Lang Leav is a multi-talented Sydney artist who is the mind behind the fashion label Akina. Having won a Churchill Fellowship to study the fashion tribes of Tokyo, Lang wrote a dissertation on “Cosplaying Lolitas” and is unmistakeably influenced by the gothic and gothic lolita subcultures.

Akina has always been known for beautiful feminine fashion:

Now Lang has branched out into illustration, poetry and music. Firstly with The Little Mermaid and Teddy Bear’s Picnic picture books, and now with her Poems for Piotr music picture book.

It is an exquisitely handcrafted volume showcasing Lang’s artworks and poetry, and accompanied by an album featuring composer Cyrus Meurant and the voice of Angela Little.

There are only 100 copies being made, so this will be something of a collector’s item.

Another of my online friends and favourite bloggers, La Carmina, has also been heavily influenced by Japan, especially in the matter of all things kawaii. La Carmina has a new book out called “Cute Yummy Time” and it’s a very kawaii cook book inspired by Bento lunches, again written, photographed and illustrated by LC herself.

The creations are a feast for the eyes, but not all the ingredients may be familiar to Western palates. So Cute Yummy Time thinks outside the bento box, sharing more than 70 recipes for making food “so cute, you could just eat it!”

I’ve already mentioned how informative and entertaining Carmen’s blog is; I’m sure this book and her Crazy Wacky Theme Restaurants book are gonna be great hits. Like me, Carmen visits Tokyo several times a year so she is bang-up-to-date with the latest trends in Japanese goth lolita fashion, music, nightlife and more.

I’m a bit late with this myself, but there’s even a competition on La Carmina’s website where you can win the gorgeous red Akina dress above, if you spread the word about these fab new books.

So don’t hang about – cos you’ve only got til midnight 19th October (US time). Go on, shoo! Go write a post, twitter or whatever it is you do best to get the word out.