Dear Diane, Dear Shaded Viewers,
Here are a couple photos from tokyo with my amazing hostess Akiko.
Graham Tabor and Akiko Hamaoka
The first day we went to a bunch of stores. I was totally shopped out. But it was good and Akiko seems to know everything. I found a lot of good stores for FLY too. A couple of the best were Mr. Holywood, which is Japan’s answer to the old-fashioned Americana trend and Loveless a multi brand dance party.
Mr. Hollywood
In the stairway to the 2nd floor in Loveless was a massive crystal multi-colored fruit chandelier.
Loveless
After dinner, Akiko took me to an amazing bar Quien, which also has a sister restaurant down the street. It’s in an ancient little house. The stairs are so steep you can barely climb them. Up on the 2nd fl. is a little balcony up at the tip-top of the cieling. It’s just big enough for 2. Suuuuuuper cozy.
Quien
We of course went to Shibuya. The manga cafe is like being on board a Gothic Starship Enterprise. The lighting is insane in there. And yes, the girls in Shibuya 109 are crazy, but my favorite thing there were the manikins. Even they had fake tans!
Manga Cafe
Homeless and Shibuya 109
My last night there Akiko took me to this tiny restaurant-Adan Ohana Gallery. We had an egg dish with Lily root. It was like a super light illy root omelet floating on a clear broth soup.
Then we headed off to Shinjuku, where daido moriyama took a lot of his famous photographs. All of the bars there were so tiny-and packed 30 to a street with just enough room for 5 or 6 people in each bar. Unfortunately no photos-they don’t let you take them in the neighborhood unless you pay first.
Much Love,
Graham
