more than i realized...
*one funny thing is that there was a video about his work during the exhibit in tokyo that i watched in a small room, but i don't remember them mentioning any of this...
they did mention that he had worked with issey miyake- but more about the window displays...
i didn't not realize how deep the collaboration went...
thanks so much for enlightening me~!

thanks also for explaining about the nya body---
i guess i can understand this now that i understand more about japanese culture and aesthetics...
though i probably would not have realised this totally on my own...
and it is still something odd to my western sensibilities...
i would say it is something peculiarly particular to the japanese...


i confess, now that you have explained it so well...
i can definitely see the cuteness in the oddness...
i may even start to like it now...
...

 

[softgrey]

these are some socks i did find while i was there...
vivienne westwood
i've never seen socks by her before, not even in her london flagship!
and the orb logo is one of my favourite graphics on earth...
so i was mighty pleased when i found these- i think they are from seibu...

and the mina perhonen socks come from their little corner store-
it's in harajuku/omotesando?- on the outskirts by some museum? the one you mentioned to me runner...
i went there in the evening and then had dinner at ippudo which was close by...
i wish i had realized about the museum because i might have gone in, but it was closed by the time i got there...
anyway- i'm very glad i found the store and these cozy wool socks...
love the colours- the black and brown with the burnt orange is just so unusual to find and so elegant to me...
isn't the packaging adorable?

 

[Melisande]

Oh very cute socks! Looove VW!! (But not in the Goth-lolita way she's popular in Japan.)

Yeah, in Japan they have these licensed V.W. accessories...they have shoes, socks/leggings/tights, and I think they had wallets and things too. They had these adorable multi-strap shoes I wanted so badly, but since they're made for the Japanese market they were too small for me.

 

[runner]

with his work, tokujin finds the senses and feelings the most important. for example, if he does a chair, he wants the chair to have a new, unexpected noise, a new sense of touch, etc, when you sit on it. rather than designing the shape, form, or appearance, he wants to be designing the sensation. rather than the object, it's the feeling.

the success of the display in the boiler room by masao nihei seems to have come from water. if it had been a mirror, it might have been too hard, stable, and clear even in the dim-lighted space, as gaston bachelard says "one cannot dream profoundly with objects. to dream profoundly, one must dream with substances".
and then, rather than yohji's dress, perhaps it was his dress in the water.
it's the imagination rather than the object, here too.


thanks for the pics of the lovely socks!
I remember you got the wool ones at the harajuku store, but didn't know you got the vivienne westwood ones at seibu. you seem to be a serious hunter.
the mina perhonen shopping bag looks a bit like my lunch bag from muji.