One of the motivating factors for me to get to Japan is to attend various doujinshi events. This time, we were able to get to two separate (and vastly different!) events. The first was the 7th Maiden’s Garden Yuri-only doujinshi event in Kyoto.

Although the event was in Kyoto, we stayed in Osaka.  We had a nice view of Osaka Castle from our hotel window, and took the opportunity the night we arrived to walk around town and get reacquainted with (and introduce my wife to) Osaka. Bruce and I were amazingly, able to remember a great deal from our visit in November 2010 (to see the Maria-sama ga Miteru Live-Action Movie.) Later, that night, walking back to the subway from the Shinsaibashi, the wife spotted Oscar on a salon sign:

The day before the event, we had the unparalleled pleasure of accompanying our friend Komatsu-san and the lovely and talented Ransui-san around Kyoto, on a singular tour. You see, in Smile Precure, the five main characters do a whirlwind tour of the city and see all the sites. Ransui-san decided she was going to recreate that episode. So accompanied by Cure Happy, Cure Sunny, Cure Peace, Cure March and Cure Beauty, we started at the bus station and saw the Kyoto Tower, visited Yama Arashi Park where we ate green tea ice cream,  and went to the Kinkakuji – the famous Golden Pavilion. We then left Komatsu-san and Ransui-san to go out to Kiyomizu temple by themselves, while we headed back to our hotel. We had a fabulous time tagging along . Thank you Komatsu-san and Ransui-san for letting us join your tour!

The Kinkakuji is a magnificent postcard – totally worth seeing, with every angle carefully cultivated for maximum artistic impression.

Bruce, the wife and I spent a short time wandering Osaka and eating as much as we could there. We did manage okonomiyaki for dinner one night. ^_^

The next day it was raining pretty steadily, but we headed back to Kyoto for Maiden’s Garden. The event was grouped with several other events in the same space, including a PreCure event, one for Madoka, Nanoha, Strike Witches, and even a Mai HiME/Zhime event. Here’s a pdf copy of the MG7 catalog pages – the table rows were split into Black Lily, White Lily and Mountain Lily, which I found kind of cute. You can see the tabs for the other events in the catalog along the side. To get into the event, you buy the catalog (which contains the circle listings for all the events taking place.

So while MG7 was small, all the events grouped together meant we had a fair amount to look at. First we went over to Fantastic Yuri Rhythm, Ransui-san’s circle and picked up her new books. She’s amazingly talented.

It was pretty gratifying to see so many circles I knew well there. even some I hadn’t seen in years, like CHC.

Here’s some of what I picked up at the event, starting with this spiffy Mouretsu Pirates coffee travel mug:

I followed this up with a trio of my fave circles – Sakuraike, UKOZ and Raku-Gun.

I bought this thing totally and only for the cover:

I was pleased as punch to find something new (and not obviously porn) by Pen-Pen Gusa Club, along with this Lyn/Jenny thing I couldn’t pass up from the not-series specific, but all anime parody/totally 18+ section of the event.

And I bought this one because of the title:

I told the guy at the table that I am a researcher, but I don’t think he believed me. He had “ewww, creepy foreigner” face on. ^_^;; I also bought a fabulous “Promises are forbidden” (約束禁止) Kyuubey strap, but it self-destructed before we got back to the hotel, so I’ll have to make myself a new one.

Overall, while on its own Maiden’s Garden is small, grouped with the other events, it makes a good afternoon’s entertainment. And it’s a great way to meet Yuri artists. ^_^ I wholeheartedly recommend MG, if you find yourself in the Kyoto area when they next hold an event.