Benefit Sale

After watching the horrific aftermath unfold on TV, I put a few items for benefit sale. All the proceeds from sales of these items will be donated to Red Cross Haiti relief efforts(Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross). These are some of the items and more will be added in next few days...

Ginza at Night

Shopping in Tokyo is intense during New Year Day holiday season. Japanese people usually exchange gifts on or after New Year's day. Unlike in US, Christmas shopping is not so big in Japan, but most shopping is done for and around New Year's Day. I was in Ginza two or three days after New Year's Day, and the shopping district was packed.
I took in some sights and photographed some buildings in Ginza.
Second photo is de Beers building. It looks like it's melting or swaying...little ironic given Japan has frequent earthquakes. The next image is that of Mikimoto buliding. Very elegant, reminded me of birdnest stadium in Beijing(although this one was designed by Japanese architect). And lastly, the all glass brick building is Hermes building. Biggest Hermes store I've seen anywhere. It lits up like a some overpriced barcounter at George Cloony's bachelor pad. It tells you how popular Hermes brand is in Japan. It's pretty to look at, especially at night, if not a bit monolithic(I am talking about the building, not Mr. Cloony)
The last picture is of a German style beerhall in Ginza. The fabulous "Ginza Lion" beerhall was built in the 1930's. Sytlish tile works on the ceiling reflect Art Deco trend of the day. I am surprised how well it's been kept up all these years...even the light fixtures seemed to be original. When in Tokyo, drop in for a beer, and for not so shabby food and atmosphere.

Cosplay at Akihabara

On January 3, I was on a commuter train heading to Sugamo section of Tokyo, but happened to see some event happening on a plaza in Akihabara section. I decided to get off the train to see what was going on. It turned out to be a big cosplay convention that spilled out to the outdoor plaza from adjacent tech skyscrapper. There were young girls and boys in their teens and early twenties dress up like their favorite anime characters. And there were middle aged men feverishly taking their pictures. My companion tells me that the photographers are probably both professionals(press from some magazine covering the convention) and amatuers(hobbists who collects cosplay youth photos). I notice cute girls in Lolita dresses surrounded by two or three photographers. I see boys in full make up and French maid outfits. Admission fee is required to enter the convention and to take photos, but I sneak some snap shots. I was more facinated by the interaction between posing cosplayers and the photographers than the cosplayers.

New Year's Feast in Japan

For the new year's day, I was in Japan . I was treated to delicious traditional Japanese food for the New Year's Day. I was told some of the food was catered from a local restaurant/caterer originating from Hokkaido, northern part of Japan famous for sea foods and diary. The guy pictured above was already in my stomach when I took that pic...