Tag Archives: Closet Child

14th August 2019: The other side of Harajuku {Japan, summer 2019}

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After a sweep around the V-kei shops in Shinjuku [新宿], I dropped by Shibuya [渋谷区] (finally) to go to the big Tsutaya there, along with the Mandarake and Tokyu Hands. And there, in the most random vending machine in a backstreet, I managed to find the Shibuya coke bottle (which I drank with glee as I had approached the vending machine as I was thirsty). Then I walked towards Harajuku [原宿], but instead of Takeshita Doori, this time I turned towards the other side. I wanted to see the LemonEd flagship shop, as the Nagoya one did not convince me. LemonEd is a brand created by the deceased X Japan’s guitarist Hide, known for his bright colour combinations and hearts. I wanted to see the shop at least once, I guess, even if “bright” is probably not my thing (≧▽≦). There were many items, T-shirts and so on and I sneaked a couple of pictures.

I went on a little and arrived at Tōgō Jinja [東郷神社], which I really liked. I got a shuuin there too, and almost lost my shuuincho there because the miko would not call my number to give it back (;¬_¬).

I walked from Harajuku back to Shinjuku via Yoyogi [代々木], and I pretty much went around the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building [NTTドコモ代々木ビル] from all angles (and weather backgrounds).

When I arrived at Shinjuku station [新宿駅] though, I came across… the Salamander God in a Takashiyama Window… I’m not kidding you.

Once I was in Shinjuku I tried to find the Tokyo Coke bottle in another random vending machine… It did not work, but I found the Kabukichō Benzaiten [歌舞伎町弁財天], which I had seen in passing, and wanted to snoop around.

After kushikatsu dinner, we called it a day.

Walked distance: 19234 steps / 13.7 km.

10th August 2018: Pretty Lights, Strike 1 {Japan, summer 2018}

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I stayed in bed for most of the morning, and had conbini lunch at home. Mid-morning I received an email informing me that my things had arrived in Haneda and would be delivered the next morning. This confirmed what I suspected, that luggage had stayed in London due to the check-in issues, and left me free for the day, although I would have to fill an insurance claim or two.

Luggageless, and thus cameraless, I did not feel like going out to do tourism, though I did have a couple of places I wanted to visit, so what to do? Obviously the first hunting incursion of the day – first Shinjuku [新宿]’s Closet Child and Pure Sound, and then I headed off to Harajuku [原宿] and the Laforet Building, then I came up Takeshita Dori [竹下通り] where I bought a pair of sunglasses and fell in love with a couple of shoes (until I saw the price. It was an impossible love).

After that, D****e and I met up with M***chan at Meguro [目黒] to go to the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo [ホテル雅叙園東京] and dinner afterwards. Hotel Gajoen is a huge luxury complex in Meguro, with corridors that go on forever, fountains, bridges and jaw-dropping prices. That should give you a clue that dinner was not had there.

The hotel organises cultural events around their one-hundred step ladder, and this summer it was holding the WA NO AKARI × HYAKUDAN KAIDAN Illumination Festival 2018: Wa no Akari, The Aesthetics of Japanese Illumination [和のあかり×百段階段2018 ～日本の色彩、日本のかたち～]. This was an exhibition of interpretation of Japanese art using lights, and it was very beautiful.

Would you like to catch a glimpse of the luxuriousness of the place? These are the lobby toilets:

Since obviously we could not afford to have dinner there, we went for nikuzushi [肉寿司], which is basically sushi with meat, raw or cooked, instead of fish to a place called, of all things, Nikuzushi, in Ebisu [恵比寿] (albeit this is apparently a chain, so there are several of them around the city). This was unexpectedly yummy.

Afterwards we did an hour of karaoke and headed home.

28th July 2017: Shopping at Ikebukuro {Japan, summer 2017}

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This is something I had never thought I would have done, but it was strangely fun – I went shopping along Ikebukuro [池袋]. And not fandom shopping – well, yes, there was fandom shopping, but… It was weird. I was in the Book Off as always that I’m around. I was also in the Sanryo Gift Gate but there was no Yoshikitty to be found.

The original intent was going to the Sunshine City Aquarium [サンシャイン水族館] but when I arrived there was a very long line, so I decided to wander around for a while. I accidentally ran into a T-shirt that I loved and had to buy – full of sciency formulae, and a bag I really liked. I found it a bit expensive, so “decided” not to buy it.

After some conbini lunch I went back to the Aquarium and decided to wait as the line did not seem to be about to be longer than 15 minutes (much better than the 45 before).

The Aquarium was full and it never fails to surprise me how Japanese kids are this wild in aquariums in general- but this time I got pushed around by grannies too! XD I also found a new appreciation for pelicans and ended up with a lot of pelicanbutt pictures.

After the aquarium I headed to the Closet Child on my way to the station and bought a very cool T-shirt from a group I don’t really listen to, but very cool, and 1000¥. And then, because I had not really gotten myself anything too expensive in Closet Child, I gave into temptation and went back for the handbag. Many people have complimented me for it, and I really love it.

Afterwards I met up with B**** for sushi and Starbucks while D****e was in a fancy dinner on a boat, with my camera (yay phone pictures). After I got into the train, I was messaging with D****e and we realised that we were on the same train. What are the chances? Very, very small XD

12th July 2017: Sugamo or how Google maps trolled the hell out of me {Japan, summer 2017}

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You might remember that last year I was living in Komagome, which is a stop away from Sugamo [巣鴨], also known as “Grandma’s Harajuku”. That in itself did not sound too appealing, but it after some research I found out that it had a couple of interesting temples. However for some reason Google maps screwed up my route with several stops and sent me on the way it wanted.

In the end the first thing I snooped around was what I think was Edorokujizoson Shinsho [江戸六地蔵尊 眞性寺], then I continued down the Jizo Dori shopping street.

I continued for about 20 minutes until I reached Chisen-In [智泉院], which should have been the last place I visited.

Then I backtracked towards Honmyou-ji [本妙寺] under the heat.

Finally I found myself at Kogan-ji [高岩寺], which hosts the Togenuki Jizo [とげぬき地蔵], which is a jizo (monk) statue. Tradition says that if a part of your body hurts, you wash that part on the monk for him to heal it.

Then I headed off to Shinjuku [新宿] (where yes, this time there was fandom shopping) and I met with D****e at the station. We went for dinner at Steak Gusto, which was okay.

29th July 2016: Trying not to think {Japan, summer 2016}

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So I got home late the previous day and I did not really feel like studying, so this morning I had to do my homework and study for the exam (￣◇￣;). However, at around midmorning, I decided that I really did not care for a perfect grade anymore, that I was not going to get anyway because the teacher was not happy with my なければなりません and wanted なけれべいけません because that was what the book had. The other day when I was in Harajuku I’d seen something I really wanted, so I decided that screw everything, I would go buy it.

First, I stopped by Shibuya [渋谷], just because. I did a quick tour over Tsutaya, Book Off and Mandarake. In Tsutaya, I bugged a lady as I was looking for a specific manga and she did not look too happy to help (~_~;). Then I went to Harajuku [原宿] to buy the item I had fallen in love with, a 40cm high photobook (limited edition).

After class (and last exam, and saying bye bye and getting our pic taken with the certificate…) I met M. in Ikebukuro [池袋] as we were going to do fanstuff together. Well, let me rephrase that. First I went home because the photobook(s) was (were) heavy as hell and it would have been more expensive to find a coin locker for them than getting home and dropping them off. After that, I waited for her in the Book Off (and was self-restrained and did not buy anything else). We checked out the Ikebukuro Closet Child and then we had dinner together.

The plan was try and hunt the Gakkuchi. That is, some of the adorable plushes that GACKT makes. He had decided to put some as prices for the UFO catchers. I do know that getting them is next to impossible, but for 500Y try, you got a clearfile, and that was awesome…

So awesome that the clearfiles were “sold out” in all Ikebukuro. We tried one station over, a smaller one. No luck. We tried my station. Still no luck. Damn, what a way to finish the day (♯｀∧´).

26th July 2016: Day and night {Japan, summer 2016}

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In the morning I went off to Shimokitazawa [下北沢], which is a “commercial and entertaining district in Setagaya [世田谷], Tokyo [東京]” (according to Wikipedia, at least).

My first stop was Kitazawa Hachiman Jinja [北澤八幡神社], about 10 minutes away from the station. It is one of those not so hidden shrines that give you the impression that time has frozen.

Afterwards, I undid my way for lunch in Gyoza no Oshou, which I heard that was GACKT’s favourite gyoza place (ironically, this seems to be a franchise, I also found one in Ueno, later on). After that I slithered over to Harajuku [原宿] to find the Closet Child there (and buy things and get a discount card!) Because the fact that there were no more planned shopping sprees does not really mean… anything（≧∇≦）.

In the evening (after class and homework), even if it was raining, I waltzed off to take pictures of the city at night. While Shibuya is bustling with neon, Shinjuku was a bit heart-wrenching as the homeless tend to gather around the station for cover, some of them read your palm for cash.

Shibuya [渋谷]:

Shinjuku [新宿]:

Cityscape from the Observatory of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] (not alone in the lift this time…):

At night there was an earthquake. Not a big one, probably (3, maybe?), but it made my whole apartment creak with the strain. It was creepy enough to straighten me out of bed (◎_◎;)

18th July 2016: Shopping spree (I) {Japan, summer 2016}

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I started the week off with a mochi breakfast that I had received as omiyage (typical present / detail from a particular area). It was delicious!

Japanese sweet pastry on a toothpick

This day I took my first real shopping spree and I headed off for Shinjuku [新宿] and Closet Child & Pure Sound. I ended up in the Pure Sound buying quite a few things, including but not limited to VAMPS DVDs. I had made a friend at Gackt’s Birthday party and she needed to be shown to the shops, so it was the perfect school.

The entrance to Kabukicho district

We also went to Ikebukuro [池袋] for some more shopping and we had lunch at CocoCurry, where I tried the kanikoroke as I was feeling adventurous. As much as I love the chicken, this was an amazing choice!

A curry dish. The sauce is spread at the bottom, and two croquettes stand on the rice

To be honest, I was sore from my fall the previous day and I was staring to feel the tiredness of “doing all the things”, so I took it slow and I just went home after school.

30th August 2015: Up and down, Trains and fandom {Japan, summer 2015}

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After laundry – which was kind of urgently needed, we headed off to Odaiba [お台場] to try to get some kushikatsu. Unfortunately by the time we made it there, there was no space any more, so we ended up in a Korean place. I’m not particularly fond of Korean food, except when it’s grilled meat, but it was late and food was needed, and I found something cheese and vegetables. Oh, well.

After that we headed off for some UFO hunting again (Chupacabra, you guessed it), and later to Shinjuku [新宿] to check out two fandom / goods second-hand shops: Pure Sound and Closet Child, where I found a few interesting things, and others that I filed away for future reference.

Then there was karaoke before heading home, and we tried the McDonald’s avocado burgers on our way back. That… was a rather underwhelming experience I guess. Not bad, but not particularly good XD.