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JAPANESE TV SHOOT PREPARATIONS: MAKEUP, REPORTER INTERVIEWS, PHOENIX WRIGHT COSPLAY & HELLO KITTY STUFFED TOY.


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A 20 minute documentary about cute character bentos requires 20 hours of filming… and 200 hours of preparation!

The NHK makeup artist, Tamami, is ultra talented and a doll to work with. She has a phenomenal line of makeup brushes — the lip brush is flat and made of high-quality hairs, and I really want one!

pretty japanese girl models, Asian tv stars, young Japan Chinese girls, black skull scarf, silk black goth prom dress, TEACHING CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING HABITS, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO-MAKING AT HARLEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. pretty Asian model, Chinese idol girl, NHK TV, KAWAII BENTOS TV SHOW: LA CARMINA, BLOGGER & CUTE YUMMY TIME AUTHOR. filming japanese game show, charaben, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO, crazy FOOD COOKING SHOW, NHK JAPAN TV DOCUMENTARY SHOOT, NEW YORK WAVE

The New York Wave reporter, Hana, got her army green dress from a boutique in Shibuya 109. My silky dress is handmade — it’s part of the cosplay outfit that I later put on. I own three skull scarves; this one is from a random mall vendor.

preparing picnic table with spread of food, sandwich making, pretty japanese girl models, Asian tv stars, young Japan Chinese girls, black skull scarf, silk black goth prom dress, TEACHING CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING HABITS, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO-MAKING AT HARLEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. pretty Asian model, Chinese idol girl, NHK TV, KAWAII BENTOS TV SHOW: LA CARMINA, BLOGGER & CUTE YUMMY TIME AUTHOR. filming japanese game show, charaben, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO, crazy FOOD COOKING SHOW, NHK JAPAN TV DOCUMENTARY SHOOT, NEW YORK WAVE

I was scheduled to teach sixteen rambunctious 9-year-old students how to make kawaii bentos. We set up the tables with Tupperware boxes, cookie cutters, straws, toothpicks, plastic knives and other tools for making sandwiches with cute faces.

reporter interviewing school principal, tv cameras and audio boom microphone, pretty japanese girl models, Asian tv stars, young Japan Chinese girls, black skull scarf, silk black goth prom dress, TEACHING CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING HABITS, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO-MAKING AT HARLEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. pretty Asian model, Chinese idol girl, NHK TV, KAWAII BENTOS TV SHOW: LA CARMINA, BLOGGER & CUTE YUMMY TIME AUTHOR. filming japanese game show, charaben, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO, crazy FOOD COOKING SHOW, NHK JAPAN TV DOCUMENTARY SHOOT, NEW YORK WAVE

On camera, I interviewed Principal Cesar of the Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars. Her school is one of five housed in a large complex at East 109th and Lexington. It’s crazy: in the course of a few blocks, the neighborhood goes from fancy Chanel to Harlem housing projects.

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Tamami helped me clip on my onigiri hat. This and the furry cardigan complete my handmade Phoenix Wright costume; I’m the bento lady Angel Starr. (You may recall I wore this to my LA book signings; more photos here and here.)

sweet lolita hello Kitty plush toy, special edition sanrio cat stuffed toy, kawaii character drawings of animals, girl writing on whiteboard at school, onigiri hat, phoenix wright cosplay, angel starr bento lunch lady, best cosplay outfits, harlem schoolchildren, kids in underprivileged school, cooking lessons, lunch boxes for kids, silk black goth prom dress, TEACHING CHILDREN HEALTHY EATING HABITS, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO-MAKING AT HARLEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. pretty Asian model, Chinese idol girl, NHK TV, KAWAII BENTOS TV SHOW: LA CARMINA, BLOGGER & CUTE YUMMY TIME AUTHOR. filming japanese game show, charaben, CUTE CHARACTER BENTO, crazy FOOD COOKING SHOW, NHK JAPAN TV DOCUMENTARY SHOOT, NEW YORK WAVE

To hold the childrens’ attention, I drew cute animals, wrote on the whiteboard and dangled my stuffed Hello Kitty.

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Time to hide in the back… the uniformed schoolchildren are about to enter the library! (All photos by Shichi. You can see a slideshow of the Harlem photos in this video-post.)

Thank you to each of you for reading my blog; you make my work possible, and I appreciate your comments and camaraderie. You can also view the posts by RSS and posts in your inbox. I also post updates several times a day on Twitter and try to add everyone back.

Song of the Day #294: Patti Smith – Horses (Halfway through her new book and still mesmerized.)

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46 Comments

  1. AngryBroomstick
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 5:26 pm | Permalink

    awww!!! I would be too terrified to teach the art of bento (or ANYTHING, really) to a classroom of kids… children scare the sh*t out of me.

    • lacarmina
      Posted January 27, 2010 at 10:47 pm | Permalink

      Hahah I infamously am not a fan of babies and toddlers… keep them away from me… but I had fun interacting with this eager young audience! They had some great, intuitive ideas for making sandwich bentos.

  2. Evil DJ Petey
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 9:12 pm | Permalink

    It looks like so much fun!

    • lacarmina
      Posted January 28, 2010 at 4:25 am | Permalink

      It was an adrenaline-filled day for sure, and one that I’ll remember!

  3. Rayfil
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 9:55 pm | Permalink

    Love the pix. I miss NYC.

  4. Edwin
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 10:18 pm | Permalink

    Lookin’ really good! Your job looks like a lot of fun :)

  5. AngryBroomstick
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 5:26 pm | Permalink

    awww!!! I would be too terrified to teach the art of bento (or ANYTHING, really) to a classroom of kids… children scare the sh*t out of me.

  6. Evil DJ Petey
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 9:12 pm | Permalink

    It looks like so much fun!

  7. Rayfil
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 9:55 pm | Permalink

    Love the pix. I miss NYC.

  8. Edwin
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 10:18 pm | Permalink

    Lookin' really good! Your job looks like a lot of fun :)

  9. lacarmina
    Posted January 27, 2010 at 10:47 pm | Permalink

    Hahah I infamously am not a fan of babies and toddlers… keep them away from me… but I had fun interacting with this eager young audience! They had some great, intuitive ideas for making sandwich bentos.

  10. Moon Maiden 90
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 4:23 am | Permalink

    I luv that random skull scarf…
    How did the kids react at first to ur Bento lady, Pheonix Wright costume? did anyone recognize it?

    • lacarmina
      Posted January 28, 2010 at 4:26 am | Permalink

      Great question. I asked them if they knew the outfit, and they didn’t — but one little boy knew of the video game Phoenix Wright. Then I said I brought a special friend with me, and pulled Hello Kitty out of a bag… and they all went ahhh we know her! Hello Kitty!

  11. shichi
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:30 am | Permalink

    The top-right photo came out pretty awesome

  12. Gaijin GDB
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    Hhhhm, clever idea, using locally available ingredients. I still haven’t seen any smiley faced bentos at the kombini… would certainly help the salarymen get over their zangyou depression!

    • lacarmina
      Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:51 am | Permalink

      Definitely!! Although I’ve seen lots of cute-faced pastries in Japanese bakeries.

      • Gaijin GDB
        Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:05 am | Permalink

        The Anpanman museum is impressive, I must admit!

  13. Ninja Moo Moo
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    Cool I wish u could come to my school :( oh well YOU ROCK

    peace

  14. Dravarious
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:48 am | Permalink

    flawless babe!!

  15. Trashtastika
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 8:27 am | Permalink

    I love the way they did those angular curls on you – with a straightener, I guess (I don’t have the knack) You must wear some weird lime crime lipstick one day and scare the kiddies and the camera crew!!

  16. Moon Maiden 90
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 4:23 am | Permalink

    I luv that random skull scarf…
    How did the kids react at first to ur Bento lady, Pheonix Wright costume? did anyone recognize it?

  17. lacarmina
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 4:25 am | Permalink

    It was an adrenaline-filled day for sure, and one that I'll remember!

  18. lacarmina
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 4:26 am | Permalink

    Great question. I asked them if they knew the outfit, and they didn't — but one little boy knew of the video game Phoenix Wright. Then I said I brought a special friend with me, and pulled Hello Kitty out of a bag… and they all went ahhh we know her! Hello Kitty!

  19. shichi
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:30 am | Permalink

    The top-right photo came out pretty awesome

  20. Gaijin GDB
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    Hhhhm, clever idea, using locally available ingredients. I still haven't seen any smiley faced bentos at the kombini… would certainly help the salarymen get over their zangyou depression!

  21. Ninja Moo Moo
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    Cool I wish u could come to my school :( oh well YOU ROCK

    peace

  22. Dravarious
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:48 am | Permalink

    flawless babe!!

  23. lacarmina
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:51 am | Permalink

    I lovvvvvvvve the look of film! I need to get into that again…

  24. lacarmina
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 6:51 am | Permalink

    Definitely!! Although I've seen lots of cute-faced pastries in Japanese bakeries.

  25. Trashtastika
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 8:27 am | Permalink

    I love the way they did those angular curls on you – with a straightener, I guess (I don't have the knack) You must wear some weird lime crime lipstick one day and scare the kiddies and the camera crew!!

  26. shichi
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 8:32 am | Permalink

    This film was Kodak Portra 400. It's a pricier film.

    The Portra line is fantastic if you like that grainy look.
    Here's an outside shot I took with it:
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killercl

    I tend to shoot more with Kodak Ektar 100
    Seen here in some of my photos from Yellowstone
    http://www.aristocratphotography.com/albums/yel
    http://www.aristocratphotography.com/albums/yel

    I used to shoot a lot of black and white with Kodak TX400
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killercl
    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/killercl

    I don't have any of my BW properly digitized, just a few quick scans of prints

  27. lacarmina
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 10:06 am | Permalink

    Hahah, actually I did the curling myself, with a Japanese iron (which heats up higher than N American ones). The part that “grabs” the hair before curling it is very strong, which accounts for the angles…

    Oooh, I wore black Lime Crime for this portion of the shoot:
    http://lacarmina.com/2010/01/nhk-kawai

  28. lacarmina
    Posted January 28, 2010 at 10:07 am | Permalink

    Oh wow, so much to learn and explore… :)

  29. rawkstarr
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:05 am | Permalink

    Those children looked adorable, and you looked like you really enjoyed yourself! I want your book now ^_^

    • lacarmina
      Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:07 am | Permalink

      Thank you so much! The cute cookbook and my new T-shirt collaboration are available on my site.

  30. Sarah Lynne
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:05 am | Permalink

    YAY!

  31. All Women Stalker
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 3:53 am | Permalink

    You are so creative. Not to mention brave enough to face all those children. I love how they will learn to love their food; and healthy food at that. We have too much weight problems and body image issues in our generation. It should change for the next.

  32. rawkstarr
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:05 am | Permalink

    Those children looked adorable, and you looked like you really enjoyed yourself! I want your book now ^_^

  33. Gaijin GDB
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:05 am | Permalink

    The Anpanman museum is impressive, I must admit!

  34. Sarah Lynne
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:05 am | Permalink

    YAY!

  35. lacarmina
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 2:07 am | Permalink

    Thank you so much! The cute cookbook and my new T-shirt collaboration are available on my site.

  36. All Women Stalker
    Posted January 29, 2010 at 3:53 am | Permalink

    You are so creative. Not to mention brave enough to face all those children. I love how they will learn to love their food; and healthy food at that. We have too much weight problems and body image issues in our generation. It should change for the next.

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