Kaiyzen Group

Well…, with only the Sunday day time left with no work obligations I take my notes from the night before and head out for a marathon day of shopping.., first stop Harajuku.

Harajuku is a fantastic spot to spend a day.  There are TONS of people hanging out, lots of colorful characters and people dressed up.., and of course.., a lot of really cool shopping destinations.

I had two missions for my shopping day.., one, buy a couple gifts for some friends/family who had birthdays while I was away.., and two.., nab a new pair of kicks for myself.

Little did I know that second mission would be damm near impossible to complete.  I realize that Japanese people are smaller on average than myself.., but most show stores AND brands do not come in sizes bigger that 11 1/2.  Wearing a 12-13 depending on the brand it turned out to be a very frustrating afternoon.  First at the Camper store, then two local ones, finally with a stop off at the Puma and New Balance stores.  I finally gave in and picked up a pair from the New Balance store after the Puma store let me down.., I had also forgotten my $100 in gift certificates to the Puma store that would have annoyed me even more if the pair had been in my size.

A couple pics.., first two of the indie store with this brand called Patrick (dope kicks.., highly recomend them if you wear an 11 or under).., third pick of my New Balance kicks I picked up:

So as futile as mission two was to complete mission one was extremely easy.  Finding little gifts for people here could not be easier.  Thanks in part to the UT Uniqlo Store.  This store was badass.., not only from the merchandise but also from the consumer experience.  Three stories of walls and walls of t-shirts with funny/unique designs they have pulled together.  The t-shirts come in these plastic tubes and fill the walls.  When you enter you grab a shopping basket similar to ones you would use at the grocery store and start droppin em in as you browse.  Having trouble finding a shirt.., use their handy search tool.., a large touch screen monitor that allows you to scroll through and zoom in on every shirt design they have.., pics below:

Just down from the UT store was the Audi Forum building.  A very interesting glass structure standing four stories tall…, the first two stories are an Audi dealership.., the top two have a couple places of business occupying them.  One store on the third floor intrigued me by its logo so I figures I would hop in the elevator and check it out.  At first I did not think it too weird that it was myself and 7 women in the elevator until I got off with all of them on the third floor.  There was a massive line out the door.., all women.., with a sign that read “Members Only”…, after some nice stares by some of the women I thought it best to head down to the second floor and check out some Audi action.., pics below.., one word…, dooooooooooooopeness:

A few interesting things along the way while cruzing through Harajuku.  First there was a frickin See’s Candies store there.  Second, visited the Moma store, they had a cool case of tiny ass replicas of famous chair designs.., reminded me of the chair me and my buddy designed for the design within reach competition.  Third.., I had a Taco and Corona for lunch.., pics below:

Part 2 next.., Shibuya

Came across this wooden deck chair…, strikingly similar to our DWR Champagne chair from last year.

Theirs:

Ours (Large image sow only showing thumb nail, click link to see full size):

The DWR Champagne Chair contest should be starting up again pretty soon.  We are going to place this year with two chairs…, a new one…, and a redux of this one from this past year.

We were “disqualified” this past year on account that our chair was about 1/16th of an inch too wide.  Basically they have the equivalent of what the airlines have for carry on luggage to measure whether or not your chair is sized right.

Luckily between being located in the bay area, and Pete’s persistence the chair was recovered and remains in his SF dwelling place awaiting its revenge this year.

And in case you were wondering…, the answer is YES.., the chair does actually recline…, there are two positions, and that is a nickel next to the chair to show scale.

Our chair was actually modeled after the chairs they set out and “rent” at Hyde Park in London…, aptly named Jeckl & Hyde with its two reclining positions.