Tokyo Trip
Back in June my girlfriend Liz & I went on a trip to Japan. My band played a few shows in Tokyo, and we figured there wouldn’t be an excuse to go to Japan in the foreseeable future, so we decided to stay for an extra week to experience the city.
No matter where we’re traveling, regardless if it’s a place we’ve already been or somewhere unfamiliar, we always have the same MO: check out the architecture, do some R&D/shopping at local spots (a lot of looking at clothes, not a lot of buying), & finding the best possible coffee the city has to offer.
When visiting a new place, you learn a lot about the culture from the food, architecture, and clothing. What moved us the most about Japanese culture was the level of quality, intention, and pride in all they do.
The architecture was absolutely insane; it’s like there somehow was beauty in even the most mundane of structures. Something as boring as an office building - which would likely be a big brown/gray box in the US - is built with such attention to detail and creativity. It seems as if when designing/constructing a building in Japan, they take care to not just make it functional, but also give it a sense of character. Seeing temples that have been around for ages in the middle of downtown Tokyo was wild - the contrast between present day & ancient structures was something we didn’t expect. The gardens/greenery at the temples were meticulously taken care of & it was apparent that everyone took pride in their surroundings. It was inspiring to be around.
We hit so many different coffee shops while we were in Japan, but one in particular made an impact on us. The spot was called Covert Coffee & it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. The employees were all dressed in black button up shirts, nice slacks, & loafers. Lined up on the front counter were about 10 small glass jars of coffee beans - all of various origins, growing conditions, & acidities. The barista asked us to smell each jar & decide which we enjoyed the most. We then ordered our drinks - myself a black coffee, & Liz an oat milk latté. The barista actually recommended different beans for Liz’s latté than what she chose - right off the bat, this indicated to us that he cared about us enjoying our drinks.
We sat down at a table as the barista ground our beans & brewed them as pour overs. A different employee then brought our drinks over to us on a tray & explained the specific tasting notes we’d experience. Liz’s latté was presented in a short glass, with the espresso and oat milk perfectly marbled, but for my coffee, the barista gave me an empty ceramic cup & held a larger carafe containing my coffee. He poured a couple sips’ worth into the cup & asked me to smell it before finishing the pour - almost like when someone is served wine. He then stood next to us as we took the first sip to make sure we enjoyed it. It truly was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had, & Liz said the same about her latté. He also left us with little cards that had all the info about the beans we chose. Again, the intention & care towards what they were doing - something as seemingly trivial as brewing a cup of coffee - was so impressive and admirable.
If you’ve heard about the shopping in Japan, know that it absolutely lives up to the hype. There were endless vintage boutiques with old Nike sportswear (particularly Jordan-related), super rare band tees, and streetwear. The coolest parts about these shops wasn’t the items themselves - it was the curation of everything that blew us away. It wasn’t just perusing rack after rack, hoping to find something cool. It was evident that time had been taken to showcase the merchandise in an exciting way - not just because they want to sell it, but because they actually give a fuck and are giving respect to the items they’re offering. There was this one store in Harajuku that had such a dope window display, we had to check it out - they had Tailwinds, 98 TL’s, Air Stabs and so many more, I can’t even name them all. Honestly, I nerded out a little (a lot) over all the sneakers, and it also felt really nice to see that there’s other people out there that are in it for the love of what they’re offering, not just to turn a profit or gain some sort of hype.
I know I keep using this word, but all of our experiences in Japan kept coming back to one concept - intention. Rarely did we see people out on the street or on the subway eating on the go. If people need to eat during the day, they seem to dine in at a restaurant; it may be a tiny hole in the wall, and the food may come out quickly, and they may eat it even quicker, but the idea that they’re sitting down & taking their time to enjoy their food really struck us. And despite Tokyo being a giant city with millions of people, there was no litter, little to no excessive noise, & nobody really seemed to bother each other. Everywhere & everything was SO clean. On the subway, people minded their own business & were generally silent. If they did speak, they did so in hushed voices - no people playing instruments or screaming or generally being annoying/creepy. Picture the exact opposite of what you’d witness on a New York City subway. Even when there was traffic, we heard someone beep their car horn MAYBE once the entire time. People seemed to respect their surroundings & each other in a way that we had never witnessed before.
The Japanese way of life was exactly what we needed to feel inspired for future Damiano drops - intention, quality, care, and respect. We aim to weave these traits into each garment we produce and know that intent is felt when our friends and customers put one of our pieces on. We’re not just creating clothing for the hell of it; we produce items with the idea that they will get better with every wash & wear, stand the test of time, and be something that you’ll want to wear not just for a trend cycle, but for the next 20 years.
