Stuff I bought in Japan

I didnt' buy that much stuff in Japan because i'm not really a shopper and i'm to g-damn indecisive to ever buy anything and I'm really cheap too. I bought mostly art related stuff. And Beer. and Onigiri (riceballs) at the various convenience stores.

I finally found some sweet Japanese paper! Masako used to work at Sogo in Osaka and there is a paper store in there. the guy said that these were all taken from Kimonos from some era. there were $1.50-$2.50 per sheet. there were tons of other amazing papers that were on huge sheets that i couldnt buy because they were expensive and too huge. I need these for inspiration. I am in love with these, i want to rub them all over my body, but that would make them disintegrate when they come in contact with my grosso shweaty body.


got this little box at sogo also. I went to sogo in beijing yesterday and it is so suck. no japanese stuff, only chinese stuff.


got these in kyoto, not at good. if you want to see more paper i bought then you can check them out on my illustration blog.


jonny managed to get this weird job where he inspects pens. inspects pens! anyway i think that is where he got these and gave them to me.

i got two of these watercolor books in osaka


i got bob a pair of bunny rabbit ninja socks with 2 toes. Now i just remembered that I should have gotten him to different kinds because he wears only mismatching socks.

some ear spoons.


gonna try these japanese pencils. HB is how i roll. i'm guessing japan is like korea and there are big conglomerate corporations that make a wide range of stuff such as Mitsubishi, who knew they made pencils too?

here is a good example of the range of toys you can buy from vending machines here. on the left a kids toy from the anpanman show and on the right a bound up adult toy. have fun kiddies

Akari's mom used to work at this art store in tokyo in Ginza. i got a watercolor postcard set and finally found watercolor water brushes that unscrew into two parts and fit in my travel watercolor kit.


All i could get wat this little Ponyo poster. i can't wait to watch it with english subtitles. i will go cry myself to sleep now.

i got this sweet brush pen with a refill capsule. they had like 30 different kinds of brush pens at this store. it was beautiful. they also had the cadillac of pencil holders there that i should have purchased now after second though.

me and Akari did the photobooth thing.


this is the piece of paper i pulled out of the fortune drawer at some temple in tokyo. apparently it is supposed to be the best one where all my wishes will come true.

the styles are crazy in japan. the quality is great too. i felt like a woman. i wanted to buy everything. i ended up buying this jacket. also not pictured are the amazing socks i got at uniqlo. i can't wear those ninja socks or the multi toed socks because they freak me out.

pants from uniqlo modeled properly by me, the j-roc

Miscelaneous Japan Pics and Videos

a bowing geisha thing in Kyoto in one of the shops around Kiyomizu Dera. I was mesmorized by this thing for some reason. maybe it was the heat. Maybe i wanted one of these at my door to bow unfailingly everytime I leave and come home. VIDEO

me going about 180mph on the shinkansen "bullet train" between osaka and tokyo. VIDEO

me again at dinner in shibuya with ayako, yuri, yukari, and the guy i forgot his name.

this is the speedboat stadium in osaka near jonny's house. this is where all those old guys were betting on races. its a panorama CLICK TO ENLARGE!

a panorama of the triangle shaped park in America Mura in Osaka. A very cool area for people watching. lots of young folks and crazy fashions CLICK TO ENLARGE!

If you're like me and your japanese beer knowledge was limited to Asahi, Sapporo, and Kirin then you would have been tickled pink when you walked into the grocery store. this is by jonnys house in osaka. There are about a million kinds of Japanese beer/Hoposhu/whatever the new stuff is. I think i managed to try most of them in 8 days, especially thanks to our beer sampling night that night where we got about 10 different kinds. Again with the Japanese it was all quality! i open up beers here in Beijing wether they be Tsingdao or Heieken and a lot of times they are flat and tasting oh so weird.

the beer cooler isle just keeps stretching onward.

Last Day in Tokyo

doesn't really count cuz i had to wake up early and spent the whole day going back to beijing. first i had to take the shinkansen bullet train back to osaka, then another train to the airport, then a plane to taiping china or something like that then a plane to beijing.

don't be sad Gatchapin. you will have a new home in Beijing soon.

sake vending machine


this is the shower/bath area of the hotel. cheap hotels in china all have shared baths (there was just a toilet in the hotel room).

on the shinkansen. I fell asleep and missed Mt. Fuji the first time i rode the shinkansen so i had to stay awake to see it this time. I waited by the window around the time i calculated for 20 minutes and was like what's going on and went to the other window and there he was ! Fuji-san. I saw him for about 20 seconds before we went into a mountain tunnel and he was never to be seen again. It was MAGICAL. they say in the lonely planet book that Fuji-san is very elusive and it is hard to see it except for a few times a year because of haze and clouds and atmospheric crap. I feel like this is something that they could have based "big bird goes to japan" on


waiting for the train to the airport back in osaka. didnt ride this one though.

a cute train supervisors type girl.

The japanese and their quality really get me. they even print the picture of the guy who made the sandwich on the label!

watching the sumo opening ceremonies at the airport

the even had an automatic foamy/liquid soap dispenser

and a thank you sign from the bathroom cleaning team!

sorry but i am just transformed into a 5 year old when i see clouds like this

i like how you can see the curve of the earth

here we go, some good chinglish grammar for you. this ones even better its a "hygiene wet turban needless wash". WELCOME TO THIS FLIGHT!

the worst


when we were taxiing in taiping we went by a bunch of fighter jets. kind of scary that they are at a "civilian" airport. there were tons of guys covering them up with tarps.
on this flight back to bejing they treated us to a box with 2 bread rolls in it! and 2 heigene wet turban needless washes! WELCOME BACK TO CHINA JASON, no more quality for you, but that's ok because i'm broke now.