PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIRST TIME EVER IN THE U.S.
AVANT GARDE JAPANESE STREET FASHION LABELS OPEN BOUTIQUES AT NEW PEOPLE IN SAN FRANCISCO
THIS SUMMER

New Japanese Pop Culture Attraction Welcomes Baby, The Stars Shine Bright,
Black Peace Now, and 6%DOKIDOKI That Offer Edgy Clothing, Shoes And Accessories From Tokyo’s Hippest Fashion District, And SOU •SOU,
A Kyoto Brand Introducing Cool “Tabi” Sneakers

San Francisco, CA, June 9, 2009 – VIZ Pictures, a Japanese live-action film distributor and producer of the J-Pop Center Project, welcomes four edgy fashion labels to San Francisco’s newest permanent Japanese pop culture attraction – NEW PEOPLE – opening August 15th in the city’s historic Japantown.

Baby, The Stars Shine Bright and Black Peace Now will open their first U.S. boutiques at NEW PEOPLE on the second floor of the 20,000 square foot structure located at 1746 Post Street. In addition to the permanent attractions, a part of the short-term rotating retail program will include 6%DOKIDOKI and SOU • SOU.

Harajuku is a district of Tokyo which holds the attention of top designers as a trend-setters’ Mecca of the world, and birthplace to many urban fashion sub-genres such as Cyberpunk, Gothic Lolita, Visual Kei and anime-inspired Cosplay. NEW PEOPLE brings creations from a new vanguard of Japanese designers inspired by everything from anime and science fiction to punk rock and Gothic Horror to Victorian England and 18th Century France.

“Fashion is the latest medium to play a significant role in the ongoing evolution of Japanese popular culture that has captivated the world,” says Seiji Horibuchi, the founder and CEO of VIZ Pictures and the founder of VIZ Media as well as the J-Pop Center Project. “Anime, manga and Japanese film are internationally known and loved. With NEW PEOPLE, we celebrate all of those genres and we’ll also transcend them by giving the U.S. a look at entirely new sides of contents from Japan including these innovators of Harajuku fashion.”

Baby, The Stars Shine Bright leads the fashion scene as the ultimate “Lolita” brand, which is a modern interpretation of classic Victorian and Rococo apparel. BABY showcases its absolutely adorable clothing obsessed with frills, ribbons and colorful prints, along with its more androgynous and mystic line of attire, ALICE and the PIRATES. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright apparel was heavily featured in the critically acclaimed film Kamikaze Girls (also available on DVD from VIZ Pictures), which was based on the best-selling novel by Novala Takemoto. The label also has a store in Paris and makes its U.S. debut at NEW PEOPLE.

“There was no such thing as ‘Lolita-inspired fashion’ when I started this company,” says Fumiyo Isobe, Co-Founder and Designer of Baby, The Stars Shine Bright. “I like cute things like frill, lace, round collars, and delicate colors with a very princess-like look. Historical decorative styles like Rococo or Victorian influence my designs as well as music and fashion from the 70s and 80s and shojo manga (comics for girls).”

Black Peace Now has become one of the top rock and roll fashion brands for punk/gothic crossover in Japan. The designs incorporate punk and gothic themes to evoke powerful and exquisite silhouettes that can range from mild to truly wild. The company’s second line, Peace Now, offers a more casual, everyday look that still retains a cute, edgy style. Widely known, worn and celebrated in Japan, clothing by Black Peace Now has appeared in numerous music videos, films and TV dramas.

“We’re thrilled to have a new U.S. home-base in San Francisco,” says Kiyoshi Igai, a founder and CEO of Black Peace Now. “We look forward to meeting our U.S. customers, hearing their feedback on our designs, and seeing how Japanese pop culture will influence customers and also how they will share their inspirations with us.”

6%DOKIDOKI welcomes NEW PEOPLE visitors to a vivid, fabulously strange and colorful boutique that continues the label’s penchant for avant-garde and kitsch style and brings genuine Harajuku girl culture to the United States for the first time. 6%DOKIDOKI is a Technicolor array of crazy fun, crazy colors and bright designs that invites shoppers to join their happy-punk-rebellion

Sebastian Masuda, 6%DOKIDOKI’s Founder and Designer, looks forward to his two-month endeavor. “I’m very excited to see how this culture will be perceived, infused, and accepted in the US. This is also a great opportunity to communicate with American teens and expand this fashion movement and create new culture.

SOU • SOU from Kyoto introduces Japanese classic “Tabi” work shoes with vibrant graphic patterns. SOU • SOU’s combination of form-fitting soles and striking modern looks has a huge following, from dancers to the sneaker-obsessed. While new and fun, each shoe is crafted by hand, preserving the best traditional techniques.

NEW PEOPLE is a 20,000 square foot contemporary building located at 1746 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown (one of only three remaining in the country), an area steeped in more than a century of history. The structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that invokes a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination for the 21st Century.

A dedicated NEW PEOPLE web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com

About VIZ Pictures, Inc.:
Based in San Francisco, California, VIZ Pictures, Inc. distributes Japanese live-action films and DVDs, with particular focus on Japanese “kawaii (cute) and cool” pop culture. VIZ Pictures approaches each release from a J-pop fan’s point of view to serve the manga and anime generation in North America. VIZ Pictures titles include DEATH NOTE, NANA, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, LINDA LINDA LINDA, PING PONG, THE TASTE OF TEA, TRAIN MAN: DENSHA OTOKO and others. The company will continue to offer the hottest visual entertainment straight from the “Kingdom of Pop” for audiences of all ages in North America. VIZ Pictures, Inc. is an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC, the San Francisco-based leading U.S. publisher of Japanese manga (comics) and merchandise licensor of Japanese animation such as the popular “NARUTO” animated TV series.
For more information please visit www.viz-pictures.com or www.viz.com
© 2006 VIZ Pictures, Inc

About The J-pop Center Project:
Launched by creative visionary Seiji Horibuchi, the founder and CEO of VIZ Pictures and the founder of VIZ Media, The J-pop Center Project develops and extends innovative creative alliances and collaborations across different media: film, animation, music, art and retail products. For more information please visit www.NewPeopleWorld.com.