Rose Of Versaille Window Shopping – Isetan

I took these photos of the Rose of Versaille themed window decoration at Isetan department store in Shinjuku a couple of months ago. I meant to post this straight away but the photos got stuck in editing limbo for the longest time. Excuse me! Still, fans of the game-changing Rose of Versaille manga series from the 70s will get a kick out of seeing these – each window is decorated to the theme of one of the characters in the famous shojo (girl’s) manga about a girl who is raised as a son and takes up the post as captain of the guard in Paris just before the revolution. It is quite possibly the story that kick started a generation of female manga readers in the 1970s and as such the whole genre is indebted to this fantastic comic book series. Those who are not fans of the manga can still enjoy this masterclass in window decoration!

Matsuya Asakusa – Ekimise Departement Store

Between Sumida River and Asakusa Metro station you’ll find the large department store, Matusya Asakusa. It is situated on top of the Tsukuba Express station and inside the building itself is another station of the Tobu line. The rooftop has a small open space which offers rather good views of the Tokyo Skytree. Even at night the station looks pretty good.

Isetan x Klaus Haapaniemi – Christmas Decorations

This year again, the famous Isetan department store in Shinjuku is putting on a christmas decorations campaign illustrated by Klaus Haapaniemi, the Finnish artist. Isetan and Haapaniemi has been collaborating for quite some time and the stories keep getting more and more elaborate, even with some recurring characters. This year the story seems to be more complicated and the interior decorations are as great as always. It is good to see that some department stores are not afraid to be different even during Christmas shopping season! I blogged about it in 2009. There is a site accompanying the decorations, complete with video and rather good song available for download.

Loft’s Halloween Signboard – Cats

One of the bigger and cooler department stores in Tokyo, Loft, had this big Halloween signboard up. I loved the image so I wanted to share it with you. Taken last Saturday in the Shibuya rain.