This year is for Rabbit in Japan, the fourth animal for the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.
It is said that rich vegetation would naturally cover and grow all over the earth in Year of the Rabbit.

Rabbit has been used for Kimono design and attracting many people as a popular mascot since the ancient time.
The lovely figure as being covered with soft fur and appealing round eyes and long ears will be a common in the world.
Furthermore, Rabbit is used as a character and appears in cartoon all over the world.

For the footnotes, it is said that a pattern or appearance of the moon can be seen differently by people on the earth.
In Japan, the scene as a Rabbit pounds rice cakes in the full moon will be appeared in the Japanese minds.
Such scene certainly has been calming or healing the Japanese minds since early times.

2011/1999/1987/1975/1963/1951/1939/1927/1915/1903

Hopefully, it will be a rewarding year for those who were born in Year of the Rabbit.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! Thank you support us last year!

Do you know more than 2,000 winds are named in Japan?

Such as:
“Soyokaze”, comfortable and freshening wind;
“Kogarashi”, cold wind blowing down leaves in autumn and winter;
“Shiokaze”, salty wind by the sea; and
“Taifuu”, hazardous strong wind.

Wind is heavily involved in people’s life and it can be said that Japanese have lived with the wind.
For example,
heat moves when the wind blows and pollen of plants is flown by the power of the wind.
It is the power like the providence of the earth and I feel like the earth where we live still now lives with the wind.

At present, while global warming is acknowledged as a problem, I think we can see a different future by just being aware of the wind by a few people.
At AOI, we prepared an item related to the wind under the theme of feeling “Power Wind”, natural wind, and prevention of global warming.

Also, we give away paper fans free to customers.
Please feel your own wind taking this opportunity.

By the way, my favorite wind is “Soyokaze”.
When I open the window and see a curtain fluttering, I feel refreshed and comfortable.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　
　

The year 2010 is coming to an end.
Now, everybody must want to greet the year 2011 with a fresh mind.

On January 1st, many Japanese set off in the middle of the night to see the sun rise on a brand new year.
The very first sunrise is called Hatsu Hinode, to which they offer a prayer, because it is the symbol of good luck and regarded as very auspicious.
That is a very important moment for the Japanese.

It is not only used as the motif of the national flag of Japan but is also the origin of the country’s name, Nippon (Japan), the place where the sun rises.
It can represent the sun worship practiced by the Japanese since ancient times.

At Aoi, we have prepared items inspired by the sun and Hatsu Hinode for the coming New Year, 2011.

We have also prepared many other wonderful, delightful and cool designs to brighten your life at the start of a new year.
We hope you enjoy wearing them as much as we did making them!

　
・Click here for the catalog

・Click here for the videos

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　

Oseibo is an old Japanese custom handed down from generation to generation, which continues to the present day.
Each December, Japanese people send gifts to the people around them to show appreciation for their kindness.

This tradition and the gift are called Oseibo.

In your daily life, you might often feel just “Thank you” is not enough to express your gratitude to people who are important to you.
It is sometimes unexpectedly difficult to do, especially verbally.
When people receive a gift from you, they will recognize your feelings of gratitude toward them.
And you will also feel happy to see or imagine their smiles when they receive it.
It is simple, but AOI cherishes such heart-warming human relationships among people.

Did you take a look inside the AOI cataloge yet?

We have selected Oseibo culture as the motif for the front cover of the cataloge, and have put together a year-end,
affordable gift collection not only for those who are very important in your life, but also for yourself, as a reward for the efforts you made during the past twelve months.

If you haven’t seen it yet, please take a look..

　
・Click here for the catalog

・Click here for the videos

　
We hope you can spend a comfy and
happy summer in our quality cotton T-shirts.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　

Did you know we now have some special tees made from bamboo fibers?


Bamboo is widely used in Japan. From clothing to eating utensils, furniture and architecture,
bamboo has been used since ancient times and is considered an essential material for many Japanese.

When used in clothing, bamboo is known for its:
* unique antibacterial effectiveness
* superior quick-drying and breathability
* resistant to static electricity and as soft as they come 
* environmental friendliness because of its quick growth and plentiful crops. 

Our bamboo tees have been blended with 30% organic cotton without losing the soft texture of the bamboo 
and we’re pleased to introduce the tees in “indigo” Japan blue, a traditional Japanese colour, and a unique colour to us, at AOI. 

p.s We’re often asked for pictures of our range and while we can’t show you all the designs (there are now over 100 of them!), we have created a new catalogue – take a look for yourself:

http://www.aoi-t.com/catalog2010/

　
30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　

Ukiyo-e is a form of genre picture that depicted everyday life of common people, and is made with layers of different colored woodblock prints.
It was originated in around 17th century. With style so free and expressive of people’s dairy lives, bright colors and dynamic composition,
Ukiyo-e was used for posters for Kabuki actors, fashion advertisement and other entertainment purposes and became a media so popular in old Japanese lifestyle.
You have probably heard of famous Ukiyo-e artists such as Hokusai, Sharaku, or Utakawa Hiroshige.
Ukiyo-e amazed the whole world in 19th century when it was introduced in Paris, France.
As the world was obsessed with Japan
Ukiyo-e was highlighted as an art form that could open up the new possibility for drawing, and such artists as Gogh, Monet, Renoir
and Lautrec are also said to have been greatly influenced by Ukiyo-e.
We hope you appreciate the very charm of Ukiyo-e that expanded the horizon of art and never ceases to attract us today.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　

Japanese has been used mainly in Japan and has developed independently.
One of the characteristics of Japanese is that it uses three types of characters
(i.e. hiragana characters, katakana characters and kanji characters).

Hiragana characters are the most fundamental Japanese characters (They have soft feeling).

Katakana characters are used when we express loan words or onomatopoeias (They have hard feeling in contrast to hiragana characters).
Kanji characters were introduced from China and each of them has a lot of meaning.
When we do writing, we use these three characters in combination to express any situation or feeling well.
We can not only convey something, but also express a background feeling, vague nuance and thought, using Japanese.
Now, for this reason, Japanese continues to attract people all around the world.
We propose products using attractive Japanese.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi

Karate, considered to have originated in Okinawa, is a martial art for the purpose of self defense.
The practice involves using the entire body to perform techniques such as tsuki (punch), uchi (strike) and keri (kick).
The attractiveness of Karate is in the process of pursuing perfection through refining one’s skills and training.
It is not meant to hurt or kill people, but it is bushido (Japanese chivalry) that is the original style of Karate.
Karate, after having spread all over the world, keeps developing in various styles.
Mastery levels are ranked with different belt colors; the black belt is an icon signifying the upper level.
Defeat, does no exist, for a black belt, does it? No, SENSEI ~
　

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　

With ecological goods becoming more and more popular around the world, organic cotton is getting a lot of attention these days.
Cotton that has been grown for more than 3 years on soil that is not exposed to any pesticides or chemical fertilizer is called “organic cotton”.
Organic cotton is extremely environmental-friendly and causes next to no irritation to the skin; it is what cotton originally used to be like.
You can probably understand how precious organic cotton is if we tell you that, while it’s currently produced in 20 different countries,organic cotton accounts for only 0.3% of total cotton output worldwide (2007).
At Aoi, we offer organic cotton products as bridges between our customers and ecology.
This is a great opportunity for you to experience ecology, based on your own understanding of what it should be.
It would also be fun for you if you could find additional charm in your daily outfits.
As we all know, little steps of individuals can change the world of tomorrow.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi
　
　

Kamon is family crest that has been used for representing own family, lineage, and status since long time ago in Japan.
Nearly two million crests are acknowledged today.
Kamon was also used onto flags, armers, and swords as ways of showing their great deed, distinguishing between allies and enemies by Samurai at battle.
However, as time goes by, Kamon has changed its use to custom, which to adopt it onto formal clothes for general people from practical use for Sarumai.
The custom has passed down to nowadays. There is at least one Kamon in each family, and it is essential to have on formal costumes.
The monogram design of Louis Vuitton is said that it is also inspired by Japanese Kamon.
The symbol of AOI got hint from Kamon too, since we want to cherish Japanese culture.
We provide products that to share Kamon, symbol of Japanese culture with you.

30- 32 Red Cape Lane . QV . Melbourne . Victoria 3000
Japanese T-Shirts Aoi