I have to admit I have a really terrible time when it comes to making sure I have gifts for everyone at 'traditional' holiday times. Spontaneous pressies, no problem but holiday season gifts often get me into a bit of bother. Don't get me wrong, I love giving but it is tricky sometimes to know what to get everyone. I am a big fan of the quirky gift plus gift voucher option, that way everyone gets something cute and meaningful but they also get to pick up something that they love from a shop that I think serves up responsible and thoughtful products.

So I am very excited to announce that Tokyo Made (your ultra responsible and thoughtful Tokyo shop) has just launched the Tokyo Made Gift Voucher.

Available in $20, $50 or $100 amounts. No shipping charge! No unwanted packaging! No waiting for the parcel to arrive on your doorstep! The easiest way to give your bestie, lover, parents, boss, teacher, secret crush exactly what they want. Let them decide what to buy from Tokyo.

Simply add the Gift Voucher amount of your choice to your shopping cart, just like any other product.

When your payment has been completed you will receive an email from us. Following the email directions, simply log into your TokyoMade account and send the Gift Voucher you have purchased off to the lucky friend or family member.

We love, love , love CHAPTER so it makes us endlessly happy when we get sweet emails from gorgeous CHAPTER fans like Ginny!

Here is Ginny rockin her new CHAPTER rings!

And here is her super cool message
"Hi! I love the Chapter rings I ordered! They're just so much fun I can't
take them off! I attached some pics of them. And TOKYOMADE is great, I'm
really glad I found the site - thank you!"

Thanks Ginny for sharing your individual style!

Nani Bird to give away to good home. Must be fun loving and creative bird lovers. Please show your interest by joining the Tokyo Fan Club.

For your chance to win a McKibillo Nani Bird this month simply become a Tokyo Fan Club member. Enter your email address and click on the submit button.

The November Fan Club Giveaway, a funky original by Japanese artist Junko Kawashima, is being shipped off to one lucky winner today!

8 creators coming from different countries and different background join together to give this unique experience. Japan, Holland, England and Taiwan, crossing cultural and artistic boarders, presenting jazz music, fusion created food and varieties of art/ design and object design etc.

2008/12/13(Sat)-14(Sun)
H.A.C Gallery at Aoyama
13:00-17:30(Sat),17:00（Sun）
Fee：\800（1 cafe include）

Check out the Jazz Kissa site for more details!

Bling Bling Bells! Bling Bling Bells! There is no denying it is holiday time just around the corner. Here in Tokyo the lights are twinkling, the chill has set in and the stores are crammed with colorful goodness preparing for the gift giving and New Year season! Here at TokyoMade things are pretty much the same with some twinkling lights in our office and lots of new Holiday BLING!

Party Mask by BLITZ Kiss

Vogue Pierce by BLITZ Kiss

Santa Necklace by BLITZ Kiss

Pirate Patch Necklace by BLITZ Kiss

Yes! by Lissita

African Mittens by MACBAG

Japan's No.1 English Magazine Metropolis have released their giving season gift guide for this year. We were happy to spot some TM cuties amongst the gorgeous gift ideas.

Ichigo Seijin Card Holder

Tabi by Honmonoya

It is not always easy to grab gifts for the boys, so I put together a Polyvore collage of some of the stuff for men I really dig on TokyoMade. Now it is easy, holiday gift grab is sorted!

For more bits of the boys check out the for men category and some of the hot pieces in the tokyo cool category.

Lo-Fi-Me designer Sasha is currently displaying his latest range of eclectic creations at the mememachine gallery in Shibuya, until December 23. SASA EXHIBITION」（仮）

Saturday the 20th will be his celebratory party. Check out the mememachine site for access and more details.

2008年12月15日〜12月23日（月〜翌火）
12:00〜19:00
20日（土）／party
詳細は追ってお知らせ致します。

The new range will be available on TokyoMade any moment now.

Alongside the likes of Bathing Ape, Victor & Rolf and Tom Ford; Photographerhal is making his mark on the French site Colette. Pinky & Killer DX Book of Tokyo couples by Photographerhal now available on Colette.

NEIL STALNAKER
HIROAKI KOSHIBA
IMPROVISATION・LIVE AT YOKOHAMA AIREGIN

2008年12月23日(火)
2008 December 23rd(Tue)
1st stage 20:00-　2nd stage 21:30-
entrance fee 2,500yen

YOKOHAMA AIREGIN　http://www.airegin.jp/
横浜市中区住吉町5-60(馬車道通り)　TEL/FAX　045-641-9191
5-60(Bashamichi street) Sumiyoshi-Cho Naka-Ward Yokohama

Hiroaki Koshiba / live painting

Neil Stalnaker / trumpet

Norihiko Hibino / laptop computer・sax

Kato Takayuki / guitar

Natsuki Sugiyama / alto sax

それでは、また！

December the 13th marked the launch of Guy Perryman's project Presentific, and what a launch it was. Party people, performers, photographers and friends from all circles across Tokyo gathered in the gorgeous Mado Lounge on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills. DJ’s Guy & Bambi spun their exotic lounge music. Live performances by jazz superstar Lenne Hardt,
soul sensation Mari Stone and erotic burlesque dancers Cherry Typhoon, Safi and Miss Erochica Bamboo WOWed the crowd. When the clock struck 1am the breathtaking Sky Lounge was opened up, the Tokyo Hoop Stars lured the growing crowd into the illuminated space and the party was taken to even higher heights. An experience to remember...

Life is about experiences great and small, each with their own significance. Presentific captures the essence of experience and encourages us all to share the wealth of experience that we all have with others locally and globally. The concept of Presentific is Give and Experience. Share and Experience. Pass it on...

Presentific is the answer to gift giving. It is a service & interactive website for giving experiences as presents. Give someone a memory of an experience they'll keep forever - not something they'll put away & forget. The experience given is up to the imagination - it can be anything - from free to high end. Here's the idea - a walk in the park, a picnic, a shared book reading, dinner for two, a quiet night in, a noisy night out, live music & entertainment, a sports event, an extreme sports adventure, spa treatment, learning course, a weekend away, a trip around the world.

Get yourself a Presentific card and start a unique journey. The Presentific card is a funky artist designed little card that replaces the standard greeting card. Each card has an original number - so you can go to the Presentific website, write your message to the person you’re giving the experience to & start the card's original blog. Both the giver & receiver can write about & share the experience on the website.

And this is where it gets interesting.

The person who receives a Presentific card will keep the memory of the experience forever - but they can’t keep the card - they keep it moving - pass the card on to someone else & give another experience as a present. And so on & on.. Everyone who receives the card can write about their experience, track the journey of the card & share all the experiences connected with it. You could also give a Presentific card as a gift itself & let someone start their own experience adventure! Presentific connects the virtual world with your real world – it’s six degrees of separation in motion!! It’s the perfect gift for the person who is impossible to buy for or who has everything. It’s even better for the environment – less landfill.

That's Presentific!!

The Strawberry Alien has landed again and in true generous seijin style he has showered us in extraterrestrial treats! Sweet, yummy goodness.

Pouches, pockets, protectors and more, Ichigo Seijin knows how to keep his life in order and has handcrafted a luscious array of goodies to do so!

Grab some alien goodness for your astro traveling adventures!

Traditionally in Japan shogatsu (new year) is celebrated by cleaning house ready for the new year spirits, visiting a temple and watching way too much competitive sport on TV. What happens if you are not much into cleaning, feeling too cold to go ring bells at a temple and would rather tap into some tunes than the tele?

Photo by Purple Cloud

Tokyo has a warming line up of parties this year for the less traditional international crew.

The Count Down Party is on at Warehouse this year. Celebrating with a 24 hour beat fest kicking off with the long running party The Ring, heading into 2009 with body moving vibes from Ko Kimura, DJ Munoz and Satoshi Otsuki along side many others. Grab a copy of this week's Metropolis mag for a 1000 yen discount.

Cocoon Morphs Tokyo with special guest DJ Andre Galluzzi will manifest greatness at WOMB

The SOLID crew are bringing in the new year at La Fabrique flipping out some of Tokyo's finest funky house with the likes of Kai and Megumilk.

The beat goes on out at Ageha with their very own flavor of countdown party featuring DJ Emma and Anthony Lamont as well as indie superstars the Dexpistols.

Champaign will be flowing at the Pink Cow.

Velours will be hosting a Gold Lush Party.

Lounge Neo @ Club Asia will give you your Hip Hop fix.

G9 @ Legato/Gonpachi will pump out the real grooves.

Would love to hear your suggestions too. What are you doing for New Years Eve?

From the creator of Bros Wear Design and our Fragment partner, Oshima San, comes the latest gallery and office space in Tokyo - Vision Air.

Oshima San's eye for detail and extensive design experience shine through in the streamlined space now available for art shows, gallery events and design display.

Tokyo winters, while chilly, are surprisingly gorgeous! Today's weather made it hard to believe it was Winter. The sky was so brilliantly blue and as the sun set it made for the most spectacular contrast of colors on the horizon. At about 5pm the night sky looked like a rich purple velvet filled with diamonds (alright, alright I am getting carried away everyone knows we never get to see the stars here...but it was extra stunning this evening!)

Which leads me to share some love...

- Digging the Japanese Street Report blog with recent Harajuku street snaps!

- The righteous Roppongi Hills as seen through Danny Choo's lens. Stunning captures!

- Unhealthily obsessed with anime? Japanator

- Big eyes big in Japan. Magibon on Pingmag.

Photo by Gretchen

For those of you considering a traditional Japanese new year, here is a step by step How To.

We have some catching up to do!

For those of you who feel like bringing in the new year at Meiji Jingu here is a slice of what to expect.

Photo by w00kie

Atarashii is Japanese for new. It is soon to be a new year and we have a pile of newness to share with you that will be going up on the shop page daily. So we have decided to make Mondays on the TM Zine Atarashii Day. A day to give you a heads up on the latest bits and pieces being created here in Japan and perhaps a few sneak previews of what will be available soon.

Today's Atarashii feature is all about Lissita. Japanese designer Lisa Nagano is the creator behind the alluring accessories making intriguing use of resin, sketches, beads and body parts.

Kokeshi Going Rock

Kokeshi dolls as well as doll parts feature heavily in the Lissita range of accessories.

Excuse Me? Brooch by Lissita

Each Lissita piece is a one of a kind accessory handmade in Japan.

For a snap shot of the pieces you can expect to see on TokyoMade very soon check out the Lissita album.

The beginnings of TokyoMade came about in a two story town house in the back streets of Okubo, so reading the Japan Visitor's guide to Okubo brought back some warm memories.

Be sure to rock into Korean town, via the Sobu or Yamanote lines, for a wild array of Korean foods and boy band souvenirs. Definitely the place for inexpensive restaurants offering an interesting range of flavors from vegetarian buffets and Indian curries to Malaysian bites and far too many meaty bbqs.

I just asked Masao to give me 3 words to describe 2008. He chuckled a little and after a few long pauses, breaths, smiles and deep in thought looks he said, "Progress. Discovery. Appreciation." Almost sounds like a campaign slogan. When I quizzed myself about it, I came up with, "Evolution. Revolutions. Handmade."

2008 took on a new path for me as part of the TM team. I sought more uniqueness in the designs, gained greater joy from knowing the full process of the handmade pieces and got to know the people behind the art a little better.

Looking back on the year through the blog has been a fun review. January seems like a life time ago, full of collaborations and color. February was all about funky design. I had my first hoop dance performance at the chief&mischief launch, the Nani Birds came to stay and the partying for 1st birthday began (I don't think it has stopped) March was mammoth, check back and see for yourself - Fragment, Mad Pandas, Mixed Tapes and CHAPTER. Spring was in the air when April came around, I returned from an Aussie adventure and connected with some new designs. May was a month of art and design with Masao and I heading off to support at many interesting art shows and design gatherings. In June we froze, sheltered from the rain and got Fragmented! July brought with it fresh style, Tokyo events and deja vu. The Zoo came to town in August, Nani Birds hit the subways, we hung out with Fashion Hayley, learned a lot about paper art and picked up some souvenirs from New York. In September we rocked the catwalk and the iPhone rocked Tokyo. October felt like a month long rock show, prepping for Fragment and the Tokyo Design Week. Fragment, Design Festa, new designs and good friends made November a month to remember. December has been about holiday bling, festive cheer and sharing experiences.

This past week in Tokyo has been stunning, truly, a perfect time for planning, preparing and organizing for the new year! Looking forward to all that 09 brings and appreciating 2008 for the intense and life filled year that it was.

More than anything our year was filled with gratitude for all the global style lovers (that is you!) who have continued to support Japan based design and creation. Thank you!

Warmest wishes as always from Masao and I xx