An Afternoon in Aoyama

Since today was a national holiday — let’s all give a cheer for the start of spring — me and Yuko decided to head out to Aoyama, something we hadn’t done in a while (I should say together). We started by getting lunch at the A to Z Cafe, and passed the Agnes B. store, with its graphics advertising the upcoming Obey Giant vs WK Interact exhibition. At the cafe, Yuko got me a nice Nara-illustrated roll of packing tape (good thing, since I’m about to run out of the Groovisions packing tape I currently use for all packages of Snapazoos and t-shirts I mail out), while she picked up a t-shirt and binder for herself. My next request was to go to the Aoyama Book Center, because I wanted to see if they had the new issue of MONOCLE. On the way, we passed this construction site, which really got me curious (I couldn’t see anything announcing what was being built). At ABC, there was no MONOCLE, but I did have a look at the “Illustration Book Pro 01” exhibition — the book the event is promoting looks quite nice.

We passed the Pierre Herme chocolate store, and I was struck by a bunch of funky twenty-somethings sitting on the street nearby, enjoying some of the Pierre Herme macarons they had just bought. Luxury chocolate IS for the people!

Yuko wanted to go to the Benetton store, but on the way, I saw the sign for Royal Host, and all of a sudden it struck me that I was in need of a parfait — as you tend to do. We took the side street that leads to the restaurant, and went in, where we ordered these (I took the one on the right, Yuko the one on the left). Since we were in the area, I wanted to have a quick look at Nadiff, and suprise-surprise, I found that second issue of MONOCLE! While I was there, I also had a look at the “Portrait Session” exhibition (my favorite piece was the one by Hideaki Kawashima). Also, when I paid for the magazine, I received a free promotional present, which was a Rhodia memo pad with a Nadiff-branded plastic cover that came in a variety of colors — yeah, you guessed it, I chose white.

We finished up with stops at a few more stores — mostly women’s clothing — and then finally at the Oriental Bazar store on Omotesando. Funniest exchange while there: a Japanese couple walks in and wonder out loud why there are so many foreigners in the store. They ask, “Could this be a souvenir shop?” Could it?

Update: Craig Mod thinks he beat me to the MONOCLE punch. As if.

Update 2: Craig adds, “I had my sweaty palms all over that Tokyo Midtown interview by noon today, so try again next round, buddy!” And so I admit defeat.