Comments on: Japan 2007: Harajuku, Peanuts, Tintin, Moomin, and High Fashion

By: charlotte

charlotte — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:07:45 +0000

??i went 2 japan in octoeber its soo amazingg but i imagined kiddy land a bit bigger – still its cool?

By: Charlotte =D

Charlotte =D — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:20:31 +0000

MADELINE?! wasnt expecting that! @-@ still,amazing pics. I got all envious when i saw moomin & totoro! ^-^ thanks!;)

By: hinamori amu

hinamori amu — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:10:16 +0000

AWWWWW!!!!!!! YOUR SOOOOOO LUCKY! YOU GET TO GO TO JAPAN!!! i wish i could go but my moms making me save 1,282 dollars to buy myself a ticket and im still young soooo…………….
ANYWAYS i love japan there are cool little gadgets there!
Oh and did you see the toilets?? Theyre sooo cool!

Sayonara, Hinamori Amu

By: Teresa

Teresa — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:48:00 +0000

We had a big Tintin store here in Auckland, New Zealand but it is gone now :(

I would seriously buy that whole moomin shop. Lovin’ the moomins!

By: Pedro BouÃ§a

Pedro BouÃ§a — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:26:42 +0000

Just one thing I hadn’t noticed when I saw this for the first time. The B&W editions of the Tintin adventures were NOT reformatted for the japanese market. Those were the original adventures before they were reformatted to the larger, color books we know nowadays (on the 40s!).

Yes, HergÃ© invented manga! ;-)

Best,
Hunter (Pedro BouÃ§a)

By: Arpad

Arpad — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:53:48 +0000

Awsome pictures, I always wanted to ( and I will ) go to Japan oneday, thank you for sharing this amazing experience with us. I am a huge manga and Tin Tin fan , so I was drooling over these pics.
I visited your other site with the slide show too, my question is are you still putting more pictures on this or the “slide show” site? Or this is it.
Can we see total 1000 or so pictures ( as you mentioned it) somewhere?
thanks again

By: Scott Dunbier

Scott Dunbier — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:14:13 +0000

I’ve been twice, Chris, but both were whirlwind trips. One was for a WildStorm signing, we were there just two nights! The other time was before I was at WS, as an art dealer, I did a show. Both were great experiences but neither allowed much in the way of sightseeing. But since we read your blog my wife, Amanda, wants to go and spend a week. Which is okay by me, just have to save our pennies.

By: Gothic Lolitas and Goldfish Earings « sans everything

Gothic Lolitas and Goldfish Earings « sans everything — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:14:47 +0000

[...] Chris Butcher, general manager of the world’s greatest comic book store, went on a honeymoon in Japan and brought back a series of remarkable photos. Most camara-armed tourists are tempted toÂ go the National Geographic route, becoming amateurÂ ethnographers recording strange folkways. Chris has a differentÂ approach: his brings to Japan a retailer’s eye, zooming in on what might be called mass culture quirkiness: fashion trends, storefronts, unexpectedÂ packages and odd toys. [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:56:14 +0000

Greg: It was sooooooooooo tempting to just go into debt forever, instead of just for a year. :)

Bill P: The architecture is amazing, the more you see of it the more ridiculous you realize it all is and wonderful. As for $$? If you’re an American, it’s only getting worse and worse for you. As a Canadian? It was AWESOME!

Scott: Thanks man :). I’m kinda shocked, you’ve never been yourself?

James: Thanks :)

Zach: I did… I’ll make it up to ya.

By: Pedro BouÃ§a

Pedro BouÃ§a — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:17:11 +0000

To be fair, the Tintin store is hardly exclusive to Japan. There is a bunch of them in cities like London or Brussels.

I am right now in Paris and, while there isn’t a Tintin store here (don’t ask me why), there are LOADS more Tintin stuff avaliable on the many comic stores in the city. Tintin merchandise is all over the place!

But it’s cool to see that all Tintin books have been translated to japanese. Japan in not receptive at all to foreign comics and it’s surprising to see that the series is able to survive there.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro BouÃ§a)

By: zach worton

zach worton — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:32:32 +0000

what the fuck, butcher!!! you went to a tintin store and forgot about me?!?! i’m hurt…hurt…

By: James Moar

James Moar — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:30:04 +0000

Chris: this link — http://www.jti.co.jp/sstyle/manners/ad/change/gallery/index.html — has the whole series of those anti-smoking/smoker’s etiquette posters.

Should’ve visited the Snoopy store when I had the chance. Oh well, next time.

Bill: it’s the other way round, I’m afraid — falling dollar equals more expensive. On the other hand, I thought a lot of things were actually pretty cheap, though that was travelling from Britain.

By: Scott Dunbier

Scott Dunbier — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:20:18 +0000

My God, what a great post. My wife has been sitting here with me oohing and aahing over all the cool stuff. Me too.

By: Bill Peschel

Bill Peschel — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:52:54 +0000

And I despise modern architecture, but I loooove me these buildings. Maybe it’s the color or the interesting shapes, or they look like humans use them.

Hmmm, the dollar’s sinking, so it should be getting less expensive to go to Japan, right? As opposed to “oh my GOD it costs WHAT?” expensive.

By: Greg McElhatton

Greg McElhatton — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:44:31 +0000

I am fairly convinced that if I ever went to Tokyo? I would go broke. And then some.

But oh, what a way to go.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:35:40 +0000

Martzy: Well, we’re still paying off the credit cards. But, and I know this is going to sound strange to anyone who knows me, I exercised a superhuman level of restraint… FOr me. I mean, I still filled a giant suitcase and a giant box with crap.

Naseem: You’re welcome. :)

BitterMatt: I think… I think if you’re an otaku, you just buy 1 or 2 things, IP, characters, whatever, you just pick one and buy literally everything. My tastes are pretty multi-disciplinary, which makes for great photos but agonizing purchasing decisions. But someone who’s a Jiji fan from Kiki’s would just buy the 12 different Jiji toys and literally anything that Jiji appeared on, and nothing else. ;)

ADC: Did you see the price-tag on the big one? I think it’s like $900. No one REALLY needs that who isn’t already super-rich.

Jerry: I know!

Jamie: I got laughed at… I think 6 times for taking pictures and being a tourist. That’s not bad for 2 weeks? Heh. Didn’t stop me though. It’s also important to note that Harajuku was only day 5 of 14, and I’d only just broken 1000 photos taken.

- Christopher

By: Jamie Coville

Jamie Coville — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:18:31 +0000

Bruce Pee! That was funny.

Man, you know how in movies they used to make fun of Japanese people by showing them with cameras taking pictures of everything? Thanks to your visit I suspect Japanese movies will start making fun of Canadians by doing the same thing.

But don’t stop. :)

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:08:48 +0000

The only thing cooler than a Peanuts store is a Tintin store. ME WANTS!!!!

By: arthur dela cruz

arthur dela cruz — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:39:11 +0000

I need more Totoros. The three I have are looking mighty lonely, and small.

By: Bitter Matt

Bitter Matt — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:12:34 +0000

It’s Grandma’s Herring Pot Pie!! And you weren’t even at Studio Ghibli yet! They DO have everything.

Is most of this stuff purchased by tourists? I’m having difficulty understanding where people could find room for all of these things, particularly in compact homes and apartments.

By: Naseem

Naseem — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:35:04 +0000

MOOMIN!!!!!!! HUGGGG.

:) :)

So awesome! Thanks for sharing! :) :)

By: Diary of a Mad Natural Historian » Nice Hair!

Diary of a Mad Natural Historian » Nice Hair! — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:34:01 +0000

[...] Yhancik – billions of blistering blue barnacles! There are some Tintin pix in this post – about halfway down. [...]

By: Johnny

Johnny — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:03:46 +0000

Seriously… how did you not go bankrupt there?