OKINAWA MID-CENTURY

My favorite Japanese periodicals are not a rarity back home, but definitely hard to find.  You'll find out, however, that they are costly or even sold out at the places that do offer them.   

I wasn't sure how difficult it was going to be trying to locate them  here in "The Keystone of the Pacific," but as I set out for the location of a place known to offer these vintage fashion resource magazines as told to me by Chris, the owner of American Wave Vintage and a super fella, it proved not too difficult at all.

I spent quite a bit of time talking with Chris, shorty after my arrival, about vintage clothing, life on the island and his awesome vintage clothing shop.  His shop boasts some rare digs and his prices are easy on the wallet.  I learned that most shops specializing in vintage Americana are pretty much just outside my doorstep.

Yesterday's journey began with a stop at an amazing vintage duplex (vintage furniture shop and clothing store), Ragged Glory and Stomp, respectively.  At Ragged Glory, I was greeted by a cool cat named Nakayama and I was pleasantly surprised when he immediately recognized me from my blog.  He showed me around the store and I was amazed at how much "top shelf" mid-century furniture and tchotchke's I was surrounded by.  One can easily have the coolest pad on the island by shopping here.

During the visit, Nakayama showed me a Lightning magazine from 2005 which featured the shop and I was super surprised when he offered it to me.  Turns out I didn't have to go too far for a magazine afterall.  I then headed next door to Stomp, the clothing portion of the shop, and was equally amazed at the vintage clothing inventory.  The prices for both the furniture and clothing are not overwhelming and definitely on par with what I'd expect pieces at home to go for - definitely a place to put down as a list of stops if you're ever in the area. 

I continued on my journey and finally after a three (plus) mile trek ended up at the San-A mall.  I looked around for a split second and knew there was no way possible I'd find the magazines in this large store.  I made a beeline for the register and at this point was super appreciative that Nakayama gifted me the magazine.  All I did was show it to the lady, she punched it up on the system and ushered me to the location.

There was a treasure trove of magazines, but I had to choose wisely as I only brought so much Yen.   

What I loved about the selection is that a lot of back issues from many months gone by were still available.  I ended up choosing these four magazines, one of which I am offering as a giveaway (details here).

All-in-all, it was an enjoyable day and can't wait 'til new issues are made available.