Tokyo Design Festa

Part Fremont Flea Market, part High School Art Show, part Harajuku Sunday, part colorful explosion, the Tokyo Design Festa is a feast for the eyes and proof that there is a lot of creativity out there.

It was held at a huge expo center in the area where all the cool new buildings are (no, not in this building, it's just a cool building)

















It was huge and kind of overwhelming; there was a lot to see. There was plenty of painting going on, some by what Martine described as "rich Japanese kids who think they have talent." But some good stuff, too.















This reminded us all of Tim Burton's Stainboy:















It was easy to get the feeling that some people were just there to be seen. It didn't have much to do with the art, but it definitely added to the eye-candy.


































We were afraid that the kids would get bored quickly, I mean, it's basically a big arts and crafts show, and they are small boys. They found plenty to interest them, however, so we were pleasantly shocked that they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Like the Skeleton on a Toilet That Poops Silver Balls machine. D wanted to stay and watch forever, and kept coming back to it. It was pretty neat, all made of paper.















The kids also spent a good period of time playing with these domino-blocks. We almost bought some, but then there was a tantrum, so it didn't happen.




















This would make an amazing library kid-corner. Having a black thumb when it comes to houseplants, I considered buying some fabric ones.




















There were a lot of gothic dolls. Love 'em.















And these are the coolest sinks ever.




















Impressive prosthetics and special effects makeup:
















It's the damn horse head again.




















We also saw some of the weirdest media ever. You really can make anything out of anything. Like marshmallows, for instance:














And here we have more evidence of the Japanese obsession with bodily fluids:


































Had to give this chick points for putting herself out there, but this was some of the most horrible video game-inspired music ever.


















Jeff's favorite was the balloon-fashion show. The one in white made the trip out worth it all by herself, he said.















M convinced me that, since he is into drinking tea now, that we needed to bring some of this pretty tea home.












There was another show or two going on in the expo center. This one looked slightly less exciting:















We walked out of the festa foot-sore and eye-burnt, but it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Made me vow to do something creative every day, because if I learned anything at the show, it is that the world is aswarm with great ideas and readily-available materials, and I have no excuse.

See more photos of the Festa here.