Coord Catchup: the Japan Edition

Wearing lolita in Japan is something of a goal for many of us. While I have done it in the past, it was still during my ita phase, so there are plenty of mixed feelings about that. Being able to rectify that and wear lolita properly felt so good and luckily I managed to wear it not once, but three times! Since I don’t plan on doing any more travel blogs here, I will include any other notable bits and pictures in between the outfit pics. That means that this will likely be a long post, so make sure you’re sitting comfortably.

| Metamorphose Polka Dots Tiered skirt | offbrand blouse | Hell Bunny cardigan | Innocent World Anchor OTKs | Imperial
Fiddlesticks headbow | vintage necklace | offbrand shoes and beret |

The first time was right on day 1. I knew that I’d be hitting the lolita shops, so looking like a lost tourist was not an option. Comfort was a priority in all my lolita outfits during the trip and this one is very quintessentially me. This Meta skirt is so comfortable and somehow doesn’t wrinkle very much, which makes it perfect for travelling and even more of a favourite of mine than it had been before. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the best selfie day, I struggled to find a good light and angle, so no selfies here.

Like I said, that first day was pretty much dedicated to shopping, with a brief sightseeing spot at the Osaka Castle Park. My boyfriend’s phone has a step counter and we’ve done something daft like 13 thousand – but then we did opt for walking back to our hotel instead of taking the metro. It was so good to be back in Osaka, it’s one of my favourite places in the world and feels like another home to me, since I spent so much time there during my first time in Japan. Being able to share that with a significant other, even if he was a little exasperated/shocked at how much lolita shopping I can do (and we didn’t even go everywhere, I skipped some places seeing at how tired he was getting), was a very special experience that I will cherish.

Still in shock/awe that I got this!

Day 1 haul of pink bags.

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| Song and Temple Fairytale Library skirt | Angelic Pretty Whip Girl cutsew | Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidery cutsew cardigan | Angelic Pretty Sugar Ribbon OTKs | offbrand shoes and barette [not visible in the photo] |

The face of someone excited to see Pokemon.

My next time wearing lolita was when we went to Tokyo. Again, there was some lolita shopping involved later that day, as I had to pick up a dress I reserved, although  the main thing was Pokemon Café. That time I went with an all-blue outfit and comfortable cutsew fabrics. It was a little chillier that day, so extra layers were necessary. This skirt is so well travelled at this point, I take it pretty much everywhere I travel: it’s been to Wales, Ireland, Spain, now Japan – and all having started from China and being to all kinds of places around the UK.

Pokemon Café was absolutely incredible! Neither my boyfriend or I are massively into Pokemon, we liked it as kids when it first came out, but now it’s a very casual sort of interest. However, we both got super into it and had the biggest smiles on our faces during the entire stay. Everything, from the décor and atmosphere to the food and overall experience was super cute and very well curated. We got to see Eevee and even though you know that that’s a person in a costume, the café sells you the fantasy so well that we were excited like little kids. The food was also good, although its main value is in how it looks – by which I mean that there are probably nicer omuraisu and veggie burgers out there, but because they were shaped like Pokemon, they felt more special than it actually was. We both went a little nuts and spent a fair share in the café and then the adjoining Pokemon Center shop, but it’s stuff that we’ll use, so all’s good.

The tablets make it super easy to order.

Everything was pink for spring!

My main: Pikachu plate with an assortment of various dishes (omuraisu Pikachu, star tater tots, hamburg steak, fried prawn, pasta and salad).

My dessert: strawberry cheesecake Jigglypuff with mixed berries and sugar cookies (probably the best cookies I've had tbh).

Here I’ll make a quick detour before going to the next outfit, because whilst in Tokyo we also went to Q-Pot Café. I really wanted to go and managed to convince my boyfriend to come along. We went after a visit to the Tokyo Digital Arts Museum (very cool and worth a visit) and it was just like I had imagined it would be. Because we reserved our spot very early in advance, about a month before, we had to select our food in order to complete the reservation. While at the time it felt a little limiting, because what if we changed our mind, on the day it actually made it all smoother: all we had to do was select our drinks and enjoy ourselves, since our food was all pre-selected and paid for. The staff were very attentive and both our desserts were amazing. Since my boyfriend is a bit more picky, I went with the safest option I found, which was a strawberry parfait, while I indulged in a sakura mont blanc. I’m not massively keen on wagashi flavours, I prefer sweeter things, but something about this combination of traditional Japanese flavours (sakura, green tea and adzuki beans) with a European dessert was highly satisfying. It was indulgent without feeling too much so.

These straws were not for drinking, but for selfies.

Melty Strawberry Parfait (the strawberries were super fruity and lovely!).

Sakura Mont Blanc with a strawberry macaron and a sakura meringue.

You can clearly see the green tea and adzuki beans on the inside. Overall it was a very light dessert.

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| Lady Sloth Look at My Dreamy Sky OP | Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidery cutsew cardigan | offbrand blouse, socks, shoes and barette [not visible] |

The last time I frilled up was for our day out at Universal Studios Japan. The weather had warmed up significantly that day, so I braved going tights-less with just ankle socks.  My dress reflected the clear blue skies so well and as it has pockets, it was also a very practical choice. And truth be told, having that extra buffer in the form of a petticoat made me feel that teeny weeny bit better at some of the scarier rides (I’m a wimp and don’t like fast/steep/upside-down/generally scary rides).

If I have to pick between Disneyland and Universal Studios, I will pick Universal. Firstly, they have Harry Potter stuff, which is all you need to say to convince me. But I think it’s also because I experienced USJ first, so there’s a lot of sentiment there. Unfortunately, my absolutely favourite ride in the world was closed for maintenance whilst we were there, but we made up for it with Harry Potter, the Minions place and seeing Sesame Street Does Bollywood performance (so surreal, but immensely entertaining, loved every minute of it). My favourite part about parks like this is how much attention to detail goes into the décor and surroundings. Minions place was the best example: ATMs marked as Bank of Evil, Minion characters marking toilets and the cute little banana and fluffy unicorn nods.

Minion land! 

So colourful and fun, perfect for sweet lolita!

Makes me smile just to look at these.

Also all of USJ was ready for Easter.

Went to Happiness Cafe for lunch. I had a fried chicken with Minion rice.
(And mixed roasted vegetables and a pumpkin salad, and a corn soup! That
was one filling, but surprisingly balanced meal!)

The boyfriend opted for a Minion burger - which turned out to be veggie.

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While I wish that I had worn lolita a little bit more, my energy levels weren’t quite up for full 10 days of frills. Maybe if I were on my own or had more cute, comfortable shoes I could’ve taken, but as was three outings was perfect. However, my absolute favourite part was that as we were wandering around various places, we have spotted several Japanese lolitas (and some Chinese ones) in various places, just going about their days. We walked past at least three of four frillies whilst just wandering the backstreets of Namba, there were two girls twinning and having afternoon tea at Q-Pot Café whilst we were there, I saw some dressed in Chinese brands out in Nara… As Harajuku became more of a tourist spot than an alt-fashion mecca, seeing people dressed in lolita reinforced the idea that the fashion is not dead – it’s just moved elsewhere.

Last couple of aesthetic pics, because I really want to squeeze them in somewhere. This is Todai-ji in Nara.

We got to Japan just at the beginning of the cherry blossoms actually blooming.

Todai-ji was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. Though I guess the Great Buddha Statue has to live somewhere...

On our last day in Japan we went to this fancy place called Cacaotier Gokan.
It was on our way from the station to the hotel and I really wanted to indulge.

We took these to take out and my almond mousse dome was so shiny
that you can actually see my reflection in it. It was also decadently
delicious, 11/10 would eat again!