Day 15 (part 2) - June 10, 2006: Gallery of Fantastic Art, Aoyama Oval

In the afternoon, we were looking for a flea market See Ming had read about. It was supposed to be at the Aoyama Oval.

We didn't see any flea markets anywhere, but we stumbled upon a wedding ceremony being held at an open area between two building blocks.

	We also stumbled upon an manga gallery called Gallery Of Fantastic Art (GOFA). This young man is Alberto. He is a Filipino studying in Tokyo and working at the gallery. He spoke excellent English and explained a great deal about manga and Japan in general to us. We learnt we weren't supposed to take pictures of the exhibits but not before we had already taken a few.


As we browsed the gallery, a group of people had gathered near the entrance. Alberto explained that there was going to be a poster-signing by two artists named Miggy-sensei and Abe-sensei. Everytime they thought the artists were arriving, a whole place fell into this dreadful silence. We asked if we could buy their comics and have those signed instead but the arrangement for today was strictly for them to sign posters only, so our request was out of the question. We did hang around to see the signing though. The two senseis were spoken of in these hushed tones, so we really wanted to see what they looked like. We had ice-cream in the cafe downstairs while waiting.
	When they arrived, we realised that Miggy-sensei was a pretty young lady (I would say in her twenties) and Abe-sensei was a man in (maybe) his early thirties. When Alberto was pointing them out to us, he was very discreet, so much so that we weren't sure to whom he was pointing, at first.
What we did buy was a signed scroll poster copy of this piece by character creator Range Murakame. A character creator is the first artist to draw a manga character. This character concept is then submitted to more established artists who then decide whether or not to use it in their manga comics. I think it's a way for new artists to break into the very competitive manga art scene.
After leaving the Aoyama Oval, we headed back to see Yoyogi Park again. As we walked pass Harajuku, the cosplay-zoku was still going strong, reassuringly.

	The big archway to Meiji Jingu.
See Ming said there was a fragrant smell coming from the wooden pillars.
	We were in luck as the flowers were in bloom at the Meiji Jingu Iris Garden. Designed by Emperor Meiji for his wife Empress Shoken, the garden is home to some 150 species of irises.