Japan 2006 - Day 10

Rest day today, didn't go anywhere except for the closest supermarket where I get my breakfast (some instant noodle) and whatnots. I'm off to Kyoto tomorrow for a week, so I need to pack as well.

I'm not sure if I can continue to update my blog, but I'll see what I can do. If I can't, I'll update it when I come back to Tokyo next week.

Japan 2006 - Day 9 - Ikebukuro

Ikebukuro, not a particular interesting place you would go unless you want to visit the Sunshine City, which houses an amusement park of sort within the building, Nanjatown. But before you get to the Sunshine City, you will be more likely to have travelled along Rokkujukai-dori, a street that is always full of people, day or night. In the short 150-odd metres of road, you would walk past not one, not two but three amusement centres. Among arcade games, horse betting machines, G-Link card game and photo stickers machines, the more interesting and rewarding game are the UFO catchers (Skill Testers), of course. While I don't claim to be an expert in UFO catchers, I did manage to pick up a Blech doll as well as a couple of phone hangers. As to what real purpose do I want them for, I don't quite know.

Another attraction at Ikebukuro is the Toyota Amlux. Basically a huge Toyota showroom, showing off the latest Toyota cars. Since I'm not a Toyota fan, I didn't go in. Maybe when they win a Formula 1 championship, then I'll think about it (actually, I would still prefer a Honda).

Japan 2006 - Day 8 - Shibuya

The first thing you will notice when you get off the Harajuku station is the Snoopy Town shop right across the street. It obviously sells nothing but Snoopy merchandise. Just that should convince you that Harajuku and the neighbouring Shibuya is the Tokyo capital of trendy shops for the today's youth. But before that, I stopped by the Meiji Jingu to pray for warmer weather. The Meiji Jingu Treasure Museum has yet again eluded me as it had two years ago. That time, I visited on a Monday where the museum has just changed the opening hour to close on Monday. This time, the opening hours has gone even shorter. It is now only opened on the weekends and public holidays. Oh, well, I might never get there.

So without much to do after my visit to the Shrine, I had lunch at the canteen and off I went to Shibuya, which was a 15 minutes walk from the Harajuku station along the railway line. On the way, I stopped by the Towers Records, which was, well, a CD shop like many others.

I arrived at the Mandrake Shibuya shop, which was right next to a second hand book / game / DVD shop at which I spent another 1000 yen to buy some old games on the Sega Saturn. Hopefully the Saturn at home still works.

Anyway, back to Mandrake. The shop is on the underground level, and it was a fairly big shop. They sell pretty anything, from manga, to anime cel, to anime story board, to figurines, to games. I didn't buy anything, but it was worth taking a look. I think all the stuff they sell are second hand.

Later, I went to a shop called Book-off. They have millions of manga, and they are cheaper than toilet paper. If you ever run out of toilet paper, go buy old manga instead. Many older manga sells for 105 yen each volume. That's like $1.20AUD. That's right, $1.20, while the English adaption cost $17AUD in the shops. You'll never find that kind of bargain back in Australia. The only trouble is you have to know Japanese, of course. They sell other stuff as well, like CDs and games, both of which are reasonably cheap as well. Yet again, I just couldn't resist and bought a few things.

Japan 2006 - Day 7 - Akihabara

Today, I went to where everyone goes to for electrical goods. That's right, it's Akihabara, but I wasn't there to find the latest digikame (digital camera) or the latest Japanese gadgets. I was there for, you've guess it, anime merchandise. Well, I didn't buy all that much today, mainly because I just want to take a look around first, and if I have time later in the trip, I will think about coming back to buy them. But there are somethings that I can't wait to buy. A whole album for less than 1,000 yen? Yes, please.

There is a shop (actually, a seven stories building) that sells new and second hand CD and DVD (anime and non-anime stuff). There are quite some bargains to be had in there. I've bought several second hand CD for less than half priced. Yes, some of them might be quite old already (dating back to pre-2000), but hey, if I haven't heard them before, it's new to me. Also bought some second hand DVDs as well. Yes, I released that they are in Japanese without subtitles, but I can't get it anywhere else in the world, plus it's Patlabor, one of my favourite anime, so I was willing to fork out the money for it. It was relatively cheap.

One of the highlight of the day was the capsule toys that I, for one reason or another, could not resist. It was for the anime Shuffle!. There were six figures in all (one of them is the secret character, which I know I will have no hope of getting). So I thought, "why not, it's only 200 yen (that's about $2.40AU)", and I was lucky for the first four times. Having four different characters in four turns is quite lucky, but then I pushed my luck. I wanted to collect the fifth one as well, so I went for another try. Big mistake. Got Nerine. Maybe I'll try again? Wrong. Got another Nerine. That was the third time in a row I've got Nerine. Well, time to give up.

Walked some more and went inside a shop. Guess what? They have the whole set of the Shuffle! capsule toys (without the secret character, which was Asa-sempai's mum, Ama) for sale for less than what I have put into the machine to get the six capsules. I gave in and bought the set. Now I can sell my other capsules. Anyone wants to buy it?

Japan 2006 - Day 6 - Kanda

More of Kanda today. I've walked through pretty much the whole of the Kanda region, going from bookstore to bookstore. I wasn't searching anything in particular, just wondered around to see what they have on offer. One thing I found out is that there are many Idol photo albums. Now I have known about these already, but seeing them in real life is quite another thing. It might sound weird outside Japan, but it is nothing more weird than say, someone like Delta Goodrem to release a photo album. While it is true that lots of the idol photo albums are geared towards fulfilling the male fantasy (nothing sexual here, unless you think otherwise ^^;), there are also many actors / singers / models who release photo album just to, emmm, squeeze as much money out of the fans as possible (and you have no idea what fans would pay to support their idol). Morning Musume is a prime example of the latter. Oh, by the way, I'm not talking about the porn photo albums. I don't think they are called "idols". They're called "porn star".

Now that I've mentioned it, one thing I found amusing about Kanda is the amount of adult shops, and the amount of adult only content that are available in Japan. It never ceased to amuse me. The shop is literally filled with hundred and hundred of porn. And there are constant stream of men coming and going into the shop. Amazing.

Japan 2006 - Day 5 - Tokyo Dome

Tokyo Dome was the main attraction today. Actually, today's main attraction should have been the Kanda second hand book shops, but once I got off the train, it would be stupid not to go to the Tokyo Dome, which was next door. I actually didn't go inside the Dome itself. Mainly because they are closed (it's not baseball season here). They did have a festival on. And it was the Tablewear Festival. I can only imagine the sparkle in the people's eyes when they see so many spoons and forks and teapot all in one place.

If anyone is interested, there is a Shounen Jump store as you get to Tokyo Dome. They sell things like manga (obviously), T-Shirts, cups, some figures, phone hanger, etc.

Anyway, because I got out of the house relatively late, I only managed to get to Kanda late in the afternoon. There was a nine stories building that house nothing but book stores. I started from the top and worked my way down. On the second floor, there was one that sell nothing but manga, anime and game artbooks. A perfect place for me and my hunger for anime. I spent about two hours in that tiny place, looking for the perfect book to buy. Best of all, they are second hand, and being a second hand, they are, well, cheaper than brand new. Picked up quite a few bargains there. The whole 10 volumes of RG Veda by Clamp for 1575 yen? Yes, please.

I'll see if I have time tomorrow to visit other parts of Kanda.

Japan 2006 - Day 4 - Odaiba

Day 4 started with an hour train ride, across three lines to the waterfront by the name of Odaiba. First stop was the Panasonic Centre. Besides showing off their latest Viera series Plasma TVs, mobiles phones, digital cameras and the likes, they also offered a little corner for Nintendo fans. Several Gamecube and Nintendo DS were set up around the place for children to play. Unfortunately, I can't find a Revolution anywhere.

They also have an Eco Home at the back of the centre. It was something like a display home of the future. Obviously the home was filled with Matsushita products. Who knows, those products might be coming to a store near you!

Next stop was the Tokyo Big Sight, which was basically an exhibition building. Along the way, I saw scores of people wearing suits walking towards the Big Sight. I first thought that they must be off to work somewhere in Odaiba, but soon found out that they were actually attending some sort of job search exhibition that was being held inside Tokyo Big Sight. Quite an interesting sight (no pun intended). I have never seen such an amount of people in suits gathered in one place before (well, I might see that again if I go to Shinjuku later).

Since I was not interested in getting a job in Japan yet, off I went towards the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. I suggest you pick up one of the Welcom to Tokyo Handy Guide (the English cover is in orange). In there, you can find a 100 yen discount to the museum. I picked one up at the Tokyo Big Sight.

Anyway, the first thing you'll notice when you get inside is the huge moving globe hanging from the ceiling. It was used to display, well, Earth and its current up to date status like land temperature, sea temperature, etc. The first floor is basically about the Earth and how scientists are helping to save the environment. The second floor is a robotic / computer level. I managed to catch the Asimo show. I have seen an Asimo in the Honda show room in Aoyama before, but I have never seen one that moves, so it was interesting. On the third floor was a floor of exploration. That includes the exploration of spaces and universe to the exploration of the human body. Unfortunately, I must have spent too much time reading every word on every exhibits downstairs, because it was five already, at which time the museum closed. But not before I stormed into the shop and bought an Asimo stuffed toy that I would most likely put it in my Honda. So if you ever see an Asimo hanging on the window, that's probably my car.

So after the museum, it was time for a perfect night photo of the Rainbow Bridge. I went to the exact same spot some one and a half years ago where I took a picture of the same bridge. I don't think much changed, but this time, I think I have a much better picture. The one I took in 2004 wasn't that good, as I found out later when I went back home.

Japan 2006 - Day 3 - Studio Ghibli

Being a blog about anime, among other things, a trip to Japan is not a trip until one has visited the Studio Ghibli museum at Mitaka. I am a huge fan of Miyazaki Hayao and his works, and after all these years of visiting Japan, I have finally had a chance to visit the museum.

It didn't take long to get into the museum, mainly because the ticket has to be purchased in advance, and you have to be at the entrance at the pre-arranged time. In our case, it was midday. After exchanging our vouchers for the real tickets, one that contains three frames of a Studio Ghibli film (it was Laputa on mine), we entered the amazing museum. Unfortunately, we cannot take photo inside the museum.

Once we were in, it was like we have entered another world. The exhibtion was nothing short of spectacular. There was a spiral staircase in the main hall that connected the first floor to the third floor. There was also a huge fan three floors up on the ceiling. The first level has a short film theatre (I'll get to that later), and an exhibition hall on simple animation where we have to look through the slits of a cylinder to view the animation.

The most impressive exhibition involved the use of strobe lights. Around a circular plane with a pole in the middle, there lied many 3D models attached on it. When the circle plane spun around backwards, all you see was just something spinning really fast. The magic appeared when the strobe lights started to blink really fast onto the model. It created an animation of sort. Really, it was more an illusion than an animation. We could see the Catbus running, Totoro jumping, among other models.

On the second floor, there was a mock-up studio. For this particular trip, they were showing the filming process of Howl's Moving Castle, Miyazaki's latest feature. Many of the story board were pinned up on the wall, showing the production in various states, from pencil drawing, to water colour, to complete cels.

Around the place were hundreds of books as well, topics ranged from animals, to plants, to human motion, all parts of an animators' library. It actually felt like a library while I was in there. We could even flip through some of Studio Ghibli's movie script.

The second half of the level features an exhibition of Heidi, one of Miyazaki's earlier works.

On the third floor, besides providing access to the roof top, there was a huge Catbus being jumped on and climbed upon by screming young kids. Unfortunately, they don't consider a 165cm tall guy a young kid. So I went to the book store instead, which was on the same level. They don't just sell Studio Ghibli books, they also sell other books, some of them classic, like Sherlock Holmes. They also sell lots of children's book. I managed to score myself an official Studio Ghibli handbook, complete with English translation!

Further down there was another shop that was even more popular for Miyazaki fans. It was the merchandise shop called Mama Auito, where one can spend all their money on things like stuff toys, original anime cels, key chains, DVDs, CDs, etc. Some sculptures were also on display which was just that, on display. There were not for sale.

Next was the rooftop. Only two things of interest here. One, which was the most popular rooftop attraction, was the replica of the giant robot in Laputa. It looked pretty beaten up, but people still wanted to take pictures with it. It stood at about two and a half stories high. So it was quite big. And it was never lonely. Scores of people lined up to take a photo of and with it. The other smaller attraction was the cube, also from Laputa. It wasn't as attractive as the robot, though.

Last stop was the short film back down on level 1. They had three films on show, but we could only watch one. This particular one that we went to was called "Mizu gumo mon mon" (I think, the Japanese title - 『水グモもんもん』). The 15 minutes feature did not have dialogue, so it was perfect for someone like me, who despite my best effort, still don't understand Japan as well as I should.

After the film, it was time to go. It takes around two and a half hours to cruise around the museum (including the short film). In doing so, I took away some valuable memories and information about Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli and their works. I'll never watch another Ghibli in the same way again. If there is any bad points about the museum, I'd have to say, it's too small. But for the cost of 1000 yen, and the amount of stuff that is packed inside such a small complex, it is worth every minute. It's a must for all anime fans, and a definite for Miyazaki fans. It's like going to China without going to the Great Wall. It would not be complete without it. To this end, I have finally fulfilled my dream.

Japan 2006 - Day 2 - Omiya

Well, on this cold, windy freezing day, it's best to stay indoors. And that was exactly what I did today. I have no idea where the wind came from. It is still blowing strong right at this moment. I could hear the wind howling outside. The problem is that I can live with the cold, but not with the bloody wind blowing all this cold air right into my face. Many bicycles that were parked along the street were blown over by the strong gust.

Anyway, the indoors is my only safe heaven. I stayed inside shopping centres around the Omiya station, which is the closest main train station around my place. Even though this is not the first time I came to Japan, it never ceased to amaze me by the number of commuters who travel on the trains. The station is packed of people... all the time. Just like every country in the world, the trains get really packed at peak hours. I wonder how claustrophobic goes to work.

One good thing about main train stations like Omiya is that the station is literally a giant shopping centre. Lumine is right on top of the station. Sogo is just 100 metres away, and there is a Daiei further down from Sogo. Unfortunately, I was confined by the weather. Every time I walked on the street, all I could think about is, "Where the hell is the next shopping centre!?" That all I could think of. The wind was so great that it made me want to dive into the next open door and get inside a building. Any building. I guess having so many shopping centres certainly helps. Didn't buy anything, but it was good just looking at, well, things.

Japan 2006 - Day 1

After two months of organising my 2006 Japan Trip, today is the big day. I got up at 4 in the morning to catch the flight at 9.

After sitting on my butt for nine hours in a pressurised tube (otherwise known as a plane) to Hong Kong, then another three and a half hours to Tokyo, then one and a half hour bus ride, then a train three stations down and lastly, a fifteen minutes walk, I have finally made it to my place of residence in Tokyo. The place is Saitama, to be exact, which is a half hour train ride from Tokyo centre.

The plane trip was pleasant enough. There was hardly anyone on the Melbourne to Hong Kong leg, a fewer still on the Hong Kong - Tokyo leg. The highlight of the plane trip was not the movies (they were not that good anyway). It was the customer service officers (used to be known as air hostess). No, it's not what you think. One of the CSO recognised me from way back in university, which was about eight years ago. Funny how you can meet people from all walks of life. We exchanged pleasantries and all during the flight. Who knows, maybe we'll meet again in another eight years.

So, after waking up for 18 hours, I felt exhausted. So tomorrow, I'll start my 2006 Japan Trip by first walking around my new surrounding.