Japanese, Vintage And Kawaii Jewellery And Items

One for the girls. After coming back from Hyper Japan with tons of business cards and a re-ignited passion for cute jewelley, charms and items, I have decided to put together a (hopefully helpful) list of places where like minded people can get said items.

Fist of all... TOFU CUTE! One of my favourites and they have an amazing online stall! (http://www.tofucute.com/) I practically raided their stall last weekend at Hyper Japan and bought loads of great and immensely cute things from them. The prices are really reasonable too, and you can see them at many conventions and events up and down the UK! They put my purchases in mini pink drawstring gift bags - too cute >_<

Next, Two Bad Bananas (http://www.twobadbananas.com/ - but they use Etsy for most transactions) have some really original pieces, mostly in the shape of happy food, HOORAY :)
I first heard of Now, Voyager at Hyper Japan and I am amazed at their hair clip range including cakes, toys and birds XD I believe I even saw a lilly pad head clip. They are beautiful additions to any outfit. (http://www.now-voyager.co.uk/).

Another place that does original and quirky jewellery is Dragon Dreads. (http://www.dragondreads.co.uk/) They have everything from yummy pudding necklaces (I got an ice cream cone there :D) to miniture book necklaces including the Harry Potter and Twilight series. There were even cartoon character necklaces and Steampunk jewellery again, at very reasonable prices. I personally love their fruit necklaces and dolly mixture bracelets!

Whenever I'm in Reading, I always visit Octopus (they also have an online shop - http://www.octopusshop.com/) as their range is second to none. Everything from the handbags, (including the watering can handbag that I wore on Sunday) to rice bowls, beautifully painted hairbrushes and dog shaped spray bottles to business card holders and keyrings - the choice is endless and everything is guarenteed to be unique and fun :)

Walking around places like Chinatown or even your local high street can have some interesting finds such as.... CAPSULE MACHINES! For just £1 or £2 you can get phone charms, figures or keyrings from your favourite series or of your favourite character. In Chinatown there are also various shops labelled China Town Market which have original (and mostly good value) items like bento boxes, rings and plushies. One place in Chinatown even has a website - http://www.qutse.com/ - which looks really colourful!

In one, there's even a Puri Kura photo booth in one where you can take fun pictures with your friends and decorate them with drawings, backgrounds, special effects and pictures :D

6% Doki Doki visited the Japanese Arts Festival a while ago, and they even have an online shop. (http://www.6dokidoki.shop-pro.jp/ - I'm sure you can translate the page) A store based in Harajuku selling items for decora and kawaii fashion, some bits may be expensive but feel like you have a part of Harajuku with you. >3<

If you go onto Ebay and search for seller ILOVEKITSCH2004 it will come up with a great selection, most handmade by a lady I met at the London Film and Comic Con. I got a bracelet with a beautiful bronze wolf and glass hearts which is really pretty and amazingly it was only £6.
Sometimes at conventions, and in their shop in the Trocadero, Tokyo Toys do some great pieces, but the main place I visit in the Trocadero are the Japanese inspired accessory stores including THE PANDA STORE! Which sells, well, panda related items and sweet headbands.

Last but not least - why not try making your own? That way if you have a creative idea you can get exactly what you want and hopefully minimize the cost. If it's too difficult however, sites like Etsy and Ebay are great for comissions :) And if you are lucky enough to go abroad to a place like Japan or Hong Kong you can get them first hand from shops and markets.

I hope you have great fun finding your perfect accessories and continue to have fun with me, Finny :)

Ja ne!

Kawaii 5 0 - My Hyper Japan Experience

Afetr meeting people last weekend at the amazing event held in Olympia 2, London, many have said that I should start a blog. So.... here it is :D
Hyper Japan was one fun weekend! I went both Saturday and Sunday and what an amazing event! My friend Miyo gave me an invitation ticket so I could go on Saturday too and as I arrived at about 10:15am I was more or less straight in with a little time to talk to people in the queue. My heart goes out to those who queued for hours and those who eventually didn't get in; it's a horrible thing to happen but I hope that hasn't put you off coming to HJ.

Saturday showed Kanon Wakeshima perform armed with cello, black parasol and gorgeous white lolita dress. She was every inch a star which just shows that you can transcend the language barrier of a country if you have star quality and zeal. A pleasure to watch. I kicked off the day with the Lolita show on the main stage which was so colourful and cute. >_< I wish I could afford a larger Lolita wardrobe XD
I absolutely LOVED Tofu Cute's stall - one of my favourite purchases being a happy Lemon (I later decided it was a Zuzu fruit) phone charm and a macaroon necklace. That combined with the Lolita Bring And Buy table was heaven - I got two beautiful blouses and a pair of drawers for under a tenner each! Kudos to those running the stand as it was manic!

COSPLAY! How cool! Next year Hyper Japan are holding the Brittish qualifier for the International Cosplay summit in Nagoya, Japan! Will certainly be trying that! This year however saw plasma screen TVs, sewing machines and anime viewing subscriptions go to the winners of the Cosplay Awards and baskets of goodies go to the individuals. I was happy to see so many amazing cosplayers have fun and strut their stuff. My personal favourites was the girl cosplaying Grell (Kuroshitsuji) as she kept in character even when a piece of her costume fell off and the pair which involved Luffy (One Piece) and his friend manically eating a blow-up piece of meat. As a vegetarian, I approve :)

And the prizes for the raffle were so good - everyone who donated was so generous and I hope they raised a lot of money for Japan selling them and Sakura brooches.

Sunday was the climax for me  - The Kawaii Star of the Year 2011. I was so nervous when I arrived at the specific place (after trying to find Gate G - now that was an experience) as I wasn't very confident about the internet votes which counted for about half of the result. I'd had a lot of comments (many unsavoury) online and I knew I wasn't as popular as Gemma and Scarlett who had internet followings and many fans.
I was so happy I'd got into the final though as I had been recognized at the London Film and Comic Con and also in the Trocedero (which has so many cool places). Not only that but I filmed my video during a powercut and my entry pictures were ones I had found taken of me randomly at the Aid For Japan event. XD

I bought myself some manga (Heart No Kuni No Alice and the lastest volume of Code:Breaker) to calm me down, and visited the Third Window film booth where I got a copy of Love Exposure. Then I went into hair and makeup at 12 noon. I met Scarlett the day before and I had talked to her, Nazia and Crystal online. It was my first time meeting Gemma but I was surprised at how nice and down to earth everyone was. They were all lovely girls! My make up took the best part of half an hour and my hair about the same if not longer. Make up had to be thick to be seen onstage well but despite the heat in the changing room/green room I was so excited! It was a flurry of accessories, clothing, hair products and make up.

My curlers saved the day as no one else had brought any any almost everyone used them - especially me whose hair was curled to perfection. (A great big thank you to everyone working backstage - they were all so nice and professional!) When it was time to start we all nervously took our places by the stage side untill it was our turn to go on. I could see the performances of those before me and they were all so good! Crystal and Gemma sang and danced so well (I loved Crystal's dress so much >3<) and Nazia was a natural at handing out her cupcakes in ice-cream cones. I was too nervous to eat one -_- Then it was my turn to go on. I'm so pleased everything went well! I danced for all the people who had voted for and supported me, and I hope anyone who received an origami heart from me liked it. I didn't realise they played my slideshow in the background until I saw pictures of it XD

Then it was CHOAS! I could hear Scarlett go on as I raced back to the changing room where everyone was in various states of undress putting on their Yukatas. Specially chosen for each of us, two ladies were doing up Gemma and Nazia's obis when I burst in. Manic doesn't cover it. Crystal was still having her hair and make up done when she was recalled on stage and I had three people doing my hair, make up and dressing me at the same time :S Don't get me wrong - IT WAS THE FUNNEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE :D
Everything looked great, and I had to fling my feet into the tradtional sandals quickly as the stage runner was already calling my name. I'm not afraid to admit I cried on stage in the Yukata. It was an emotional experience - everyone cried either onstage or backstage at some point. It also means so much to me as I'm too poor to go to Japan and I love all things cute. Being a covergirl for Kera magazine would also be like a dream come true. I saw my Grandmother in the front row bursting with pride and I just blubbed. Sorry everyone hehe.

The results were the most nerve wracking thing. I had eaten my free bento box :) but was in danger of not having it hang around long enough to be digested and onstage I was shaking uncontrollably. Then Gemma came 3rd winning a Kawaii.i (add them on Facebook fellow cute lovers :) ) gift box, Nazia came 2nd winning an ipod sound system and Scarlett came 1st. Congratulations to them - they all deserved it :D

Of course I was upset I didn't place, but my Baby The Stars Shine Bright dress was so beautiful and peoples comments so positive that I couldn't stay sad for long (although I did have a sniffle into my kleenex) I also made new friends and got to meet Kanon Wakeshima! It was great we got to keep the Yukata aswell, and I was so happy I had made it this far. I felt proud inside that I had the guts to be brave and enter, and also felt that although I didn't place, the haters hadn't won!
Perks included getting Kanon's music lists from backstage and having loads of people add me on facebook who I've discussed many a great thing with. I also found out that although I was last in the online votes which had greatly influenced the overall descision, I was very high in the audience vote and one judge had picked me as their 1st choice (I can't tell you who though...sorry about that)! Overall I had a great experience and would definitely recommend visiting Hyper Japan! Being slightly obsessed with food meant that I had a good taste of everything and I loved the ice cream which my favourite flavours became Mango and Chestnut, and the bento boxes <3 My friends at the Maid Cafe and Takoyaki stall were also fantastic and are so nice - please support their events and Like their pages on Facebook (Maid(*)Planet, Oh! My Lord and Maids Of England).

Thank you for reading my first blog post EVER! I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that you'll read my next post of cultural learnings and have fun with Finny ;)

Ja mata!