Between the press interviews and in-store appearances there was very little time to shop! I was so happy when a super cool Japanese shopping magazine called “Glitter” invited me to go shopping so they could document my first experience shopping in Japan. We went to some very exclusive Gothic and Lolita shops and I was able to pick up my first Lolita dress (wide b & w stripe with black Victorian caplet) and a mini madame hat. All the girls in the shop were dressing me up like a doll and I just wanted everything. (Note to self: next time bring an empty suitcase!) We also stopped at Ash & Diamonds, the hottest Ko-Gal (ghetto fabulous J-pop style) shop, where I found the cutest sparkling plexi bag and pink metallic leather cell phone strap. The cell phone charms are bigger than the phones and girls usually have clusters of them dangling off their must-have white plastic phones that light up when someone calls. The phones are getting bigger now in Japan, after becoming so small that they were impossible to use. On our last day we spent the afternoon at Sanrio and I finally got an opportunity to hang out with Yuko Yamaguchi, the creator and illustrator of Hello Kitty. She is amazing, so creative, sweet, and funny, and has incredible style. The “Strawberry News” (official Sanrio newspaper) girls gave us a tour of Sanrio and later we met the Strawberry King himself - Mr. Tsuji, who is the creator and CEO of Sanrio. He invited us to see his room of personal treasures he has collected over the last 30 years. It was an honor to meet someone who has created a company that has influenced pop culture all over the world for more than 3 decades.