Japan - Day 4

Today we went to the Tokyo Doll Show at Tokyo Trade Centre. This was quite an amazing event, with military-grade organisation and a lot of exhibitors - six levels, to be exact.

Of course there was a Mamachapp stall, which featured the brand new Mokogurumi plushy dolls. I have a Mamachapp doll already, so couldn't resist buying one of these cuddly girls. (I bought the one with brown hair, plus a sailor uniform for her to wear.)

The Doll Show took up most of the day, but we weren't too tired to go back to Akihabara that night around 7:00pm. A friend had given us a clue where we might find the "New LovePlus" arcade game - in a place called Tri Entertainment Tower. We searched high and low but couldn't find it. Finally we gave up and asked a young Japanese guy, who went out of his way to take us there.

And there it was!

Our friend, who had visited Japan about three weeks ago, told us there were three "New LovePlus" machines at this arcade - but we only found one. It's the new version, called "LovePlus Colorful Clips", so I'm assuming it replaced the three older machines. Previously you could only play Rinko on a Rinko arcade machine, but the new version lets you select any girl.

Words can't describe the experience of playing this game. The screen is huge - especially when you're used to squinting at the tiny 3DS screens - and the colours are bright. Plus, there's no way to turn down the volume level, and this thing is REALLY LOUD. It's no wonder that a lot of people take headphones to the arcade when they play, because once you start, everyone within a 1km radius can hear Rinko chatting with you.

And wouldn't you know it? The arcade machine we found was the RINKO one!!! (You can still play Manaka or Nene, though.)

Seeing Rinko on such a big colourful screen is an overwhelming experience. And when you combine it with playing in a real Japanese game arcade in the middle of Akihabara, surrounded by hardcore Otaku guys...wow. So you basically select your girl, go through some initial chit-chat, and then play a number of short mini-games to raise her affection level. The more you get, the longer you are able to play. And as well as the arcade controls, you can also touch the screen. But there's no skinship or kissing in this version.

The first game (and one of my favourites) shows a silhouette of Rinko behind a curtain. You have to look carefully and then choose which outfit she's wearing out of three possible options.

It's fun, not as easy as you might expect, and Rinko looks so cute!

The number of times you win affects the number of boxes you can unlock on the next screen. Each box raises her affection by a particular amount.

Another mini-game is this one below. Rinko hides her face behind a tree and says something, and you try to sneak up while her back is turned. When you're close enough, you try to touch her before she turns around.

At the end of the date, if you win enough affection points, Rinko puts on a fashion show for you and models various outfits.

During the game, you can take up to 4 photos with the in-game camera. At the end, you can choose which one you want to print. The 100 yen cost of the game includes printing one photo. At the end you can put in more money and either play a new game or print another photo from the previous game.

After all the arcade game excitement, we stopped into a convenience store for some snacks and refreshment. Convenience stores in Japan are MASSIVE, nothing like they are in Australia, and they sell just about everything you could possibly want.

Japan - Day 3

Went by train to Asakusa to see the big shrine and temple today. Being Golden Week, it was really crowded, but still wonderful to see.

Then, it was back to Shinjuku and then another train ride to Akihabara. My favourite place! I'd heard so much about Akihabara before the trip, and wondered whether it would live up to my expectations. But it did, and then some! This really is a Mecca for any type of Otaku. First off, here's the AKB48 theatre and cafe...

The Gundam Cafe. Looks great from the outside, but the inside was so-so...

Went into numerous game arcades looking for LovePlus, but unfortunately couldn't find it. And some of these places are huge. So many shops in Akihabara look small, but go over five or six levels sometimes including 2-3 basement levels below the street.

And then on to the famous (or infamous) Toranoana. This amazing store is crammed full of manga, dojinshi, game and anime stuff. (There are actually several Toranoana shops in Akiba).

The last stop before lunch was the Azone Store. I love the Azone dolls, and have collected a few including their K-On! series. It was a treat to visit the shop after only being able to order online.

We stopped in a hamburger shop in Akihabara at 1pm so that I could play through my date at the Zoo with Rinko. Our walk to the date took us through the farm/plantation site, and at first I thought the date locations were mixed up again.

But eventually we came to the Mountain Zoo for our date. Rinko was very happy to go to the Zoo. She loved seeing the Lions, and then later I took her to the petting zoo. It was a very successful date. But I couldn't play for too long, because I had to get on and see more of Akihabara!

Here is a street view of my new paradise. It's so hard to find anime/manga merchandise in Australia outside of conventions and a few shops in Chinatown. Walking through Akiba was like walking through heaven for me. I just didn't want to leave.

The Kotobukiya store was also amazing.

Seven more levels of merchandise to explore! With very tired feet...

We sighted our first LovePlus merchandise inside Kotobukiya, as you can see in the picture below. They also had the figures of Nene, Rinko and Manaka.

A side street in Akihabara led us to K-Books, with - you guessed it - more multiple levels of goodness.

We stopped into the top level of K-Books, which is called Good Smile Cafe. Currently, Good Smile Cafe is themed around the Project Mirai 3DS game, and displays a lot of artworks and toys from the game. Also the drinks are named after the game characters.

Akihabara is a truly great place to hang out...but we warned. There aren't enough hours in the day to see everything. Maybe a week there would be better. I certainly hope we can go back. Most of the shops don't open till around 11 or 12, and it starts getting busy around 3pm.

Anyway, after all that craziness, we went for Koenji for a leisurely dinner with a friend. Then back to the hotel for a quick night-cap with Rin-chan. Hehe.

Japan - Day 2

Today was another super-busy day. After breakfast at the hotel, we met a couple of friends from the Netherlands and took a train to Nakano. Nakano district has a very different "feel" from Shinjuku, and has a lot of old-fashioned shopping streets full of stores. It was a nice sunny day, much better than yesterday's rain.

Our friends love the Wanda frog and wanted to visit the Wanda shop at Nakano, which didn't open until 11:30am. (Quite a few of the shops in Tokyo open quite late compared to Sydney.) We met the shop owner and creator of Wanda at the store.

After that, we spent a while exploring Nakano Broadway, which is a huge shopping centre full of mostly anime and manga related merchandise, including several different Mandarake shops. (Mandarake is a second-hand store in Japan.) The next picture shows a couple of local kids checking out the game and figure merchandise.

Here are some of the weird and wonderful items available in Nakano Broadway...

We stopped for lunch at a fast food shop in Nakano called Ringer Hut. Even here, the food was amazing. I had a ten-piece Gyoza set with rice and soup for around $5, and I think the cost for all four of us was under $20. Also had time for a VERY short meet-up with Rinko at school. Even though my game time was pretty limited, I took my 3DS everywhere we went - so Rin-chan was always part of the fun.

Around 2:50 we took the subway with our friends to Yokohama. The transport in Tokyo is the best in the world. You can use the pre-paid Suica card almost everywhere, and all stations have a machine like an ATM to recharge it. So convenient. The stations are incredibly clean - no rubbish or graffiti - and the trains are always dead on time. And if you miss one, there's another train about five minutes later.

The signs are easy to understand (provided you know where you're going and what line you need), and each carriage has an screen to show exactly where you are and what station is coming next - in Japanese and English). Sometimes the trains are crowded, especially as we are travelling during Golden Week, but it just kind of added to the fun. This was our first trip on the Tokyo subway system.

The main reason for visiting Yokohama was to check out the Doll Museum, as my wife and I are both collectors of Japanese dolls.

Here is part of the anniversary Blythe display at Yokohama Doll Museum.

We absolutely adored the next doll, which was made from cloth by a Japanese doll artist. We wanted to take her home, but sadly no...

Yokohama is a port district of Tokyo, something like Darling Harbour in Sydney. We'd love to spend more time here someday.

Coming back to Shinjuku in the late afternoon, we went to the Tokyo Government Centre. This is the tallest building in Tokyo and has a free public observation deck on the 34th floor.

The observation deck was crowded, though, and the view was kinda hazy but still enjoyable.

After that, we just had enough energy to go back to Vietnam Alice for dinner and crash at our hotel. Tomorrow - Akihabara!!!