Hyper Japan Spring 2012- Part 1

It looks like this blog is going to be full of Hyper Japan stuff this week! Well, I am back (and very exhausted) and now it is time to have a look at what happened. I only attended on the Saturday but I was in London over the whole weekend and I had a brilliant time.

STILL TO COME- Luna's outfit, Luna's favourite Hyper Japan J-Fashion outfits, videos and lots more photos.

Pre-Hyper Japan

After having a difficult time lugging my outfit to the hotel on a warm Friday afternoon, I briefly popped in to central London for a bit of a browse. I was a little disappointed to see that the Japan Centre had gotten rid of a load of their backlog of Gothic Lolita Bibles, Kera and Alice Deco a la Mode. Last time I went in there and there was about 10 different Japanese GLBs (sadly, I only brought one at the time). This time I couldn't find any GLBs, not even the most recent one. So either somebody went and snapped them all up or Japan Centre decided they were not selling well and removed them from the shelves. Afterwards I went to Qut'se in Chinatown, where I brought a glittery red bow ring. I intended to wear it to HJ but in my blind panic, I managed to break the back off! Thankfully, I have since managed to superglue it! I managed to get a free sample of bubble tea from Cafe de Hong Kong. I had watermelon which was pleasant, but not a very strong flavour. Cybercandy currently have this massive Wonka gumball machine in their Covent Garden stall. The gumball I got was very yummy! I also went in to Namco for the very first time and now I really want to go back there! My husband James promised we would at some point and I am going to keep reminding him!

The actual event! Organisation


Hyper Japan, as an event, is still in those early days and it is still trying to establish itself. Although I was unable to attend last year, I did hear some horror stories about the queues. With this mind, I got myself a fast-track ticket and got to the venue about an hour before opening time. I got the impression that a lot of the staff were confused and disorganised. They kept running about and changing their minds. About 7 people (James and myself included) were picked out the queue and ended up in our own separate mini queue. Then they seemed to change their mind about how they wanted to organise the queue. We were let in first; about 10-15 minutes after they were meant to open. I also discovered that not all the stores were set up at opening time and as a result, I kept discovering new stalls I hadn't already been to. However, these were only minor hiccups and it did not affect my enjoyment at all.

The stage shows


When buying tickets, you had the option of going to the Sake awards. I opted out of this, but when we got inside we discovered that you could still watch the sake show on stage and the extra bit was the sampling and voting part.

Each sake was modelled by a lolita. I saw the post asking for sake models, but I actually gave it a miss because I wanted to bombard the fashion stalls right at the start of the day! It was really fun watching the models displaying their sake.

Natsuko Aso gave a very lively and upbeat performance. I am very envious of the dress she was wearing because she looked like an adorable fluffy cloud. So cute! The crowd really enjoyed her performance and appeared very appreciative. Natsuko Aso was also signing autographs later on in the day.

Hibiki Ichikawa Shamisen also gave a beautiful performance. They got the crowd to join in by clapping and singing bits along.

But of course, my favourite part was the fashion show. Tania did such a great job and the models were wonderful! I also liked how instead of just showing lolita, they showed a wider range of J-Fashion styles.

Here is all the lolitas and fellow J-fashionistas on stage. Sadly, my husband could only take pictures from where he was stood because we were so packed in! We found ourselves in the middle of a swarm. I did go on stage but I was hiding away at the back. You see the girl wearing AatP's Drosellmeyer print to the left and front of the photo? She won one of the prizes! I was also pleased to see Katie (wearing AP's Lady Rose) also won a prize. Katie, I loved your outfit and I only wish I had the chance to speak to you properly!

Tania looked incredible (let's face it, she was always going to look incredible!). Despite only speaking briefly to me before, we were able to have a lovely quick chat. We were talking about wigs and she said my natural hair was really nice, which made me blush loads! My favourite part of her outfit (besides the beautiful dress) was the blouse, which had soft floaty sleeves. Absolutely gorgeous!

The stalls


I didn't buy anything from the Bring and Buy sale in the end (although I did almost buy a Wonder Party skirt) but there was a great range of second hand and new items. I was lusting over the dress and skirt rails! It was really fun. You kind of had to keep going back throughout the day as more stuff got put out.

The Baby stall, in my opinion, was actually a huge disappointment. The prices were dreadful! I almost had a heart attack when I saw some of the prices on the headbows and dresses. However, they were selling lucky packs for £100, which is not too bad. I have a feeling those were snapped up quickly.

Most of the fashion stalls had your standard cute stuff, most of which were selling accessories. I completely forgot to enter the raffle Bunny De Couer was hosting, who were raffling a skirt. Highlights included Tofu Cute, Miwary and Roxie Sweetheart. The prices on most of the stalls were reasonable and some were doing offers if you brought a certain amount.

The food stalls get even more amazing every single time! I had some macarons from the On stall. On the left we have peach champagne (amazing) and the right is English Rose (double amazing). And... dare I say it? I think that On's rose macaron is better than the one by well-known Laduree!

This was my haul from the weekend. I got the Owlet plushie from Kidrobot the day before and the red bow ring came from Qut'se in Chinatown. The cupcake bracelet and chocolate whip necklace were very kindly given to me by Mini Mo from Sweet and tiny. Mo makes lots of cute little sweets and I was so happy when she gave me those 2 items. So thank you Mo! I think that was really sweet. I got some strawberry socks from the Tofu Cute stall because I already own loads of strawberry items. Despite the prices, I relented and got an Usakumya pochette from the Baby stall. I got given some free stickers with it as well. I also got a few postcards with lolita art and did a 3 for £10 jewellery offer on the 2 Bad Bananas stall. I am very pleased with what I got. I had to be a bit careful because I am paying off a dream print of mine and I also have my eye on a dress.

So overall, this was a very good day. There were some very small issues, but I think as time goes on, Hyper Japan will grow in to something even more amazing. I can't wait for the next one!