Asayan December 1997!

The major highlight of this issue is the “Buyer’s Cannonball 2” which was the second U.S. buying trip taken by Hiroshi Fujiwara of Goodenough, actor and model Jun Murakami, Shuzo Kita of Gallery1950, Toru Eye, Detz Matsuda, and others. The group started in Key West Florida and drove 2500 miles to New York City, stopping at different stores to pick up items along the way in Miami, Knoxville Tennessee, Richmond Virginia, Washington D.C., and Atlantic City.

While some of these items look similar to something you would see at a flea market in 2023, they would have been extremely difficult to have in Japan without traveling to America. These trips usually consisted of the group going to different specialty stores to purchase for their own collections or their own storefronts in Tokyo. Highlighted items from Florida include, Polo Sport puffer jackets and fleeces, Nike Tailwind sneakers, 1950’s favorites Hotwheels set, Mickey Mouse radio/alarm clock, and various other vintage clothing.

After a roughly 700 mile drive to Nashville, the treasure hunting continues with with some vintage guitar shopping. Stüssy was all the craze at this time in the 90’s so of course they had to track down some pieces along with some preppy argyle sweaters and Converse socks. Radios and portable music players were also extremely popular technology at the time so the team picked up a ton of them including this cool Star Trek CD player.

The buying trip continued through Richmond VA and Washington D.C. ultimately ending in New York. Jun Murakami tried his luck at the casinos in Atlantic City. More Polo Ralph Lauren items were purchased as well classic white Converse, second hand sunglasses, a 1998 Keith Haring calendar, and a bunch of NYU collegiate gear. As with the other stops, they purchased some tech gadgets including a clear skeleton Nintendo 64 controller and clear Gameboy with the brightness enlarger kit.

Next each person goes through their top favorite items that they purchased on their trip to the U.S. Shuzo Kita picked up a Gibson Hummingbird from 1965, miniature “LOVE” statues from artist Robert Indiana, a blues guitar VHS tape, ties made from Herman Miller fabrics, and a cup & plate set designed by Massimo Vignelli. Hiroshi Fujiwara purchased a number of interesting items including a 1948 Gibson SJ-200 guitar, Martin guitar, a multi tool for guitars, camoflauge Motorola walkie talkies, and some rare VHS movies. Mura Jun purchased mainly gifts like gas station cigars and candles for friends that couldn’t go on the trip.

Finally we have another favorite reoccurring feature of mine from Asayan which is the “Asassin Special” this month highlighting the hottest streetwear brands out of NYC. Supreme is the most famous of the brands included which features the incredibly rare ‘Patagonia’ logo flip fleece, camo camp hats, bucket hats, beanies, and backpacks. Other brands featured in the article include Triad, HAL, Nexus-6, Tsumani Works, Writers Bench, Excel, Staple, House of Nubian, and Triple 5 Soul.

Going to keep this post a bit brief due to how many gems there are in this issue of Asayan. As always, I scan everything from cover to cover so if you’re interested in seeing more of this issue, please consider becoming a paid subscriber!