Japan - November 2014

[Madame Buttonfly]

Giles checking out the map, consider this a "before" picture (see below)

A stroll along the river - lots of modern architecture, funky sightseeing boats (and people taking photos)

Then Giles had some TLC (check out the amount of cut hair on shoulders of the local compared with G!)

And I had some "Bunny Therapy" with the gorgeous "Pochi" 

The "after" photo - my beautifully clean cut husband enjoying the feel of his smooth chin at the Shabu Shabu restaurant yesterday evening

[Giles]

Lunch

Pud

The Sarina-matic Stamping Bitch kit…..

[Giles]

Today, we met up with @Snowy and went to a famous knife store in Nihonbashi called @kiya I bought one…..

[Giles]

This is how your lot number and size number info is lovingly applied to your patch….

[Giles]

My @kiya being sharpened, post purchase…

[Hereforthebeer]

^Great stuff Giles and MB!

[Anesthetist]

Gonna show my patches a lot more respect knowing those hands touched them

[Snowy]

Thanks again for a wonderful afternoon out!

I managed to cop a sneak peak at the samples/line up, oh my god there's some really stunning fabric/combinations on the way. And that paisley in person is even more amazing than it looks on screen! I can't believe it (hardly!).

[Madame Buttonfly]

Was so great to finally meet - in the flesh - @Snowy and we spent a lovely afternoon together.  He was a marvellous guide (using his phone to find all the places we wanted to visit - G and I are a little technically challenged with smart phones).  And yes, they are sitting in a "women only" carriage, but after initial panic we realised this restriction is just during morning rush hour…

We arrived in Nihonbashi - this is the view of the massive roadway which runs over the river from the current version of an ancient bridge which gave this part of Tokyo its name (Nihon = Japan and bashi = bridge)

The Japanese have elevated the humble toothpick to a work of art, so we headed straight for this specialist toothpick shop.  Sadly, despite having traded for 310 years, today it was closed  but we're hoping Snowy will get back there to check it out.

Wonderful artwork on metal shutter

Back in Shibuya, the streets start to light up in technicolour

[pillowPANTS]

Thats a good lookin knife you bought there G. Was it terribly expensive?

[Chris]

@Giles:

My @kiya being sharpened, post purchase…

This seems like the kind of thing @DougNg would get into.

[Chris]

Seems like there are going to be lots of good products coming out in 2015.  The ones that most intrigue me are these:

Man, this is some lovely stuff.
@Giles:

This fabric I'd like to see in a shirt, preferably work shirt, but everyone knows that already.
@Giles:

Love these buttons.
@Giles:

And I'm always interested in tee shirts.
@Giles:

There's loads of other stuff I did not photograph…Off the top of my head

Extra heavy long sleeved Tees
Mid weight long sleeved Tees
Raglan 3/4 sleeved loop wheeled tees

[superfuzz]

That first zip jacket looks great in brown duck! Is that happening next spring, G?

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[Giles]

@pillowPANTS:

Thats a good lookin knife you bought there G. Was it terribly expensive?

About USD100.  That's a steal here.  Most expensive kitchen knife I saw this trip was USD3000

[Giles]

@superfuzz:

That first zip jacket looks great in brown duck! Is that happening next spring, G?
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Or summer…

[superfuzz]

Thanks G, I think that's a definite cop for me. (If I can get my size….)

[Giles]

What size do you think you would be in the IHJ-24?

[Snowy]

Anyone?

(I've admitted before to checking out rear-pocket stitching, bit of proof in action over the last few days ::) )

[Snowy]

Here's a great shot of G&P in action from the other day, taken by Instagram user Golem2013 who didn't exactly know who he was taking a photo of at the time

[Max Power]

Awesome Pictures everyone! There's not too many stuff in there for me next spring - which should make it easy to spend more now and next fall. Gonna get some Tees & Raglans though.