Japan Part V : Kyoto

Kyoto
I found Kyoto to be more touristy than Tokyo. Tokyo was very crowded, but it was  crowded in general with native dwellers and tourists alike. Whereas, Kyoto seemed to have a higher proportion of tourists to natives. Or maybe we just went to touristy spots. Anyways, that was my observation. We spent 5 days and 4 nights in Kyoto and felt like it was a good amount of time there. If anything, maybe add another day to the itinerary to explore more, but we were happy with the amount we saw. General information: While in Kyoto, try to go as early as you can to any touristy locations. We found if we arrived at locations around 9am that it was a manageable crowd but then became overwhelming tight later in the day.

Fushimi Inari:
The vermillion toriis are breathtaking, but climbing it is a legit uphill workout. Try to go when it's good weather, not too hot and not raining. You will be climbing a lot, so plan accordingly, wear comfy shoes and bring water. At the bottom of the shrine, there are lots of food stands. We ordered kakigori, or shaved ice.

Kiyomizu-dera:
We had high expectations of seeing the temple and shopping, but felt very overwhelmed by pushy crowds of tourists. I wish we were able to experience this  area on a better note. We got a bit turned around and I think the main temple there was under construction? I think we were also tired and hangry on this day.

Arashiyama:
I preferred the area of Arashiyama over Kiyomizu-dera. The bamboo forest and the wide-open space along the river is really breathtaking.  Arabica coffee is right near the river, so it was refreshing to take in the views and drink some caffeine. The Arashiyama Bamboo forest is beautiful but also gets crowded quickly. From the bamboo forest, there is a main street that leads to the river that has lots of restaurants, matcha shops, and places for omiyage. We went to the monkey park, but in hindsight, probably could have skipped it and not have missed much.

Kinkakuji:
This beautiful golden temple is an easy, leisurely walk. I think you could visit in an hour. We went on a rainy day towards the end of our trip when our legs were tired, so it worked out pretty well. We gobbled down these black sesame treats at one of their food vendors.

Nishiki Market:
This is a cute street market that is great to pick up some omiyage, food, and even lunch. We saved this adventure for a rainy day because the market is held in an outdoors street that is enclosed. You'll find that a lot of places in Japan are outdoor streets with roofs. You feel like you're outside, but are covered from the elements, it's quite nice. We picked up some green tea for family and maneki-neko cat chocolates.

Pancakes:
Japan has a big pancake trend there, which was a nice respite from Japanese food. Mmm carbs! Tom ordered these pancakes that were as voluminous as biscuits but were soft and squishy. Very tasty! I ordered different pancakes that were in the traditional American shape.  I think pancakes don't automatically come with syrup here, as I didn't receive syrup. (You can find pancakes all over, we just had ours in Kyoto.)

Thanks so much for following along on my Japan recommendations! I hope you learned of a few places to check out as well as what to steer clear of.

If you have any favorite places, let me know! I'll write it down for our next trip that we go on in 5 years. Jaa Ne!

Japan Part IV : Kurashiki

Kurashiki:
After Hiroshima, we spent 2 days and 1 night in Kurashiki. It is a small town that has an old historic canal district, called Kurashiki Bikan (Aestheric Area). We felt that 2 days was a good amount of time to explore this historic and quaint city.

Japan Rural Toy Museum:
This museum was the highlight of my trip. It is a great place for visual inspiration. The cost to get in is around $4 USD and it's totally worth it for the marvels you will see.

The Rural Toy Museum had over 5 rooms of vintage toys that ranged from daruma to handpainted kites to carved karp (fish) on wheels. The bold colors and the workmanship was so impressive.

Design Market Kurashiki:
Our airbnb host suggested this locale and it did not disappoint. This store has curated  items from Scandavian designers. There are numerous textiles, washi tapes, and art supplies. Since there was a large tape selection here, I bought a lot of it. Hehe. Kurashiki is the home to MT Tape, so you will find tons of washi tape here!

Denim Icecream:
Kurashiki is near a town called Kojima, where they are known for their denim. Lots of places in Kurashiki sell denim inspired items, like this 'denim' icecream. Don't be thrown off, it has a blueberry flavor! Try some denim inspired food when you're there!

Last up: Kyoto !

Japan Part III : Hiroshima / Miyajima Island

Hiroshima:
I wasn't sure what to expect with Hiroshima. We wanted to go to pay our respects at the Atomic Bomb Dome and see the Peace memorials. Aside from those plans, I didn't really know what to expect. I was happy to find that Hiroshima has a very warm, familial vibe to it. It was slower paced, very walkable, and the city is linked with their street car transportation system.  The vintage street cars add to the city's charm and laid back atmosphere.

We stayed 2 nights and three days here. I think it was a good amount of time to walk around Hiroshima and visit Miyajima Island.

Some highlights of Hiroshima:

We walked around the Atomic Bomb Dome, went to the Children's Peace memorial and The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The museums remind you of the horrible atrocities of nuclear war and the devastating consequences. I'm very humbled to have went.

Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki:

Hiroshima okonomiyaki is so good. We really loved it. Check out theよっちゃん / Yocchan restaurant in the 2nd floor of the ASSE Restaurant floor (our receipt said Reichan on the top, so that might be its name?). It has a white banner and red letters. The okonomiyaki is delicious and inexpensive (around 1300 yen for the two of us). We used this link for location info.

Mequl:

It took a few trips to this cutest coffee shop before we found it open during business hours. The small cafe is very serene and quaint with simplistic furniture and decor. Their menu has a handful of breakfast set options. The coffee and meal was just what we wanted that rainy morning. We wish we had more time to enjoy our meal before rushing to the train station.

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Miyajima Island:

We spent an entire day on Miyajima Island, from around 11am-5pm. We could have stayed longer, but it was raining and we felt we saw enough. Try to look up the tide schedule before you go. We decided on an early start time to see The Great Torii during high tide. By the time we departed, the tide went out and visitors could walk to the torii on the sand.

We didn't go into this above shrine. We were kinda 'shrined' out by this point and there was an admission cost. It was beautiful to simply walk around the grounds at no cost. Miyajima Island is known for their momiji, or red bean filled pastries. I kinda wished we bought more of them. They're everywhere and stands are trying to sell them, so I became a bit overwhelmed. But in hindsight, I wish I bought a full set. We bought a custard flavor and it was delicious.

Next Up: Kurashiki !

Japan Part II : Tokyo

Tokyo:
This trip we focused on seeing other neighborhoods in Tokyo that were a bit quieter, less crowded, and piqued our interest when we visited in 2013. Below, I included some of my favorites:

Kichijōji:

I really enjoyed Kichijoji last trip, so I wanted to spend a bigger chunk of time in this neighborhood. It reminds me of Brooklyn, lots of cute cafes, shopping, and light foot traffic.

Margaret Howell Shop & Cafe:
We ate lunch at this light-filled cafe and checked out the beautifully designed items in the shop upstairs.

Hara donuts:
This shop is just down the street from Margaret Howell cafe. Super quaint shop selling cake-like donuts. I thought they were a bit dry, but the experience of going in and seeing their flavors was worth the visit.

Inokashira Park:
We rented a very kitschy swan boat at Inokashira Park. For around $7 USD (what a deal!) we paddled around the park, which was in high sakura bloom season. It was beautiful and great to enjoy the natural elements of Japan.

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Daikanyama:
I loved this neighborhood. It felt kinda like London in its cleanliness and sophistication, but also felt young and modern while being eclectic.

Tsutaya Books / Daikayama T-site:
I loved, loved the magazines and design books! The grounds surrounding the store are very green and serene, so you feel very zen as you enter to peruse all the reading material.

Okura:
If you love denim and indigo, this place is for you. This beautiful store has lots of indigo dyed clothing, house goods, and accessories. I would love to go back and drop some money here.

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Naka-Meguro:
After walking through Daikanyama, if you walk over the Meguro River you will find yourself in Naka-Meguro. This area felt more congested and heavier foot traffic, but I liked the energy in this area.

Traveler's Factory:
This place is tucked in a quiet street in Naka-Meguro. They have a nice selection of curated office supplies and lifestyle goods that have a nostalgic feel. Loved this place! They have a lot of locations, so check which one is near you.

Misc Favorite Stores:

36 Sublo : This shop is on the second floor, so it took us a bit to find but it was worth it. I wish I took a picture of the ground door to give some guidance. Sorry! Inside it has really cute stationery, envelopes, washi tape and leather wallets.

&Note : Cute stationery store in Shibuya. Lots of pieces that have kawaii illustrations on them.

Blue Bottle:
I loved checking out the beloved coffee chain that is also down the street from us in Williamsburg. All the menu items are named the same and they have their fancy granola, chocolate, and pastries if you are hungry. It was a nice taste from home after being gone for some time.

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Next Up: Hiroshima / Miyajima Island!

Japan Part I : general information

This April, my husband and I traveled to Japan. During this trip to Japan, we decided to venture south from Tokyo by riding the shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima, Kurashiki, and Kyoto. Japan can be a really intimidating place to visit, so I thought some readers might be interested in general information, places we enjoyed, as well as tips to make your Japan visit memorable.

Here are some of my thoughts. I broke up the information into different posts. If you have any places you like or helpful tips, please feel free to leave it in the comments.

Helpful tips:

Pocket Wifi: We rented ours for about 15 days and was "the best money we spent" as said by my husband. The wifi in Japan is not reliable, so the rental helped us maintain access to Google maps, Hyperdia, email and also to keep in touch on social media. For a 2 week rental of their Super Premium Pocket Wifi 187.5MBPS device, it was around $145 USD. We picked it up at Haneda airport when we arrived and were quickly connected to reliable wifi through our trip.

Speaking Japanese:
A lot of places have menus with pictures for ordering or vendors will try their best to help you out. My husband did the bulk of the communicating since he knows Japanese, but I have learned beginners Japanese before this trip. With that said, I would try to learn basic phrases like 'water' or 'Can I have that please?,' so you can get by and feel like you're at least attempting to try to speak Japanese. I downloaded these apps that helped me a lot : Google Translate, Taptaro, and Dr. Moku's Hiragana & Katakana (for learning the characters).

JR Pass:
About a month before our trip, we bought the Japan Rail Pass from JTB . For a single 2 week pass, it was around $400 USD. The pass is available for tourists exclusively. The pass paid for itself with the bullet trains, but we also made an effort to use it on the local JR Tokyo lines since it is included with the pass price. A heads up for shinkansen tickets: try to book your return leg of your trip when you arrive to the city. A few times, trains were full or we had to go to the non-reserved car. Not a huge deal, but booking your seat a few days early gives you piece of mind.

To-go drinks and food:
I didn’t realize this until this trip, that drinking and eating on the go is considered rude in Japan. Yikes! No one drinks while walking. I tried my best to assimilate to this custom, but it was hard! I’ll admit I drank my ice coffee on the go when we had to catch a train. Try to eat at the restaurant and drink at coffee shops.

Yen:
Bring a lot of yen/cash. Japan has a lot of places that only accept cash & coins, such as vending machines, the subway, and restaurants. We were in Japan for 15 days and brought about 90,000 yen which is around $900 USD. That amount almost lasted our entire trip but we took out some yen at the ATM to hold us over the last few days. I would try to bring as much as you think you will spend on food, transportation, and omiyage. A note on credit cards: Capital One credit cards are great because it does not charge a foreign transaction fee.

Pedestrians:
Pedestrians do not jaywalk. Even if a light is red and no cars are coming, people do not cross until the light changes. This cultural custom was frustrating for me, but I tried to adhere to their customs.

First up : Tokyo!

Work/Life 3: Illustration Process

After completing the online questionnaire, Janine supplied me with my illustration brief. Each illustrator would create a custom illustration specifically for Work/Life 3. The following brief was sent to me:

Your Car A Day illustration project was a terrific self-initiated project. I think art directors will be really drawn to its graphic appeal, of repeated similar object isolated on a white background.

Gather a number of significant objects from your personal history and illustrate them. Why are they important? What do they mean to you?

I initially thought sweet, but then I was a little stumped. I did not want the items to be randomly laid out without a sense of relation to my respective age. Story telling was my main priority for this illustration, so I wanted to put some order to the miscellaneous items from different times periods.

To satisfy this desire of storytelling, I decided to make the illustration a map or an info-graphic of sorts that showed a timeline of my life.

My normal process with assignments usually starts off with drawing different on-topic objects. I started to draw all the different items that were important to me. After scanning all of the items in, I started to arrange them according to time.

I was fresh off of my trip to Japan and was majorly inspired by the backdrop of power lines and their street infrastructure (street signs, road lines, turning lanes, etc). I was able to incorporate these items and push the illustration to be more visually interesting.

View from the monorail that runs between Enoshima and Ofuna, Japan.

My initial sketch to get all the items laid out chronologically.

The final piece.

The illustration was submitted in April and by the time July rolled in, I as surprised about how much time went by. In the background, the Uppercase team was busy laying out the book, writing articles, and all the mysterious things that publishers do. So, I was happy to receive the first round of layout proofs in July. After adjusting a few things here and there, I approved the below spread.

And ta-da, there you have it! I hope you can take a minute and read the little notes in the illustration. To wrap up this week, I'll be back tomorrow sharing a few of my significant objects from the illustration. Also, I'll be sharing some other fab illustrators that are featured in the book as well. Until tomorrow!

Japan Trip Part I : Japanese Illustrators

It's been 2.5 months since we returned from our Japan trip. It's about time I wrote about this rich cultural experience! One thing that I really wanted to take advantage of while I was there, was to meet up with Japanese illustrators/artists that I admire. I reached out to a few illustrators before we left New York. To my surprise, many of them were so happy to meet up. I was really intimated to reach out to them since I didn't want to appear too eager or creepy, but I am really glad that I put myself out there. Putting aside my nervousness allowed me to make some great connections with illustrators around the world. Plus I feel that no matter what culture you are in, illustrators are generally super nice people.

On our first day in Japan, we were majorly jet-lagged and awake at 5 am. I was eager to make our trip from Enoshima (where we were staying with Tom's family) into Tokyo. It is about a 1.5 hour train ride there. Kinda like commuting into New York City from New Jersey or Connecticut.

We commuted in and met up with Tatsuro Kiuchi. It was really great.  He has a studio space under the name, Pen Still Writes. Tatsuro also works alongside 2 fellow illustrators in the studio, Hiromichi Ito and Kanako Okamoto.

(l-r: Hiromichi, Kana, Tatsuro, Me)

We chatted over some green tea and discussed what each illustrator was currently working on. Tatsuro was preparing for a trip to Augusta, GA to illustrate a job at the Masters Golf Tournament. Very Cool!

This is a beautiful print of Tatsuro's artwork that I purchased.

A flower shop just down the street from their studio.

While we were visiting Pen Still Writes, Tatsuro mentioned his artwork was being shown at a bookstore in Ginza. Tom and I had some spare time later that night and found the huge bookstore where the show was being held. It was really great to see the work out in a different context.

Thank you Tatsuro, Hiro, and Kana!

About 2/3 through our trip, I met up with Masako Kubo. I have long admired her work and she is as sweet and humble as they come. We shared a lunch in Omotesando Hills.

(photo and illustration credit: masako kubo)

Since both Tatsuro and Masako studied outside of Japan and work with international clients, I inquired about the differences between American and Japanese clients.   The main take-aways from our conversation were: 1. Japanese clients tend to let illustrators have more free-reign on their work, whereas, American clients have heavy art direction. And 2. The rates for illustration from American clients are generally higher, and less from Japanese clients.

Overall, it was really great to meet new people who are doing what I am doing, but on the other side of the world.

Towards the end of our trip, Tom & I were able to meet up with Yuko who is a screenprinter. I first found Yuko's work through her Etsy shop, PataPri, many years ago and have been following her work over the years. She prints in a beautiful home in Yokosuka, a beach town that has gorgeous views from her studio of the water. Tom and I met Yuko at her house where I was  able to purchase a beautiful baby blanket and tea towel. Yuko also was so kind and gave us some freebies. After she showed us around her studio, we took  a long, beautiful walk along the coast to a restaurant for lunch.

(l-r: Ryan, Yuko, Tom & Me)

We had a delicious lunch at Engawa.

Since we've been home, this baby blanket has been on constant rotation between my work chair and our couch.

Thank you Yuko!

I gave all my illustrator friends an omiyage, or a gift, of my new illustrated taxi notepad and some Mast Brothers Chocolate. I thought they both are good representation of Brooklyn.

I am so happy that I was able to reach out to people with whom I admire and share common professional practices, although we come from different cultures. The short glimpses into their work and studio practices  left me a deeper appreciation to connect with artistic people on our trip. I am so glad that I was able to meet them all!