Shibuya in the Spring

Today we take a photowalk around the Shibuya area on a sunny Spring day with the cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Starting off at Tower Records. CD's are still popular in the land of the rising sun and probably one of the few places left on earth where you can walk down a street and still see CD retail stores.

Back when I used to buy CD's, I would rip them into MP3's anyway and the CD would just be sitting on the shelf. Speaking of CD's, you can download the MP3 version of CD that I released a while ago called Mirai Music from YouTube and the Internets.

By the way, all photos on the site since the new design are now full HD which should make decent wallpaper for some of you - right click to save.

If you go to Shibuya of late you will see a ton of construction going around - all part of a plan to turn Shibuya into another city within a city.

Even trading websites have their own anime style characters.

It really depends on where you go but most stores in Japan don't bind or shrink wrap their magazines.

Pedestrian bridges are called Hodokyou ] - you will find a load of them in Japan.

Shibuya is a bit of a mess right now depending on where you go due to the construction.

Sakura outside Shibuya station.

There are a couple of nice ramen places under this bridge which is right beside Shibuya Station.

AKB48 - where fans like to buy more than 1 copy of the same CD.

Shibuya Hachiko crossing. The blue poster between the red and white one is for a drama that starts April 11th called Doesu Deka - you must watch it!

Wandering around Center Gai.

I read somewhere that Japan has the largest amount of published magazines in the world.

Shibuya crossing with 109 in the background.

Now that I have an apparel line for Smart Doll, I'm always on the look out for materials and 1/3 scale buttons.

Time for some Gorilla coffee.

I love music but have never been musical myself. If I was to choose an instrument to play it would be the piano. How many of you play an instrument that is not attached to your body?

Visual Kei guys.

Italian food in Japan is *very* popular and can be found just about everywhere.

I also find myself flicking through the lady magazines looking for apparel inspiration for our Smart Doll girls.

This chap is so popular - Gudetama - saw a load of it when I was in Taiwan too.

Truck advertising in Japan is a major form of street advertising which generates millions of yen of revenue.

Koen dori street in Shibuya.

Now that I'm working on Eiji Smart Doll, I'm also doing lots of research on Ikemen titles too ><

The magazine in the top right corner is Weekly Ascii by Kadokawa - I have a weekly column in Ascii that I have been writing for since last Summer.

More truck advertising outside Forever 21.

The Seibu department store.

Sakura and Narita Express.

Bicycle parking - 2 hours for free, 100 yen for 12 hours.

Goodies for the current Sentai series Shuriken Sentai Ninninger.

One bad thing about running a business - no time to make Gunpla anymore ><

I do wonder from time to time how Bandai make those multi colored runners. From my experience of making the Mirai Frame using injection molding, only a single color pellet would normally be injected into the injection molding machine.

Is Anpanman a popular series in your neck of the woods too?

Rin Shibuya from the iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls.

Makoto Tachibana from FREE raked very high on the Smart Doll Eiji wishlist.

Reaching out to grab a...

Love Live girls.

Do any of you look out for the limited edition figures from the UFO catchers?

Love Live plushies.

Love Live bikini girls.

Was Doraemon only popular outside Japan in Asia only?

Kotori-chan.

Bic Camera have about 2 stores in Shibuya which sells a load of electronic stuff - make sure you bring your passport and ask for "tax free" at the counter.

Yokai Watch - huge in Japan.

You can see graffiti in Japan but it seems to be concentrated in places which "seem" to be acceptable. You would very unlikely see trains covered in graffiti for example like the ones back home in the UK.

Remember to always look up when walking about in Japan as buildings are usually made up of a few floors of shops.