Tokyo Today 3

More slice of life in Tokyo. Eventful day today where I head to meet with many folks from Sanrio (the Hello Kitty peeps) and also learned loads about the licensing business in Japan which I will talk about when the timing is right.
Starting off at lunchtime - seeking food at the Musashikoyama palm shopping arcade.

Its a real life anime school boy character. And if you are wondering, Japanese schools are really just like anime as you can read from the photo posts below.

Have you seen one of these in anime or elsewhere? This little chap is called Teru Teru Bozu [照る照る坊主]. A Japanese custom where a doll made from white cloth or paper is strung up outside ones window - the gesture is said to ward away rain which is why its usually hung up before the day of an event. "Teru" means "Sunshine" while "Bozu" means "Monk."
There is also a Teru Teru Bozu song too.

This store still shows 7 digits for its telephone number. Telephone numbers became 8 digits in 1991 (not including the area code).

Bibimbap for lunch.

Have not been to Korea for ages. How many of you have been?

A bicycle park outside a train station. Bicycles parked illegally are usually taken away by a nice man and if you want it back then you need to pay a fine. You can just about see the yellow sticker on the frame of the bicycle on the right of the photo - it has a number which is issued when you register it with the police.
Most folk here register their two wheelers in the event that its stolen - and in the event that you leave it parked illegally - they can call or send you a message ^^;

Poster to promote fire safety. How many of you have a figure extinguisher at home?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Long snowboards are long. I've been skiing a few times in Japan but have *always* injured myself ><
There is a poll embedded in this article.

The best carriages on the Yamanote line are the back and front as you can get an insect-hit-by-speeding-train eye view.

Heading to next meeting.

Looks like Yugawara should go on my to-visit list this Spring.

Madoka Magica gets the Weiss Schwartz treatment.

Meeting up with folks from Ascii Media Works at Osaki station.

Its off to meet folks at Sanrio for the Sanrio Expo 2012.

The event today was for industry folks where they had an absolute ton of Hello Kitty merchandise and other tie ups on display. No photos were allowed though.

Then its off to the next destination for more meetings.

The next meeting is with G-MIX - a company that handles a load of licenses including ones for Sanrio. They look after the With Hello Kitty brand besides other stuff.

The With Hello Kitty project blends cute 2D girlies with Hello Kitty.

I've become a Hello Kitty fan over night ^^

Card game sleeves. The moekana cards will be compatible with all Weiss Schwartz sized card supplies.

AKB48 X Hello Kitty.

There is a poll embedded in this article.

Cosy sardine apartments.

Next meeting is with a company called Kitan who make and sell an absolute sheet load of gacha.

Lovely office - setup to look like a farm ^^

Taxi to the next destination - business over dindins. The first fare for getting on is about 700 yen. What do taxis in your neck of the woods charge as soon as you get on?

At Ribera in Meguro - apparently the most famous steak house in Japan.

Inside the restaurant there are photos all over the place of famous folk who have eaten here which include Japanese talents and wresters from around the world.

In this industry, everybody is connected with each other and once you have a network of people then you are pretty much set up with work for a lifetime. Just make sure you keep yourself useful and dont charge for every single little thing that you do.

Dinner is here! But the smoke is overwhelming so I retreat to a corner for a while and pretend to take photos.

The photo doesn't really capture just how smokey it was in there ^^;

Didn't know about Ribera but found out that it was just a 20 min walk from home. This is the building by night that I was talking about in Tokyo Today 2.

Some more snaps taken on the way home. Using the Sony NEX 5N as always.

What with the amount of folks with a mobile phone, it can be hard to find public phones at times.

The new laughing man logo.

Tis been rainy of late.

Back to base.

Some ginger flavored chocolates that the steakhouse Ribera gave us after dindins.

Mirai's shoes to go with her Summer uniform on sale at Lucy Pop.

Playing with some of the gatcha that I was given earlier on...

...you are free to come to my office and take all of it.

Perfect valentines day gift.

Some of the Sanrio folks who I met today from many different departments including licensing and rights. Met Gainax too who have a Hello Kitty x Evangelion collaboration going on.