Behind the Scenes at Jill Stuart...

The next morning, Ashlynn had an all-day shoot for Mix Tokyo, the Japanese distributor of Jill Stuart, a designer from New York. We ran into the hair and make-up team as I was dropping Ashlynn off. Much to Ashlynn’s horror, I asked if I could take a group shot.

Apparently she wasn’t too mad at me since she sent me a few behind-the-scenes shots throughout the day.

She was amazed at how many folks were on set for each shoot and wasn’t really sure what they all did. However, there was usually someone who spoke fairly good English and everyone was very sweet. They also fed her very well, which she appreciated.

FurFur Shoot...

On Thursday, August 20, Ashlynn had a shoot which started at 7:30 p.m. and went until 11:45 p.m. I dropped her off and she caught a taxi home. The brand was called FurFur; luckily they didn’t ask Ashlynn to model any actual fur as she would have been very unhappy.

I don’t have the hi-res versions of the photos yet, but here’s some from FurFur’s website. You can see the rest of the shoot here.

Ashlynn Appears on Japanese Website...

The first job that Ashlynn did in Tokyo was for a catalog, in-store promotional pieces and the website for Lowrys Farm. We haven’t received copies of the photos yet, but did find them on their website. In total, Ashlynn had eight jobs during the six weeks and thought they were all great fun. 

More Shitamachi Museum...

This was the candy shop. One of the docents did an excellent job of explaining the displays to me.

He encouraged me to take off my shoes and wander through the rooms and to handle the objects from the residents' daily lives as he explained their uses.

All of the rooms featured at least one shrine, but most had several.

These chests reminded me of the one Jimmy's sister Debbie gave us as a wedding gift.

Across from the candy display was the kitchen, which is clearly quite compact. It wasn't until a development boom spurred on by the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics that there was a dramatic increase in the use of electric appliances.

Shitamachi Museum...

This was the final museum that I visited that day, which was established to teach future generations about the culture of the area where the common people lived called shitamachi (literally translated to "downtown" but referring to the actual level of the low-lying land rather than the central business district).

The shitamachi’s high population density resulted in the building of crowded tenement houses made of wood built very close together. The museum features reproductions of a tenement block so visitors can glimpse inside a lifestyle that existed until the wartime fires of 1945. 

This is a manufacturer and wholesales of hanao straps for traditional footwear as it would have looked prior to the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

There was no running water, so residents shared the communal well and communal latrine. 

Other Shrines and Temples in Ueno Park...

A giant bronze Buddha was placed in Ueno Park in 1631, but it toppled in the Great 1923 Tokyo Earthquake. Only the face remains after the body was melted down for metal during World War II. 

Bentendo is located on an island in Shinobazu Pond. This temple is dedicated to Benten, the goddess of good fortune, wealth, music and knowledge.

In the Edo-era (1625), Shogun Tokugawa established Kaneiji Temple to ward off evil from the unlucky northeast direction of Ueno Park's location. It eventually became one of the city's largest and wealthiest temples, but only a few buildings remain.

Ueno Toshogu Shrine...

Toshogu Shrine, also known as the Shrine of Gold, was built in 1627 and then remodeled in 1651 (and again in 2014). Remarkably, it has survived several major earthquakes and fires plus the air raids of World War II.

This sacred tree was on the property before the shrine was built and is estimated to be over 600 years old.