OK, so for people who don’t know already, I’ve been working at my grandfather’s company out here in Tokyo called Eiko Shoji Co., LTD.

知ってるひ

Quick summary (Note- It may sound like I am bragging but I had nothing to do with Eiko’s previous success. I just needed to explain 50 yrs of business in a few sentences) : Eiko was the first to bring Levi’s jeans to Japan and basically pioneered Western and European fashion trends in Japan.

Eiko has retail and wholesale operations all over. It’s an importer/retailer/ wholesaler for men’s and ladies high fashion denim and casual wear.

The styles are very modern and urban. I currently work in the bad ass New Brand Development and Project Coordination Group.

Did I quit cars!? Well, before you send me a bunch of emails, be rest assured, I surely have NOT!! =)
This is all part of my master plan. Stage 10 and JDM INSIDER don’t quite pay the bills in one of the most expensive cities in the world. LoL. I am training here for now and learning the ropes here so that I can blend my experiences in the automotive, motion picture/video production, and fashion world together. My grandfather actually started this company originally as a trading company. We also used to produce the world’s first generation electronic calculators too before we got blown out of the water by LCD… http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/omni8.html

Anyways, I have to learn the Japanese fashion industry first,..and then when the timing is right, I am going to bring in all sorts of new categories of business to this company. With a $100 million operation and 50 years of experience on tap, this route is MUCH quicker than slowly building up Stage 10. I might as well have the company buy out Stage 10 so we can build complete cars, make car movies and more! Now we’re talking…I dream of one day sponsoring race teams…but in order to do so, the people watching motorsports have to buy clothes too.
But anyways, see the direction I am going in? Win-Win situation, but it takes time. Thus, I find myself doing car stuff at night and on the weekends while I bust my ass off with clothing during the week.
So back to my story…

I have been working here to expand my horizons and to see what else I can bring back into the automotive enthusiast market. Eventually my goal will be:

1) Better blend high performance/ bad ass cars, cool fashion, great video production, and great music into one elevated category. This is one personal scenario that I’d like to build.
2) Close the gap between the “perceived JDM market” and the true reality as of 2008. Basically looking 5 years down the road, things aren’t looking good for our industry unless some direction changes are made. Environmental, Technological, Product Development (Eric is always going off on this) etc… We are all responsible for the direction and it only takes a small group of talented individuals to change the course forever. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again and again.
Anyways, more on this later.

For today, I want to put out a call to any people out there that have ties to fashion brands. I have a close to a 100 million dollar company at my disposal to hunt and search for potentially successful men’s and ladies’ brands. Some of the brands we do are Levi’s, AG Adriano and Goldschmied, Cimarron, True Religion, Ernest Sewn, Linea Pelle , etc…

Any of you people that have been to Tokyo know how advanced the fashion is over here. We have access to the hippest magazines and have the top models wear our stuff. We have ultra cool retail shops in the trendiest parts of Tokyo too and are in constant contact with Paris, Italy, New York, and LA.

Why am I posting this here? Well, it never occurred to me to use this channel to look for new brands. I am flying to Spain next week, New York next month looking for new brands but I realized that one of my most valuable treasures are the people that I have been fortunate enough to have met throughout the years! You never know who knows who! That’s why I thought I’d at least put out this open invitation.

Since we are a fairly large operation (250 plus people), I won’t be able to take care of individual designers with no production capabilities. If you know of any company that wants to enter the Japanese market, just email me at Toshi@Stage-10.com

Also, lemme know if you or anyone out there wants us to export anything available in Japan. This includes clothing brands but if the order is large enough, can include cars, parts, toys, and anything Japan has to offer. We don’t have an official division for this yet but I am slowly implementing one here. You could be the first…who knows?
Also, if anyone wants to buy our previous season overstock clothing in bulk at SUPER prices for sale overseas, email me too. We have True Religion, Cimarron, Paper Denim and Cloth, Miss Sixty, and James Jeans.

Anyways, thanks for listening to my freakin business ad but you never know where this will lead.

Just puttin’ a shot out in the dark…

We’ll be back to random Tokyo life tomorrow…thanks for listening.

知っている人も多いと思うけど僕は今おじいちゃんが設立した会社で働いています。栄光商事といい、アパレルの輸入／小売り／卸しをしている会社です。

会社は５０年以上のもので元々LEVI’S を初めて日本に持ってきた会社です。それ以外にも初期世代の電卓も生産しており、LCDがでるまではガンガン伸びていた事業でした。http://www.dentaku-museum.com/calc/calculator/unitrex/unitrex.html

現在EIKO では新ブランド開発とプロジェクト　コーディネーションをやっています。毎日慣れていない業界の中で後追い立場であり、ヒ〜ヒ〜言っています。

formats samsung ringtonesamsung s307 ringtonessamsung ringtones d900i wallpapersscatman ringtones freepaul sean ringtonesphone to ringtones send freesesame ringtone street3 music ringtones sidekick player Map

dont for pay pornwhore porn dopedora meszaros porndoran domain pornstardorki pornpics dorm porndorthy black pornstardoubble jointed porn Map

Sorry for the lag. This time I broke my camera at work…My fifth Kodak V series…Man, I LOVE that camera but opted to replace it with a Nikon 8400. I don’t feel like updating without a camera so please forgive me…

Also, for those of you wondering, Tokyo is so fast paced and crazy I can barely keep up with my own schedule. That’s why I am really lagging on here…have to fix that.
まじうざい。仕事中にデジカメが壊れました。会社に請求したいくらいだけど無理だな… はい、５機目のKODAK　V seriesです。すげ〜〜気に入ってたのに！でもしょうがない。次は思いきってNIKON　8400にしたので期待して下さい〜。

When I was in New York, I stayed right by the Broadway district.

This place was kickin’ with musicals, plays, and people all day long.

ニューヨーク滞在中はミュージカルショーで有名なBroadwayの近くだった。

I couldn’t help but notice this chimney…Is there really THAT MUCH steam and crap down there that they have to make this?!? Tokyo doesn’t even have on of these…Maybe this is Satan’s chimney.

東京では絶対に見かけないもの。ニューヨークの温泉…なはず無いか…

地獄の煙突？

The Apple store…oh yeah.

アップルの店。

I don’t know the exact name of the church but I’ve seen it before many times…I like this picture because the glow from the sun makes the church look like its made of gold.

名前は知らないけど有名な教会。太陽のあたり具合で「黄金の教会」に見えませんか？

Right by Central park, you can sit and watch traffic pass by. I watched for 20 minutes and didn’t see any tuning cars…or Japanese cars for that matter…

セントラル　パーク近くのロータリー。２０分程いたけどほとんどタクシーしか通っていなかった。

Night-time in NY is always the best. Not as bright as Tokyo but it has a feel all its own.

ニューヨークの夜。照明も奇麗で東京都はひと味違う。

The buildings near Soho had these cool stairways along the side. It’s so artistic and so impressive in real life. This picture doesn’t do it justice.

ソーホーにあるアパート。横の階段がとにかく格好いい！実物を見ると本当にアートですね。

写真じゃ伝わらない。

and of course, no trip to NY would be complete without snapping a shot of the LATE SHOW studios…

これはアメリカのTV番組の一位か二位を争うLATE SHOWのスタジオだ。テレビで見るのと全く同じだ。

The sun showed its face for one day…one day.

You can sense how strong the winds were that day by the clouds. It was a piercing cold morning.

太陽は一回しか顔を出してくれなかった。その日は死ぬ程寒く、風が強かった。

One thing I liked were the LED stop and Go signs. One bit of civic technology that beats Tokyo.

I don’t know, I was waiting at the corner and this setting caught my attention. I like how the street sign , subway sign and go sign are all together.

東京よりも優れている歩道用の信号。かっこういいですね。街角で信号待ちの間に気付いたワンカット。

地下鉄の看板、道の看板、GO SIGNが勢揃いでした。

The GAP looked very New Yorkish. I like the mix of mainstream with old school buildings for some reason.
GAPもさすがにニューヨークスタイルでした。古いビルはいいですね。

and of course, MACY’s department store. There’s one by my house in LA but I guess you have to drop by when you’re in town…don’t ask me why…

MACY’s　デパート。やっぱり、近くまで来たら立ち寄らないといけないらしい。
ちょっとした買い物には最高。

But the main attraction has to be this!

でも見所はやっぱりこれでしょう！

This super old school escalator from like the 1900’s! lol. It’s super loud, rickety, and totally cool.

超〜〜ふるいエスカレーター！ははは、古すぎてびっくり。これ新宿駅とかに設置してくれないかな〜？

As the days passed by, the weather got worse and worse…

Even the water puddles were frozen!

時間が過ぎるとともに天候も悪化して行った…

水たまりまで凍ってた！

Temp was 18 degrees and falling with a wind chill factor…

One sign said “feels like 0 degrees…” That’s like -17 degrees C!?!?

気温は０度cでどんどん寒くなってた。風の影響もいれたら−１７度くらいだった！

あり得ない寒さでした…

And the final straw? a super snow storm. It was a challenge just to go to dinner.
そしてとどめが大雪…晩飯いくのも精一杯。

Look at the snow! It was time for me to go back to “warmer” Tokyo.

The trip was hectic and the sights were cool but I’m ready to go back.

I really need a vacation.

この雪を見て下さいよ！あり得ないですよね？短くて忙しい出張がまた終わりました。

もうそろそろ休み取りたいな。

OMG,WTF!? It’s like 17degrees F( -8 degrees C) in New York and it’s snowing like crazy one day, super windy the next, and cloudy the next…Work sucks and I need to get outta here.It’s so cold the water puddles are frozen into ice…
Two more days…

信じられない！！ニューヨークは日本より寒い！

−８度ですよ。風が吹くと−１０度以上です。

寒すぎて水たまりも凍っちゃってるんだよ！！もう耐えられませんね。

仕事も大変だけどもう嫌。帰りたい。後二日間…

がんばろう。

All I can say is…SNOW.
It’s freaking cold and I am working like a dog~

I want sunshine…I am from California…but what do I get?

A business trip to New York tomorrow…

I’ll see you all when I get back.

寒い！雪だ！

でもロスでは雪降らないから結構好きかも！＝）

でも明日からニューヨーク出張です。なんか、今はプライベートでも

仕事でもいろんな事が起き過ぎていて訳が分かんない！まとめて対応するだけで

精一杯かな。そう言う時にロスの暖かい太陽の下で立つと良いんだよな〜〜

体が温まって鳥肌が立ってリフレッシュ！が出来る…と思ったら明日から氷点下の

ニューヨーク…地獄が続く。

In Barcelona, there’s something magical, mystical and historical about all the statues and monuments…

バルセロナでは歴史を感じる…不思議なオーラと言ってもいいかな？

You’d never think that this was just another intersection…

普通の交差点には見えないでしょう？

But taxis are blasting around and it’s business as usual.

でもタクシーもたくさんいるし街の人々は普通に動き回っている。

The ominous towers at Bread and Butter…

Bread and Butter会場前のタワー…本当にお見事！

I wonder what they are called? I’m so ignorant I didn’t get a chance to look it up.

このタワーってなんて言うんだろう？

After you pass the tower, you pass this fountain.

さっきのタワーを通り抜けるとこの噴水まで来る。

After a short walk you make your way to the Palau Nacional Art Museum constructed in 1929…very young for Barcelona.

少し歩けば１９２９年に出来たPalau Nacional 美術館にくる。

Fairly new, but impressive nonetheless.

比較的新しいがインパクトは十分。

Nighttime is where Barcelona comes alive.

バルセロナはやはり、夜から生きて来る。

Even Starbucks looks cool.

スターバックスだって格好いい！

The whole city is filled with historical buildings that are all lit up like this. It’s quite a magical experience.

町中にこういうビルが並んでいる。古い歴史を語りながら、おしゃれな照明が照らされていて本当に奇麗だった。

Normal hotels just don’t look normal over here.

普通のホテルもこう見ると普通じゃない。

We entered a small and quaint shopping area.

かわいいショッピング街に入った。

Small narrow cobblestone alleyways lined the main road. This European mood was great!

大通りの両脇にはこういう小さな細道がある。さすがにヨーロッパの雰囲気がした。

Go around the corner and you are greeted by a huge castle looking building!

ちょっと角を曲がるといきなりお城らしき物！

Go the other way and a gothic church awaits…It’s right out of a movie…but real!

反対に歩いて行くと映画に出て来そうな教会も…でもこれは本物だ！

Downtown still has the historical flavor in full effect.

ダウンタウンにもまだ歴史の古いビルが活躍している。

Huge advertisements for Replay denim shine down on the street.

REPLAYデニムの広告が大きく輝いている。

If you look closely you can see how crowded it is. The buildings are huge.

よく見ると混み具合が良く分かる。ビルがどれだけ大きいかも分かる。

But it’s here, at the hotel where I finally get to rest. Spain was fun but it’s time to go back to Tokyo…See you again Barcelona.

でもホテルが一番落ち付きます。 スペインも良かったけどもう東京に戻る時間です。バルセロナ、また会いましょう！

I have been in Barcelona, Spain.

Yes, this is why I couldn’t go to Auto Salon.

I’ve been so busy but this is one of the reasons why!
スペインに行ってきました〜。

これもオートサロンに行けなかった理由の一つ。

I had to stop over in France because there were no direct flights from Tokyo…serious bummer.

東京からバルセロナまでの直行便が無く、フランス経由で行きました。マジで長かった…(涙）

Of course, the French airport was bad ass.
フランスの空港はでもおしゃれ！

Once in Spain, the roads to the hotel were lined with typical Spanish homes. This was more than just a buff Mexico…

スペインに到着し、ホテルまでの風景…いろいろなマンションが両脇に並んでいた。

The view from the hotel room was super nice. Very Spanish and historical.

The buildings are beautiful.

ホテルの窓から撮った写真。歴史が感じられるね〜。本当に奇麗だった。

This was one of the main hotels for the show. Spain can be tricky for foreigners so you have to stay in safe places.

This is the bed that I never got to use.

Don’t let the picture fool you. It’s a designer room but most of the buildings in Europe are hundreds of years old so it’s not as refined as you may think. Still, very nice.

客に進められたホテル。スペインは以外と治安悪いので変な所に泊まれない… とは言え、デザインが良くてもビル自体は百年以上前の物であり、古さは感じる。

結局忙しくてこのベッドはあまり使えなかった…

So after being entertained by clients all night and no rest, we had a choice of going to the show by taxi,

初日は休む暇もなく、朝早くから会場へ…移動はタクシーか、

or by rent a bike,

町中にあるレンタル自転車か、

or by the dreaded and smelly subway.

恐怖の地下鉄… 汚いし、臭い。終わっています。

A mess of smelly and RUDE people. Man, I was ready to smack so many people in the face for cutting in line…

地下鉄も激混み！ヨーロッパ人は本当にマナーがなく、平気で横から割り込んで来たり、押してくる。 まじで切れそうになった。

It’s so crappy you have to pull a lever to make the doors open at your stop…

Ahh, I miss Tokyo’s clean railway system already…

しかも列車がボロイ！（笑）

レバーを引かないとドアも開かない…

But we finally made our way to the show…

でも何とか会場へ向かった。

and just in time for the main event.

The Bread and Butter Fashion Show!

This show is a must to see the latest trends in Europe and all over the world!

Gotta stay on top of the news!!

そして会場へ！BREAD AND BUTTER ショーです！

最新のファッショントレンドを見るにはMUST!

The show is the biggest of its kind in Europe…it’s seriously PACKED.

でもよく見て下さい…並び過ぎでしょう！？

Once you move past the inner courtyard, it’s time to go into the halls.

何とか中に入り、ホールへ向かう。

Nice architecture, and nice design. Very European. You’re not allowed to take pictures of the booths for copy concern reasons.

会場のビルも古いので格好いい。歴史をまた感じる。

ブースの写真は固く禁じられてる。何回も怒られちゃった！コピーが怖いんだろうね。

But each building has a different theme and has hardcore DJ’s playing all day long!

全てのホールにはそれぞれのテーマがあり、DJもいい音楽を常に回している！

The Denim hall…

デニムの会場…

The Action Sports/ Street Hall…

ストリートとスポーツのホール…

even the walkways are cool.

通路もイケてる！

Every booth serves champagne and wine ALL DAY with ham and bread.
We were boozing all day long…Europe is great.

各ブースでは朝からシャンパンとワインを出している。朝からがぶ飲み状態。

何なんだこの国は！？…でもノッてしまった…

They had freaky circus acts too!

サーカスっぽい人達もいた！

The lounge under the DJ stand…the music was bumpin’!

DJの下には枕いっぱいのラウンジ！

The pictures look nice but I was so tired I couldn’t stay awake anymore. My body would not move.

Pain was the name of the game.

I was so happy it day was over… I needed to rest but another night of entertaining clients was waiting for me…

写真は奇麗に見れるけどもう限界だった。体も動かなかった…

ショーが終わってホッとしてたんだけど夜の接待が待っていたのだ…もう駄目だ。

Just another night in Shinjyuku…
新宿の夜…

After midnight, it was time to venture out into Harajyuku to visit the Meiji temple for a traditional New Year’s visit.

年が明けて明治神宮に行く事にした。

While walking through Togo temple , I saw these “chochin” with the names of sponsors printed on top!

The first one is from the Shibuya office Seven Eleven…

東郷神社を抜けて行ったら提灯がいっぱい見えました。スポンサーの名前が書いてあったのですがセブンイレブンもがんばってるね！

For New Year’s, trendy Omotesando is transformed into a street lined with traditional food booths and drinking tents called “yatai.”

表参道は屋台に包まれ、普段見せない姿を出していた。皆気持ち良く飲んで食べていた。

I had some yakitori at this booth but after all my drinks, wondered where everyone went to the bathroom!

ここで焼き鳥を食べ、酒も飲み、楽しんだんだけどみんなトイレはどこ！？

Omotesando is a trendy fashion street but the real purpose for the street is to lead us to Meiji Shrine, probably the largest in Japan.

表参道は流行のファッションで知られているが元々明治神宮まで行く為の道でした。

This is where you always see the gothic lolita girls and crazy cosplay people on TV shows whenever they visit Harajyuku.

テレビでよく見るロリ系、コスプレ　ネーチャンは皆ここで良く集まっている。

Harajyuku station is dead…

原宿駅はガラガラ…

Where is everyone going?

でも皆はどこに行ってるの？

MEIJI SHRINE!

http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/index.html

明治神宮！！

The walk to the walk to the shrine is usually 15 minutes over gravel but tonight, it takes over 2 hours…

明治神宮までは徒歩１５分くらいなんだけど今夜は２時間以上…あり得ない…

I realized that I would be in line for ever and decided to go back. However, people from all over Japan kept flooding in. Meiji Shrine visits are a national level pastime and the trains stay open all night just for this!

引き返そうと思ったんだけどもう遅かった。人がどんどん来た！

It was only 1am but the wave of people kept growing!

まだ一時だったんだけど来る人たちが増えるのみ！

Bow down to the appeal of the Meiji Shrine…

明治神宮の魅力は恐るべし。

This is something you never see at Harajyuku station! The BACKSIDE!

It only goes from Harajyuku to Shinjyuku. If you look closely they even have temporary SUICA (digital payment terminals) on hand!

あまり見かけない原宿駅の裏口！新宿方面しか行けないけどマジでいい感じ。

ちゃんとSUICAもあるし！携帯SUICAかな！？

This is a rare shot from the middle of the street looking down on Takeshita blvd.

This street is usually packed with traffic but is closed off tonight.

竹下通りを道の真ん中から見下ろす風景..普段は車の通りが多いのに新鮮な写真ですよね！？

Police watch over the station with vigilance.

警察も一生懸命駅を見張る。

Takeshita blvd (also featured in Tokyo Drift for those of you who aren’t tokyo savvy) is a ghost town…everyone is out on the main street just one block away!

竹下通りも珍しく誰もいない。

In the end, Meiji Shrine was too crowded for me and I ended up here, at Togo Shrine right near Takeshita blvd. I made my New Year’s resolutions and got ready for another year or madness! I hope that all of you had a great year too!

結局明治神宮は込み過ぎて東郷神社に来ました。今年のお祈りもすませ、また楽しい、充実できる年に向かって動き出しました！みんなも出来ましたか？

お互いがんばりましょう！