campbell raw

maggie campbell from campbell raw press custom made this scrapbook for my recent trip to japan. i met her at the holiday craft sale at fountain studios where i saw her journals that utilized vintage stamps for covers. i asked if she'd be able to create a scrapbook with a japanese stamp and she was super accommodating with the request. after a few months of correspondence and me sourcing stamps back in san francisco. i picked up the scrapbook last week and finally finished loading it up. thanks maggie for the lovely scrapbook! it's the perfect home to highlight my wonderful trip.

personal stamp yuko sent me years ago

binding goodness

maggie's signature 

continued the stamp them inside

from fukuyama, with love

the girls of pompette made it stateside. fell in love with them on my recent trip to japan and yuko was kind enough to send me the lovely lasses to brooklyn.  just in time for holiday season, they make delightful presies. 

olivia, anna, and georgia 

hokone

my bento box for the ride to hakone. note the tall boy at the top right.

pola museum

so excited for my first onsen i don't know what to do with myself

post-onsen tonkatsu w/ unlimited rice and cabbage

louise bourgeois' maman

view from top of roppongi hills between skytree and tokyo tower

shar dreams of sushi

kappabashi - plastic food anyone?

mound of foam on a rainy day at tsukiji market

freshest tuna i will ever have

tokyo dome

yomiuri giants won their championship, just like the sf giants. woot!

with my fellow beer lover yuko at the yebisu brewery

cutest designs at shibuya hikarie

chicken sashimi

saki about to crack into our croquette

miso stew which we later added ramen to

we heart hachikō

bamboo, temples, shrines and deer

arashiyama bamboo forest

ryoken

kyoto station

getting my shrine on at heian-jingu (as featured in lost in translation)

aqueduct at nanzenji temple

sen garden at ginkaju-ji

my tour guide fei

she invited me to karaoke and i could not resist.

tracked down my coworker katy and her hubby deran for a night cap 

kiyomizu temple

this is how close you can get to deer in nara

nishiki-koji market

lost in translation

...but still getting by in tokyo. this trip came about from my deep desire for a real vacation.  i had planned for late november but when consulting my friends in japan i was told of a very important pop-up shop in harajuku was not to be missed early in november. so with less than a month to spare i booked a ticket and barely made it out post-hurricane sandy. pretty proud i've been able to navigate the rail fairly decently and got into all this fun.

capsule 512 - my home for 2 nights

i love this robe

ghibli museum = anime dreams come true

pond at inokashira park

harajuku

pompette pop-up at design festa west

shibuya crossing