My Favourite Japanese Models

I wanted to make a blog post about my favourite Japanese models. If you don't know already, I'm very into Japanese fashion and I have been following Japanese trends and fashion for about 8 years now. During my Japanese fashion obsession, I have come to discover many Japanese models and grew a strong liking for them. So I thought why not compile a list of my favourite Japanese models in Japan.

I'm going to list them from who I discovered and liked first to my most recent favourites.

1. Ebihara Yuri 蛯原友里 She's such a classic beauty! Who doesn't know her as she was and I believe she still is one of Japan's top models. Her popularity goes back way in early 2000. She was the cover face model for the Japanese fashion magazine CanCam, which was the magazine that got me to know about her. I used to read CanCam a lot when I was in my early 20's and because she was always featured in it and I became immediately attached to her as she is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful features and flawless radiant skin. She is what I define as an elegant and beautiful model as she gives off a very elegance kind of beauty aura. Aside from modeling she also does some acting as well and I have seen her on TV for commercials and variety shows before. 
Blog: http://ameblo.jp/ebihara-y/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuri_ebihara/?hl=en
Official facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ebiharayuriofficial

2. Nozomi Sasaki 佐々木 希 I know her since way back when she used to be an exclusive model for the Japanese fashion magazine PINKY, which is now discontinued. She used to be the face cover model of that Japanese fashion magazine and I used to adore and love her sooooo much because I thought she was the cutest model ever! I would used to read every issue of PINKY just for her. She was also extremely popular during the 2008-2010 time but nowadays I don't really know what she's really up to anymore. I know she owns a fashion boutique business for dog clothes and she also has her own wedding dress design campaign or some kind of fashion business along those lines. I don't see her as often in Japanese variety shows much now compared to before during her prime time when she was all over everywhere in Japan. Especially during the time when she did a commercial for Lotte Fit's bubble gum and she did this super cute dance in the video that it literally became an instant hit in Japan where many people posted videos on youtube doing the same dance. I remember watching the commercial on repeat so many times! Since then the last time I ever saw her on TV was in the fashion TV drama FIRST CLASS. However, I still think she was and is one of the cutest Japanese models up to this date. 
Blog: http://www.topcoat.co.jp/sasaki-nozomi/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sasaki.nozomi/

3. Lena Fujii 藤井リナ OH LENA! She was once crowned the "sweet Japanese princess" for her super cutesy and sweet looks. She was a regular top print model for the Japanese fashion magazine ViVi. She's half Japanese and half European. Her two moles at the side of her mouth is one of her charming appealing points as many Japanese people found her cute with it. I personally found them rather distracting at first but with time I grew to like them on her and think they're kind of cute. Lena was a really popular model back then until she graduated from ViVi magazine. I kind of miss seeing her in there because she used to be the model in the magazine. She totally owned that magazine. She can be cute, elegant, cool, sexy and super girly. She was a versatile model that I admired and liked a lot but ever since she graduated from ViVi, I haven't been following her and her whereabouts anymore. I'm not quite sure what kind of jobs she does now or where she is even at now. But I suppose she is still working as a model in Japan. She also used to be all over tumblr with many reblogs everywhere. The good old days when she used to be a prime model. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lenafujii0702/?hl=en

4. Tsubasa Masuwaka 益若つばさ OH TSUBASA! Who didn't love her back then when she used to be the QUEEN of gyaru Japanese models in Japan?! She was the one who made circle lenses a huge hit back in 2008/2009. Everybody was going crazy over her own circle lenses brand that she launched and those super cute Candy Doll makeup products she made as well that every girl couldn't resist not buying (myself included) lol. And not to mention how she rocked the blonde hair dolly eye makeup look soooooo well. And all those awesome hair wigs she wore too. She was like the CUTEST doll alive with her dolly make makeup. She was also the one who made the "usagi" bunny ear headbands a huge fashion trend as well and now people can't seem to stop wearing them. And she used to be super popular on tumblr as I remember seeing her everywhere on almost every fashion blog. But somehow down the road, her popularity also started to fade after 2012 or so and I have also kind of stopped following her since then. 

Blog: http://ameblo.jp/ameblo-tsubasa/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tsubasamasuwaka1013/

5. Rola ローラ When Lena Fujii graduated from ViVi, Rola has basically taken over her role in the magazine as being a regular top print model as she often appears in the cover of ViVi. She's a model and TV personality. She's half Japanese and half Bengali. She has a very bubbly personality and often speaks in a really high-pitched cutesy voice on TV. I actually find her overly bubbly and cutesy personality on Japanese TV variety shows to be kind of too over top and annoying to be honest, lol. But she does do her job as a model really well. To me she's like a second Lena Fujii. She can appear to be cute, sweet, girly, cool and sexy. Some models can only pull off the cute and pretty look but she can be a variety of them and be good at expressing all type of images. She is also well loved and extremely popular in Japan with over 2 million followers on her instagram account.  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rolaofficial/?hl=en

Ghibli Movie: When Marnie Was There

So during my Tokyo trip back in October 2014 when I went to the theatre to watch Yamapi's movie, Kinkyori Renai. I came across a movie flyer outside of the theatre when I was just curious and looking through some of the movie pamphlets and booklets. I saw one about a new Studio Ghibli movie called When Marnie Was There. It looked interesting to me and so I took the movie flyer and brought it home with me but I totally forgot I have it until I was cleaning and going through some of the stuff in my room some weeks ago and found it again. I decided to google the movie and see if I could find it online and I'm so happy that I did. The movie is simply beautiful and the story was heart breaking and touching. I can't believe it took me so long to watch this amazing and wonderful movie. It is now my new favourite Ghibli movie!

  

The story revolves around a 12 year old introverted girl named Anna Sasaki. She's an orphan who lost both her parents at a young age and later got adopted by a couple, Yoriko and her husband. They live in the city of Sapporo. Anna is distant and unhappy with them and her behaviour towards them started to change one day when she found a letter from the government that her adopted parents were getting paid to take care of her. The letter made Anna upset and she refuses to discuss about her feelings with her parents and that she knows they're getting paid to take care of her. She doesn't have any friends and usually spends time alone drawing, which is her favourite hobby. One day she collapsed at school from an asthma attack and her parents decided to send her to spend the summer with Setsu and Kiyomasa Oiwa, relatives of Yoriko, in a rural, seaside town where the air is clear, located between Kushiro and Nemuro.

However, instead of spending time with the Oiwa relatives at the seaside town, she often goes out alone to explore with her sketch book. One day she discovered a beautiful and mysterious mansion located in the woods across from a river. She became immediately attached to the mansion and felt that it looked familiar to her. She later asked the Oiwa relatives about the mansion and they have told her that it has been empty for a very long time and no one lives there. 

Ever since Anna saw the mansion, her mind couldn't stop thinking about it. She even had dreams about it where she sees a girl with blonde hair from the window getting her hair brushed by an old maid. 

One night while looking at the mansion from the river side, she saw lights lit up from the mansion. So she swaddled on a boat that was left on the river side to go across to the mansion. When she reached the mansion, a blonde girl (the same one she was has been dreaming of) rushes out from the mansion to greet her. They talked and chatted and Anna tells the girl she has dreamed about her before in her dreams. Marnie, the blonde girl tells her that she has been watching Anna all along and has been waiting to meet her. The two immediately became close to each other and Marnie asked Anna to promise and keep their meeting as a secret. She will not tell anyone about Anna and Anna would not tell anyone about her. They continue to meet for a few more occasions until one day Marnie seem to have disappeared and Anna haven't seen her for 2 weeks.

One day when Anna was at the grass field across from the mansion sketching in her sketch book of Marnie. An older woman joins her and commented that the girl she drew reminds her of a girl she used to know from a very long time ago. The older woman asked if Anna could take a look of her painting that she was working on and Anna pleasantly agreed to. The older woman has been painting the same mansion Anna admires and Anna complimented saying her panting was beautiful. In the latter part of the story, you find out the older woman actually has some relations to Marnie in which she later tells Anna about a sad story that happened to Marnie.

What is the story? Is Marnie a real person? Is she just imaginary or is she a ghost? You'll have to watch the movie and find out on your own as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet.

My thoughts on the movie: At first impression the movie reminded me a lot of another Ghibli movie called Arriety. Which was also a movie about a friendship between a sick boy who moved to a relative's place to live because he has a heart disease and a girl he discovered who lives there as well. Except in this movie here it's a friendship story about two girls. I later found out after googling some info that this movie was produced by the same director who made the Arrietty movie. Now that certainly explains the similarities in the two movies, lol.

After thoughts of the movie: The movie really leaves you with an unexpected sadness at the end but in a touching and heart warming way. I couldn't hold back my tears at the end of the movie because of how beautiful it was and the important message it conveys to the viewers. It will definitely make your heart feel nostalgic, especially since the movie really speaks and relates to my own childhood experience as well. As a child growing up, I was introverted and didn't have many friends and one of my favourite hobby was also drawing. So while watching the movie, I felt like I connected well with the main character and I could understand some of the pain and sorrow she was going through. If you have time, please do watch the movie as I would highly recommend it. The ending is totally unexpected and you'll be hit with all sort of mixed emotional feelings. Do have some tissues prepare if I may warn you. But overall the ending leaves you with a sad but yet satisfying feeling at the same time. It's quite hard to explain, one will just have to watch it to understand and feel what the movie brings you. Here's the movie trailer for you to check out. 

The movie flyer that I got from the movie theatre in Tokyo that I brought back with me. =)

Yamapi Eternal Labyrinth CM

I have wanted to blog about this last night but my internet was down all night! Anyway, I need to flail about how beautiful Yamapi's new commerical for Eternal Labyrinth is because....what do you mean because? What reason is there NOT to blog about this super gorgeous and beautiful commercial?! I actually didn't know what Eternal Labyrinth is until I googled it and apparently it's a beauty spa clinic/brand in Japan? This is like Yamapi's second beauty spa commercial after TBC. It's all because he's eternally beautiful with beautiful skin! (Ɔ ˘⌣˘)♥(˘⌣˘ C)

You can watch the commercial on the brand's official website. And download some wallpapers of Yamapi on there too. 

I conclude Yamapi to be the most beautiful Asian man (美男) alive! I mean just look at his beautiful face. I can't even stay coherent while watching the commercial. So much beauty for the eyes to see. (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) 

Commerical making. OMG that HAWT sexy side profile. I have a strong love for Yamapi's side profile. I think it's the most beautiful thing ever because his facial features just stand out so much and it's so beautiful, I can't! (ღˇ◡ˇ)♥ℒᵒᵛᵉᵧₒᵤ♥

Because we don't often see HAPPY SMILING YAMAPI much. Yamapi has the most sweetest and cutest smile ever. He just makes your heart melt when he smiles. ₍₍ ( ๑॔˃̶◡ ˂̶๑॓)◞♡

What's even more amazing is his commercial is now being broadcast in front of the Shibuya Crossing not just on one TV screen but 4!!!! OMG I can't wait to see this view when I'm in Japan soon. I hope they still have his commercial up showing when I'm there. Please don't stop showing his commercial yet until I'm back there again soon!! (T_______T;) 

But it doesn't just stop there. Yamapi's ad for the spa clinic also occupies all other platforms including the subways in Japan. This is in Nagoya station. The rabbit emoji would totally be me if I was standing there looking at those ad pictures. LOL. (ღ˘◡˘ற♡.｡oO

I really can't wait to be in Japan soon to see all this in person. And no doubt I'll be snapping pictures and recording videos like crazy! XD