Japan - Day 5

This morning we travelled to Kawasaki City to visit the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum. This museum celebrates the life and work of one of Japan's greatest manga artists - the creator of Doraemon and much more. The streets and even the local buses are decorated with some of Fujiko F. Fujio's characters.

Here's the outside of the museum itself. You have to book tickets in advance if you want to go there, because it only opened this year and is still very popular with Japanese people.

You can't take photos inside the actual museum itself. There are many pages from Fujiko F. Fujio's original works, a copy of his desk and work area, and a lot of personal effects. It's a deeply moving experience to visit there. The next few pictures are from the children's play area, manga reading corner, and outside garden. We didn't get to eat in the cafe, which is a shame...but it was just too busy.

The afternoon took us to Harajuku, where our first stop was the shrine commemorating the life of Emperor Meiji. It's located inside a beautiful park, just a few hundred metres from the station and the busiest part of Harajuku - but it could be in another world.

I stopped briefly to check into "LovePlus", where I was working at Dixies in the afternoon. Sure enough, Rinko appeared to give me a present. She always seems to do this on Monday when I go to work. It's always a sweet delight.

The next shot is Harajuku train station.

After visiting the Meiji Shrine we were pretty hungry, and we spotted a tiny little Takoyaki stand that seemed to be popular with the local kids just outside the station. It was called The Gindaco. The Takoyaki was the best I've ever tasted!

These two schoolgirls reminded me of "LovePlus". I think it might have been the tennis rackets. Before this trip, I didn't really know whether Japanese schoolgirls would be anything like they're depicted in anime and manga...but yep, they are.

This street is part of the main shopping district of Harajuku, which is one heck of a crazy place. It's always super crowded, and the people are all dressed like they were going to a Lady Gaga concert. Kinda freaky but interesting.

There's a Calbee+ shop in the middle of Harajuku. Given the fact that Rinko loves Calbee's wasabi flavoured potato chips, I wonder if the "plus" is a reference to the game???

Shibuya is a very short ride from Harajuku. Here's the famous statue of Hachiko outside one of the many exits from Shibuya station.

And here's the main square of Shibuya - famous from many anime series and Japanese movies. The huge video screens are there...just like in "Love Hina" when Naru confessed to Keitaro.

We ate at McDonalds in Shibuya because we were basically too tired to go anywhere else. They had an English menu at the counter, which is great, and the girl who served us also spoke English pretty well. The one unusual thing they have is an Ebi Burger, which has a patty made of prawns. We also checked out the main Tower Records store, which is even bigger and more awesome than the one in Shinjuku.

But our main discovery was the huge Mandarake store in Shibuya. It's only one level, but it's packed to the rafters with secondhand anime, manga and toys - very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, we arrived just 15 minutes before 8pm, which is when Mandarake closes. But we're determined to go back and buy some stuff before we leave!

Back at the hotel, I played through a fabulous instalment of the Seishun No 1 Page, which showed Rinko and the Library girls rehearsing for a live show at Live House. Rink always looks great holding a guitar, even with her school uniform on...