It's a guide for finding certain awesome places that sell certain awesome things... in tokyo - you get one guess what the "awesome things" are...
I'm told that the ganguro are all but extinct now. I didn't see one of them in Shibuya on this last trip, but granted I didn't spend all that much time there. Freaky, though.
Didn't see any full-blown ganguro either, but the young ladies sure like the bleached blond look. Brian was kind enough to let me have an advance of this book and it was a great help finding many of the smaller shops. I would highly recommend it to anyone. I thought Akihabara was overrated. Too much of a carnival atmosphere and not enough vintage. Nakano was great and don't forget to visit Moda-Yu-Q-Te just outside of the Broadway Mall. Other faves: Ichiban-Boshi in Koenji, Home-Rice and Toys Paradise in Shimokitazawa, the Snoopytown store just outside the Harajuku station, and especially Cosmo Knight Alpha in Ekoda. For newer toys Yodobashi in Shinjuku had an amazing selection at incredible prices. To paraphrase Roger from his post a while back on WF: save your pennies for a trip to Tokyo and plan it to coincide with a toy festival. To add my own 2 cents: Don't just go for toys. Take a shinkansen ride out to the countryside, go sightseeing, do as much as you can in the time you are there. It would be a real shame to go to Japan and only see the inside of toy stores.
What exactly is a ganguro? Is it a Japanese valley girl? Those aren't dudes are they? I love all the freaky sub-cultures over there. The guys who dress up as dolls, not so much.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganguro My mommy told me there was no such thing as monsters. Then I saw a Yamanba. (Do some Google Image searches, too, freaky.)
I'd just like to thank Brian for all his hard work on this, and for turning this into a reality. It still seems odd to hold it in your hands. Oh, and Hi skullbrain people!
Tease-a Louise but seriously, it's a foil-stamped hardcover book with over 100 full color pages filled with maps, advice & hints, and awesome mind blowing photos from a ton of toy stores.
YAY! I can't wait to put this guide into action. Is Ultraman Land included or is that just too nerdy? I want to partake of their fine culinary offerings:
