Hello from the very successful Moshi Moshi Nippon festival! ＼（＾▽＾）／ It was held last September 29 at Tokyo Taikukan, Sendagaya. Expected guests are around 22,000 Japanese and foreigners. (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

Their goal is to spread Japanese culture to the world. They had various activities and gimmicks going on throughout the day. Foreigners felt extra special on this day. First, the ticket was ¥3500 for Japanese citizens but free for foreigners! Yay! So lucky! Second, free food ticket by the ticket gates. And a whole lot more freebies inside the venue!

٩(ó｡ò۶ ♡)))♬

Outside Tokyo Taikukan, there is a Japanese food festival where they sell the usual at matsuri(s), yakisoba, takoyaki and kakigori. But there are also American finger foods such as sausages, normal fries and twister fries! In true Harajuku fashion, crepes are served thus there were some! To get food, you have to buy Moshi Moshi Nippon coins (2 for ¥600) and pay for your food by using them. Brilliant idea!

Next stop, inside Tokyo Taikukan! Foreigners can sign-up for a 3-day free wifi around Tokyo! Is this a start for a centralized wi-fi system in Tokyo? I hope so!

★ Kawaii Booths ★

Going down the hall, you’ll first see the Model Flea Market Shop or maybe that’s just me because I love shopping! The process was you have to register at HARAJUKU KAWAii STYLE website to gain access to this booth. There was also a line for about 30 minutes to 1 hour and you’re only given 5 minutes to check out the models clothes and buy!

Here are the models’ names: Shiho Takechi, Rina Tanaka, Fumiko Aoyagi, Natsume Mito, Saki Shibata, Ayumi Seto, Yura, Culumi Nakada, Saki Sato, Anna Yano, Misa Kimura, Hikari Shibata, Yuna Yabe, Hiko Achinami, Rinko Murata, Hitomi Ueno, Mai Nakaseko, Ren Koseki, Asaka Taniguchi, Ema Tanioku, Eri Tanioku, YuRi, ROOT, Kazuki Yamamoto, Takeshi Oka, Ryo Ueno, Kazuki Maeda, Kaiki Ohara, Yuka Kamioka, POCHI, Sakura Goto, Ayaka Ikeda, Ami Kondo, Risa Ebihara, Choma Tokui, Ayu Tsuruoka, Omochi Maekawa, Shein Ozawa, Karin Hagino, Rina Kawamoto, Kemio, Youji Kondo, Momoko Sadachi, Mizuki SHiraichi, Devil, Beck, Peco, Hikaru Yokota, Hinano Yoshimura

In front of the Models Flea Market booth is of course the MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON booth where they were selling original merchandise and iPhone cases designed by models. You can also get a free badge if you show them that you’ve download the MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON APP. It is so cool, you should definitely have it on your phone!

★ Kawaii Fashion Show ★

There were various fashions shows from Japanese and International brands alike but here are my favorite shows: Zipper, UPS and New Balance. It made my appetite for shopping really strong! Also by around 5:30, I was kind of curious why I keep on seeing lots of Harajuku street snap personalities! And the answer was, FRUiTS presents HYPER RUNWAY! For me, it was the best show because I love Harajuku fashion so much! アニメイト presents ACOS コスプレ (Cosplay) also followed! It was so original. Now, I want to try cosplay!

Foreign models were also highlighted among the shows! Yay!

Models from overseas: EVA, Kelly, VIENNA, Himezawa, Ines, Beckii Cruel, Delphine and more!

★LIVE DAM KARAOKE ★

Winners from London and Paris were sent to Japan for a huge Karaoke competition! It was great to hear foreigners sing Japanese songs fluently! They even got high remarks from the karaoke machine! So entertaining!

★ Music ★

Highlights were Dempagumi .inc., Silent Siren and of course Kyary Pamyu Pamyu!

Even if it is my first time to see these Japanese artists, I was delighted by their performance and hopefully I can hear more of their songs. My friends from the Philippines were so excited about Silent Siren and Kyary! I think seeing my instagram and Facebook posts about them made them feel they were at the event too. Someday, I wish for them to see these artists live as well!

★ Other Artists ★

Idolrenaissance, Ange☆Reve, ANNA☆S, FYT, CAMOUFLAGE, Caramel, GALETTe*, Cupitron, Stella☆Beats, DIANNA☆SWEET, Cheeky Parade, Tsuri Bit, TOKYO TORiTSU Korede Iinkai, drop, Shiho Namba, Niji no Conquistador, NEKO PUNCH, Hanae, Mimi Meme MIMI, Yamaguchi Kassei Gakuen, Una, Yun*chi, Luce Twinkle Wink☆ and more!!!

Lastly, I am so delighted to hear one of the hosts speak in English and translate hard to understand Japanese words to English. He was a life saver!

Guests/ Hosts: Sebastian Masuda, NEEKO, Natsuko Kondo, Rei Mastrogiovanni and more!!!

★ Conclusion ★

It was an amazing event to showcase Japanese pop culture from fashion to beauty to anime and everything else! I really had fun and grateful that ASOBI and MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON organized an event like this! As I’m watching, I also can’t help to imagine my friends and I modeling for the runway shows! It would be awesome!

 ˚‧*♡ॢ˃̶̤̀◡˂̶̤́♡ॢ*‧˚

★ Photos and words by Ashley Dy / Candy Kawaii Lover  ★