Ryo had a special x-factor behind that smile. Unassuming at first glance, but the custom jeans with their add-on hem, illusionary cuff, and denim drawstring belt (say WHA?), the non-descript off-brand yellow and green Brazilian Havaianas, the tucked-in Beach-Mickey Ring Tee (which you have to admit bears a striking resemblance to the person wearing it), the “I Love Country Music Too” neck lanyard from which hung various accouterments, the cheap watch, the classic Clubmaster specs, and the Disk Union bag seeming to tie it all together made him quite a sight! At a last glance, you might start to realize […]
Tokyo Record Style
Atsushi – BBQ Records
To be perfectly honest, when I finally found BBQ Records after having driven past it 2-3 times, situated above a Matsuya Gyudon beef-bowl fast-food chain, in what looked like a tiny little 2nd-floor apartment, I pretty much lost all hope that I might have been stumbling upon a Tokyo diamond in the rough. But you never know, and I was keen to check it off the list of shops I’ve visited, and so I parked the bike and headed up those sorta sad and all-too-familiar non-descript apartment stairs. I followed the signs, rounded the corner, and came upon a surprisingly […]
Tokyo Record Style
Atsu
Finally, autumn is here in Tokyo and Atsu’s long muted-green jacket I’m guessing was seeing the first action of the season. When I saw it hanging casually off the laid-back shoulders of ball-capped Astu, along with a graphic Tote bag that I wished I had gotten a better look at, I thought to myself, “There’s a photograph…” I had popped into HMV Shibuya’s gallery space, “Bankrobber LABO” named for the fact that the space was once a bank, and the back upstairs room where the gallery is was the bank’s vault. They’ve re-purposed it as an experimental space, curated by […]