I went back to Namba and Shinsaibashi and had another evening shooting, and got some of what I think are my best shots yet. These are some of the classic ‘OSAKA’ landmarks, and they are looking HOT. Take a look and holler at me.

The bad ass traditional japanese puppet theatre show thingy.

The big famous crab on Shinsaibashi-suji…..an amazing restaurant with complimentary giant mechanical crab. Does it get better?

And this bad boy is ‘Glica Man’ a huge light up sign, but in japan his name is ‘Gu-ri-co Man’ as they don’t sound out the sound for ‘Gl’.

I received my orders from Ranui that I must complete while in Japan, Number 1 on the list was to find a type of cafe where the girls who serve you are dressed in wierd outfits. This is the result of one of Ranui’s research methods into japanese culture, and you’ll have to ask him what the program was called as I can’t remember.

So to get to this cafe I ended up walking around Nipponbashi, and then asking an overtly excitable sales assistant in a clothes shop if there were any Maid Cafe’s about and she gave me some simple directions and then sent me out the back of her shop to get there. I have to admit that there were times when I thought that I may have been going to a brothel….but alas…i wasn’t.

I got to the cafe and its pretty normal, apart from the funnily dressed girls, and then the 10% of customers who are utter freaks and are pretty dang scary. They pay like a fiver to get a picture with the maids, and ring bells to call them over, and collect maid cards with the girls in different clothing outfits etc. Wierd. But the majority of people in there are totally normal, just going in for the fact that its a cafe and does good iced coffee.

So after 9 months of growing my hair from the shaved state that it found itself in in August/September last year, I went to the hairdressers yesterday. Now I was thinking about, and have been telling people that the wafro / white mans flat top was really gonna be a reality. So after some time clambering over the language barrier, and having some general hairdresser-banter we got down to the perm. See below.

Turns out i didn’t get an afro perm…..just…..a mild perm. Which i love, but isn’t an afro. So the afro is nowhere to be seen, and all my chat now sounds like hot air. I have a few more months to wait before the afro’s even going to be able to be considered. My apologies to my millions of fans who have seen this saga unfold for the last 9 months. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Satoru-san thankyou very much for the haircut, you and your boys did an amazing job…the shave was magic too.

Shinsaibashi Suji

Silver balls, wierd little machines, and lots of bright lights….it can only be one thing. PACHINKO! The bain of every japanese gamblers life.

Millions of bikes, and Osaka Hall…

Namba Hips, new building that’s pretty HUGE.

Namba 1010 and the theatre that shows some sort of traditional japanese puppet show that they love a lot.

Babies born, people getting older…good times.

Supreme are one of the few brands on the market at the moment that take inspiration from their roots in regards to music. Surpeme looked to Bad Brains for inspiration on previous projects, Miles Davis, and now, Malcom Mclaren. Those unfamiliar with Malcom must know that he had a huge part in the success of the New York Dolls, as well as the Sex Pistols back in the 70’s. Supreme are set to release a small collection which includes all-original artwork from Malcom on items including t-shirts, hoodies, and even a New Era cap. Some of the artwork done-up by Mclaren is very similar to Keith Haring artwork. The small collection was released on the 23rd here in Japan, and as if this weren’t enough, Vans will also be taking part in the release of the V-79 model.

I was lucky enough to get to see the collection while in Minami Horie last week, and although I think the New Era’s could have been a little more adventurous, the tees and the hoods are top quality and worth the price tag in my opinion.

The stars of the show Ken and Hirokazu…the men that make up the 3 man CRAZY OSHO PARTY team that sample some of the best chinese food in Osaka every saturday night.

I forgot to shoot when the food came…so we’ve only got some ‘feeling very full’ shots.

Ramen Set. Yes please.

OSHO master.

I mentioned that I managed to get to the Supreme store situated in the uber-cool Minami Horie district of Osaka, and i even managed to get some snaps inside. So here they are….the inside scoop just for you. They had their budweiser collection, the Malcom Mclaren collaboration collection, and then their usual sweet range of caps, bags and accessories.