Japan: Tokyo day 14

Slowly recovering from bad food poisoning. But plugging along here. I had a shoot with the beautiful and charming Fujiko. She surprised me with a makeup artist, hair stylist, and clothing stylist..not only did this make my job more easy, but it added such a nice new level to the image and I made some new friends.





Nasu, she did the clothing.

Susu did the makeup and Aoki did the hair.

Each one of these cats are so talented in their field, I am so lucky to have had them participate in the shoot.



The character who Fujiko posed as is a rendition of the Yurie whose mouth was slit by a jealous husband who did not want his wife desired by other men. Still wanting to be beautiful, she made herself up with lipstick but could never conceal the wounds inflicted upon her. My works will range from loose to literal translations of the traditional tales. As I shoot, Fujiko kept adding more and more makeup as if demented and driven mad by the actions upon her once flawless mouth. hehehe. this is so fun
Here is a light test of the shoot.

We ahd so much fun together we decided to throw a party here at the apt. for the world cup final. Fujiko, being half Korean, will prepare a Korean style dish with authentic homemade kimchee dinner. The game starts at 3am so we start around 11..should be fun!

Japan: Nagoya & Kyoto day 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13

Well the last week has seemed to fly by. Ill try to sum it up in words as quick as I can.
First off, I found myself on a bullet train to Nagoya to see my sweet Juliet's cousin, Takahiro.



I met him once in NY when he visited.he was to take me to Noma, a small beach town about an hour outside the city. But before that, we had to spend the night at his place in Nagoya and make no error, we had to go out to eat!




We met up with his lovely girlfriend and dined!







We then had to hurry home to catch the world cup.

The next day, despite the weather, we made our way to Noma.



There were a few choice place we made for photo ops,














but the highlight was, of course, the food!!!








Well, the weather was a bust, but we had a super fun day, stopped at the shrimp chip factory for snacks


and made it home in time to watch the amazing win of the Dutch! The final game is gonna be a doooozey!


The next day I hopped on another bullet train to Kyoto.

I had a few quick sights before I settled into my hotel.





After I dropped off my goods met up with my friends from Osaka, Maiko and Chika. We strolled about the Gion district




I spotted a genuine Geiko but did not want to disturb her with bothersome photos.
sorry.

We ate ramen



and strolled down the river



and then met up with Brian who showed us a nice rock and roll dive bar.




After a good buzz and good conversation, I found my way back to my hotel and passed out.

I woke in the middle of the night with some chills, possibly too much drink?? or something else??

Well anyhoo, the next morn I got on a bike and did a little tour of the city with my camera. Saw some great temples and shrines.




I parked the bike, got on a train, and found myself going through tunnels and into the hills.







I then found more temples and a beautiful bamboo pathway to stroll in an area on the East end by the hills.






Back on the bike and back to the hotel..

Well after all that grand fun times, it all hit me. The next 2 days I found myself alone and bedridden with cold towels on my head and fever dreams which kept me clear from a true sense of reality.

To be fair, I was not alone in the fact that I was getting emails from friends close enough to help if I felt it got too bad.
Well I did miss out on my last day and half in Kyoto but after all it is their Gion festival this month to drive away pestilence, so I left.

Im back in Tokyo, I am gettin better after some pills that Keiko picked up for me

and a much more comfortable bed.
I resume shooting today at 5 with Fujiko..so check back for those images..tomorrow.
xoxDavid