-Shop cute Japanese products and cool products from Japan. This cute blog is about Japanese kawaii, kawaii Japan, kawaii fashion, Japanese pop culture and more. It's a kawaii blog from Japan, Japan blog in English by a Japanese girl.

Mens/ladys/kids casual clothing store
Shimamura (Takadanobaba branch store)
nearest train station: Takadanobaba
address: 1-28-7 Daimaru Peacock 2F Takadanobaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
phone: 03-5291-9073
open: 10:00am – 8:00pm

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You may have heard of this clothes shop called Shimamura. But it’s not as recognizable as Shibuya 109 or other major fashion store. Their clothes are very reasonable. They have men’s, lady’s and kid’s casual clothing, socks, underwear, and even shoes. (Shoes seemed to be only lady’s.) What’s more, they carry big size as well! (As big as 5L) The other day, I had this very first chance to check out the Shimamura store near Takadanobaba station with my foreign friend who has been searching for a pair of shoes that fits her feet.

Tokyo-Seoul Beautiful legs
22/JAN/2011 on air

Winter 2011, Tokyo…

People enjoy boots, leggings, knee-high socks…and even the loose socks are coming back among high school girls?? But the difference from last boom is that they wear the loose socks over high socks in dark blue. BTW, speaking of the beautiful legs, we cannot talk about it without referring to SNSD (Girls’ Generation, and in Japan they are called “Shoujo Jidai”).

In Japan, who do you think of the one who has beautiful legs? IKKO is popular. (note: IKKO is a hair makeup artist and is a charismatic beauty advisor who often appears on TV and magazines. He is one of the most popular gay talent in Japan.) How did IKKO keep his legs in good shape, even though he gained a lot of weight in his 30s? He owns over 300 pairs of high heels. Above all, he likes the ones with 15cm heels. He takes off the shoes straps intentionally, to bring a feeling of tension while he walks.

Which boots make your legs look beautiful? It’s “Kaijuu(=monster) boots” definitely!!

Some people make the monster boots by themselves. Choose the fake fur fabric, cut it in an appropriate size and glue it around the boots. The tip is to cut the fabric from back side. When you glue it, don’t do it too tight, but make it loose and that will allow the boots make the mokomoko (=fluffy) look. Finally add a ribbon with a safety pin and it’s done! The budget will be around 4000yen and it’ll take about half an hour.

Beni-chan also owns over 50 pairs of boots. She is a booths mania. But she also says the monster boots are the absolute ones that make her legs look nice.

Jonte’ Moaning is a professional choreographer who works with super singers such as Janet Jackson and Beyonce. How does he maintain his beautiful legs? He wears 20cm heels, which gives him a good exercise.

EDWIN sells leggings-look jeans. The product feature is comfortable like leggings, but they look like jeans. You can actually wear them like jeans (without covering your hips with tunic, for example). They are trying to bring back the young people who don’t like wearing jeans any longer. Thus, they sell this product at a book store, for example, where people do not come to look for jeans. This is their strategy to gain new customers who do not bother to visit a jeans shop. Sheer tights industry is producing fashionable tights that can beat leggings.

Girls’ Generation from Korea.

The skinny jeans they were wearing in their promotion video recorded a big hit. They are actually from this store in Korea. Many fans visit this store to get the same jeans.

There is a Girls’ Generation’s personal trainer working in this gym. “Their legs were not beautiful from the beginning. They gained the great look thanks to their hard training,” says the trainer. “It’s important to exercise your hipline. That’s because giving an exercise around your hip eventually makes your thighs and calves look beautiful.”

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is a high school girl model who is cazy about socks. She thinks of total coordination from socks. Socks can be a good tool to make legs look beautiful.

It was Tabio, the Japanese socks brand that John Galliano used for the Paris Collection 2010. Tabio is secretly supported by European women little by little. Kutsushitaya is its retail shop. There are 270 stores in Japan and 11 stores overseas.

Ochi-san is a man who created this brand all by himself. He was sent out to an apprenticeship at the age of 15 at a socks store and he started his own business at the age of 28. It’s not too much to say that he has devoted his 56 years of life to socks! He checks all the new products by touching with his cheeks, biting (to ensure the elasticity!) and wearing by himself. (even if the socks or the tights are designed for women!) He is a proud 71 years old, who contributes to something nice that is “made in Japan”.

Reebok or New Balance are producing toning shoes one after another. MBT‘s unstable shoes are so cool Paris Hilton loves them too. Such toning shoes are effective for those who have no time to exercise in a gym or who hate exercising. They are good for the people who have to stand up all day long, such as a hair stylist.

IKKO’s tips for beautiful legs.
He’s suffering from low body temperature and so he tries to warm it with food such as ginger and by walking at least 2 hours everyday.
While he stays at home, he put a Ganban mat (same material as the one in Ganbanyoku) on the chair and heat his body while he put his legs into a hot water and gives himself a massage.

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Kirin’s opinion:
The episode has become too old by now. ^ ^;; Even though IKKO has good shaped legs, I still wanted to see the ones of woman’s, because biologically women normally have less muscles and easy to get swollen. Anyhow, so it was the hipline that affects legs. My hips seem to have hard time holding the fat against the gravity and they are going down. lol I must do that exercise! XD
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Disclaimer: Tokyo Kawaii TV is a TV program owned and broadcasted by NHK Japan, and has nothing to do with this blog.

***There are archives of episodes listed under the page titled “Tokyo Kawaii TV” that is just located under the title banner of this blog.
***If you want to know the music that was used in the episode, please refer to this page and help yourself to find it by selecting the date when the episode was on air in Japan.

Malaysian Gyaru Blogger
28/MAY/2011 on air

Beautiful foreign gyaru from the U.S…Sara Mari
Sexy gyaru shop owner from Vietnam…Hoang Viet Nga
Successful gyaru blogger from Singapore…Xiaxue

Successful gyaru blogger who spread Japanese false lashes in Malaysia…Cheesie
She introduced Japanese false lashes in her blog around 2 years ago, which brought false lashes fad in Asia.

Koji is a 84-year-old false lashes brand in Japan. Their false lashes “Dolly Wink” collaborated with Tsubasa Masuwaka a few years ago have been selling so well as to expand their sales to China, North America and even to Middle East! Above all, Malaysia is the top sales market, thanks to Cheesie’s blog.

Lie and Maiko, after seeing Xiaxue, moved from Singapore to KL, Malaysia to see Cheesie. They found bling-bling deco goods, sweets accessories, Shibuya-kei style and Japanese fashion magazines in Malaysia. They also found Uniqlo in Malaysia that has the same clothing and at the same price as in Japan. Who will buy Uniqlo Heattech under such hot climate? Some customers from abroad get it as a souvenir and wear it back home. Lie realized a difference of displaying clothes. In Japan, we normally do not cover the head of dummy with hood. Maybe they cover the head so that should look familiar to the Muslim? They then encountered Mr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the 4th prime minister of Malaysia’s.

Cheesie and her friend Audrey look like Japanese gyaru. When Lie and Maiko visit a local drug store, they found the Dolly Wink false lashes and learned they are most popular among Malaysian girls. Cheesie drove them to her apartment by her own car. She bought the new 2-bedroom apartment 2 years ago with a 30-year loan. She started her business 2 years ago, which is to introduce Japanese fashion online. The false lashes are given by her sponsors. She used to be a fashion model. Modeling herself on her blog, over 8000 page views per day. Her monthly ad revenue is about 280,000yen, which is considered to be triple times more than an average Malaysian income!

Cheesie got to like gyaru fashion while she studied in Japan a few years ago. They gathered Malaysian girls who want to be a gyaru. They’re going to make a gyaru circle in Malaysia. They had a gyaru meets at a twin tower in KL.

Maiko gives gyaru makeup. Make eyebrows closer to eyes to make a gyaru-look face. She uses double-fold eyelids tape that she brought from Japan. Malaysian girls are so enthusiastic about the cosmetics Maiko carries. Look at her magic 40 minutes later! The first gyaru meets in Malaysia was very successful. More girls who want to be a gyaru joined the circle. Later, they continue the gyaru circle as “Foruchizu” on Facebook with Cheesie as a representative, Lie and Maiko as advisers.

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Kirin’s opinion:
Cheesie and Audrey speak good Japanese and they are kawaii! How interesting Japanese fashion or culture is so much loved by the people in Malaysia.
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Disclaimer: Tokyo Kawaii TV is a TV program owned and broadcasted by NHK Japan, and has nothing to do with this blog.

***There are archives of episodes listed under the page titled “Tokyo Kawaii TV” that is just located under the title banner of this blog.
***If you want to know the music that was used in the episode, please refer to this page and help yourself to find it by selecting the date when the episode was on air in Japan.