Shiny

Toya Watanabe has updated her shop in Kodama no Ki with new Japanese seasonal goods!

Two items that you could use for visitting your relatives' graves at O-bon...

And a magnificient green firefly tree! (Currently for display in the north-east corner!)

Shuriken

Koenees Karas took a step aside from his usual DragonBall line and reproduced Yuffie's shuriken! The sculpties are sharp, and the weapon is touroughly scripted. You will specially like the wall walker option! You can get it right here.

Kokekokko!

Good morning! CHATNOIR Catnap's new release this week is a yukata based on Gunkei-zu (群鶏図). She says she has updated the sleeves from previous designs. Worth a try! It's right here.

The Active People's Footwear

Yukinoroh Kamachi has... (^^;) I mean, *I have* released Second Life's first sculpted jikatabi (rubber-soled split-toe cotton boots). Available at my spot in Kodama no Ki.

I felt I really have to bring my usual real life footwear into SL, and that is now done. So yes, I modelled and textured these jikatabi from my own feet - from pictures I took. I usually wear black ones, but I specially bought a white pair so that the SL product be tintable!

When new or wet, the soft rubber soles of jikatabi will squeak, and I reproduced that in SL too. The sounds are tuneable, for people who like them (or don't like them). It was quite a challenge to record them (^^;) But I was told it's a good selling point... ?

About the title to this post and the vendor text... In Japan, jikatabi are typically worn by people who move a lot and need a good grip: construction workers, gardeners, festival participants, pilgrims and b­ōs­ōzoku/yankees. Most Japanese people have never worn them. Too bad! They are light, they breathe and dry well, and their sole give you tactile contact with the ground and prevent you to slip.

Moreover, they look ninja, but that is because the ninja footwear and the jikatabi have a common ancestor: the tabi, the japanse socks. The ninja wore waraji (straw sandals) under tabi. The jikatabi is a 20th century invention, when the Bridgestone (formerly Nippon-tabi) company tried to sew a rubber sole under tabi for the coal miners in Kyūshū, hence the name chika/jika, "underground". But they are becoming a ninja thing anyway, as I saw ninja actors in Iga wearing them...

All-in-One Maiko Kimono

Aryanna DeCuir released a multi-feature kimono for the geisha dancing girl in her nicely furnished store in Kodama no Ki. Tons of options and features, to adopt your style to your customers and the importance of the events.

Grow An Eye

Kiba Tachikawa's introduces his newest line of accessories, "Efflorescence". These wonderfully crafted eye patches are inspired by the visual kei band GPKISM and are only 99L$ each. They come in 7 colors: red, black, white, pink, purple, yellow and blue.

Nico's

Nico Nicoletti has opened a cosplay shop in Kodama no Ki. You will find some rare outfits there, like D.Gray-man inspired military suits, almost all Vocaloid cosplay (real-like), and more. Drop by to see more!

A Butterfly

CHATNOIR has a new classical painting kimono available in her store!

This time the painting is Shakuyaku-gun-ch­ō-zu 芍薬群蝶図, an assembly of peonies and a butterfly.

Three colors available, for men.

The Blacksmith

Kodama no Ki welcomes Jin Inaka! Jin is a blacksmith, and what is special about his swords is that they are authentic, the design is focused on what they actually were : simply weapons with no fancy stuff. And they do work. They are all DCS-compatible and feature animations. Worth giving a try! Click here for TP!

Slurrrp!

Hot for the light snowy days, cold for when the cicadas sing... Soba noodles is a must year-round! Cark Milos released a small booth that'll allow you (and your visitors) to enjoy them. Click here for TP.

Summer Goods

Toya Watanabe has updated the contents of her shop and presents us japanese typical goods of the high season : reed bushes, watermelon and fireflies! One of these is for display in the north-west corner of the mall.

One reason you will certainly want to drop by is the 5L$ six-pack watermelon jelly, that you can pass over to your friends :o)

Click here for TP!

Butterfly Dragonfly

Aryanna DeCuir presents the "Dragonfly dance" yukata, available in 8 summer colors. Click here for TP.

The obi features a double layer fabric inside of shimmery silk and outer layer of woven cotton, and is tied the ch­ōch­ō (butterfly) way so that it looks like a moth that would come to dance around a lantern by a hot matsuri evening :o)

Good Morning

CHATNOIR Catnap has released a male version of her rooster kimono. Available in two colors, to fit your morning tea.

God-like

Koenees Karas has released a huge pack of DragonBall style breakable mountains. Click here for TP.

What is special about them is that you don't need a special weapon to break them, they response to normal collisions - you can use them in a non-DB environment as well.

Crystal Tears

Kiba Tachikawa is up with another line of original items! These are face gem decorations that are often seen in visual and oshare kei to decorate the eye area. They are available in 6 variations and 8 colors. Shown below are the drain and verge gems. (Click here for TP!)

All gems are sculpties and so have the actual cut gems are supposed to have instead of being plain circles with gem textures.

New Shop

Kodama no Ki welcomes Link Appletor! Click here for TP!

Link makes anime-inspired t-shirts and tattoos :) Shown here is part of his line of t-shirts.

Furisode

CHATNOIR Catnap has released a long-sleeved (furisode) woman's kimono.

It uses elements of "Dōshoku Saie" and "Taikei Shiyū-zu" from her favorite painter :o)

Click here for TP!

Repolished steel

Beware Hax has updated his forehead protector (hachigane). There are some scripting fixes, a new white fabric texture (tintable), the steel part has a new logo available (Yugakure), its cloud logo has been redone and, if you are not really a Naruto fan, you can now set it with no logo. Beware says that those of you who bought the item previously will soon receive an update.

Mandarin Duck Kimono, Male Version

CHATNOIR Catnap has released a male version of her kimono featuring Jakuchū Itō's "Secchū En'ō-zu" painting (a mandarin duck in the snow).

You can get it here.

Surgical Masks

Out of the usual protection for H1N1 or to keep your cold for you, the surgical mask in Japan has been part of the bōsōzoku gangster fashion for a while and as a result the visual kei fashion picked it up as well, in a wide range of styles. Kiba Tachikawa presents us that range - 12 masks in total. Shown below is the Massacre one.