Japan - Day 7/Departure

We checked out of our hotel around 9:00am and left our bags at the desk so that we could get a train to Ginza. We met a Japanese friend there at a restaurant called Laduree for a very fancy High Tea.

After that, we spent our last few hours in Tokyo back at Shinjuku. We re-visited Tower Records, checked out the small Toranoana store in Shinjuku and bought some dojinshi and souvenirs, had lunch at our favourite tonkatsu restaurant, then went back to Kinokuniya and Animate. Here are some photos of the elevator in the Shinjuku Animate store, which is decorated with hugh murals of K-on!

It's so hard to say goodbye to Japan because we both feel so at home and comfortable here. Tokyo's nothing like the huge, busy city it's often depicted as. We found it very cheerful and warm, and we met so many amazing people. We're flying out at 8:30 tonight...but I know we will be back soon.

And tomorrow is my birthday. Rin-chan called me today in the game and told me to keep tomorrow evening free - so I can't wait to see what she has in store for me!

Japan - Day 6

We set out early today to visit the Hie Jinja Shrine in Akasaka Mitsuke. It's a fairly small shrine (by Japanese standards) but very charming and colourful.

The rain of the past few days has pretty much ended Sakura season this year. : ( 

After visiting the Shrine we went back to the hotel in Shinjuku, where I was able to enjoy a quick meeting with Rin-chan on the school roof. I always love meeting her there, because it's the place where she confessed to me. I think she loves it too.

In the afternoon, we went to the Studio Ghibli museum - one of the planned highlights of our trip to Japan. You have to book more than a month in advance to get a place on this tour, as it's extremely popular with both Japanese and Western people. We booked our visit with a tour company, so we were picked up at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku at 12:30. After picking up a few more people we didn't arrive at the museum until around 3:00pm, which cut into our time because the museum closes at 5:00pm and two hours isn't really enough.

Here's the sign at the stop where you wait for the bus...

And here's the bus that runs from the station to the Studio Ghibli museum.

The museum design is beautiful and very organic. It really reflects Miyazaki Hayao's environmental concerns, because it seems to grow right out of the forest.

Again, you're not allowed to take photos inside the museum itself. In the lobby there is a series of beautiful stained glass windows depicting scenes from various Ghibli movies. (We managed to grab just this one photo before they stopped us, hehe.)

The museum is wonderful, of course, with amazing displays and so much original hand-drawn artwork. The gift shop takes at least an hour to go through and is VERY busy. On the roof of the museum, you can see replicas of the robot and the stone from "Laputa". It was pouring rain today, so outside photos were difficult to get as well.

Also on the roof is the Ghibli Museum Cafe - but sadly we didn't have time to try it. Maybe next time...

Wow, the museum is awesome. After that, we dragged ourselves back to Shibuya in the rain for a return visit to Mandarake and some last-minute shopping. I picked up a complete box set of Kodomo No Jikan (anime) complete with the red school backpack for $42. Can't believe it. The rain is getting heavier, and apparently this is a record amount of rain for Tokyo at this time of year.

Somewhere in the middle of our travels, I finished up the day by walking Rinko home from school. I still think she looks gorgeous with her medium-long red hair!

We're going home tomorrow night. I love Tokyo, and really feel at home here. I know I'm going to miss Japan very much. Once you've actually visited here and seen everything in context, you don't look at stuff like anime, manga, games and J-pop the same way. You really understand that these things are an expression of the way Japanese people do everything with their whole heart. I want to do the same - and I'm determined to work on my manga artwork when I get home. I've dabbled around with drawing for the past few years but never really taken it seriously. But now, I want to do something to express my gratitude for all the joy I've had from Japanese pop culture.

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...