Tag Archives: Japanese food

30th July 2019: Journey to the East (1): Sakaiminato → Okayama {Japan, summer 2019}

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For the second part of my Sakaiminato adventure, I got breakfast on the go, and around 9:00, I set off to the Yumeminato Tower in the park of the same name. I had a plan of things to watch and walk around that unfortunately fell through due to, again, a perceived temperature of over 42 ºC and bright sun. But the Yumeminato Tower [夢みなとタワー] could not be skipped as it is part of my still ongoing All Japan Tower Stamp Rally. Aside from the customary observatory, the Tower featured an anthropology exhibition about the cultures of “countries historically related to Sakaiminato in matters of trading” such as Korea or China.

Yumeminato Tower and views from it. There is also a betobetosan (a… white ball with teeth).

At the feet of the tower is the Sakaiminato Fish Center [境港さかなセンター], a fresh fish market – remember that Sakaiminato is “The City of Kitarō and Fish”. Here is where the homage to fish starts. Sakaiminato is both a trading and fishing key point in western Japan, so this spot is quite important for local business. They have even built a small shrine to give thanks to the ocean for providing the catch.

Sakaiminato fish market, outside and inside, including a small shrine.

Both the tower and the market buildings are encased in Yumeminato Koen [夢みなと公園], a huge – and shadowless – park. It was quite hot, to be honest, and looking back I should have probably just taken the tourist shuttle, but the schedule was inconvenient.

Park with sculptures that depict silhouettes of fish.

When I arrived at the Takematsucho station, my train had just left, so I snooped around Takematsu Jinja [高松神社], a small shrine next to it.

The torii of a small shrine, next to a sacred tree

Having to wait forty minutes further, as there is only a train per hour, I decided to walk over to the following station, where I visited Amariko Jinja [餘子神社].

A shrine. The entrance torii frames the main building.

Then, I just sat down to wait and have a drink till the train came. Once back in the centre of Sakaiminato, I realised that even if it was a Tuesday, the Museum of Sea and Life was closed. That did not stop me from hanging around Osakana Road [おさかなロード], the Fish Road, which follows the same ideas as Mizuki Shigeru Road – it has little sculptures here and there. Only these are not yōkai, but fish.

Life-like fish, squids, crabs and sharks from Osakana Road, along a cartoonish mix of them all.

Oh, and I found a… photo-op / trash can shark on the way ʅ(・ω・。)ʃ？？ I have no idea, but I could have fit inside. Unfortunately, I would not have been able to climb out.

Head of a white shark

And speaking of fish, I had a great fish-fry snack in Mizuki Shigeru Road as I did an extra sweep to make sure I was not missing any yōkai. I chose this place because the owners seemed nice, and they were. They tried to make some conversation and they were very friendly.

Fish fry with a slice of lemon.

After that, I claimed my certificate at the Tourist Information Centre next to the station Sakaiminato-eki [境港駅]. Although I had done it the previous day, by the time I finished, the office was closed. Of course, nobody had any issue with that – they happily gave me my certificate, dated July 30th and not July 29th (≧▽≦).

Certificate of having finished the Yokai Stamp Rally, dated 30 July 2019.

I finally said goodbye to Sakaiminato, and I took the train back to Yonago, and from there to Okayama, the capital of the Prefecture of the same name. This took around three hours, and I was in Okayama [岡山] around 18:00 or 19:00. I dropped my things off at the hotel and headed off for dinner. I ended up ordering a salmon set in a semi-traditional restaurant in a Takashiyama shopping centre, and although the staff was not the nicest, the food was delicious!

Japanese dinner with fried fish, salad, miso soup and a bowl of raw fish on rice.

Right after dinner, I walked to the castle, Okayama-jo [岡山城], hoping it would be lit, and it was. They were also rehearsing some summer light show, with music and stuff.

Okayama Castle at night

Afterwards, I went back to the hotel – unfortunately I had a smoking room (yuck), so I had to spray everything with freshener so I could breathe. But I left the window open as I showered, and I slept rather well afterwards. I had started to feel the tiredness.

Walked distance: 22899 steps / 16.3 km. Most under the sun (soooo sunburnt!)

29th July 2019: Journey to the West: Osaka → Sakaiminato {Japan, summer 2019}

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I was determined to cross as many things on my bucket list as I could in this trip as I could, and that involved some crazy travelling – in this case, two hundred eighty-something kilometres, four trains, and a bit over five hours. In order to make it work, I needed to leave Osaka around 7:00. From the hotel I took the Midosuji underground line from Doubutsuen-Mae Station to Shin-Osaka station, where I took the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen to Okayama – the first 2.5 hours. There, I took the Yakumo Limited express to Yonago [米子市] (a bit over an hour). There, I had to change to, the JR Sakai Line which would finally take me to Sakaiminato [境港市] in Tottori prefecture – it took 45 minutes to travel the last 18 km.

Sakaiminato is “The City of Kitarō and Fish” – Fish is quite self-explanatory. Kitarō is the main character in the manga Ge Ge Ge no Kitarō [ゲゲゲの鬼太郎], often quoted as the reason why yōkai and other elements of Japanese folklore and mythology became popular in the 20th century. Yōkai [妖怪], literally “strange apparition”, are mythological creatures unique to the Japanese islands. They tend to represent nature or societal phenomena, some of them have animal features or are part-human part-animal, or anthropomorphised animals. Many others are rooted on the Japanese idea that inanimate objects have or can develop a spirit. Some yōkai are benevolent, others are evil.

The creator of the manga was Mizuki Shigeru [水木 しげる] (1922 – 2015). He was born in Osaka, but his family moved to Sakaiminato when he was young, and he grew up there. After being drafted to fight in World War II, he became interested in travelling and mythology. Back in Japan, he started the manga in the 1960s. Aside from writing and drawing Ge Ge Ge no Kitarō [ゲゲゲの鬼太郎] (Ge Ge Ge being an onomatopoeia of creepy grave yard noises), he was also a great connoisseur of Japanese folklore, especially monsters, ghosts, and yōkai.

Ge Ge Ge no Kitarō went through a few names and formats to its final form – and there have been anime adaptations as recent as 2018. Kitarō, the main character, is a young yōkai boy who lives between the worlds of humans and yōkai. His usual adventures involve protecting people from both evil yōkai and monsters of western origin. Other characters appear through the story, such as Medama-Oyaji, the “ghost” of Kitarō’s father, incarnated in his eyeball, the Rat-Man (Nezumi Otoko) or the Cat Girl (Neko-Musume).

Most of Kitarō’s adventures happen in or around Sakaiminato, and the town has decided to honour Mizuki’s yōkai legacy – or turn it into a tourist attraction. The inhabitants embraced its yōkai fictional legacy with glee… and stamps. Sakaiminato is all and everything about yōkai.

The magic started when I reached Yonago [米子市] Station: there, the platform is decorated with sculptures and statues, a prelude of what one finds when arriving in Sakaiminato. The train in the JR Sakai line [境港線] was also decorated with some of the characters of the manga. Furthermore, a lot of stops of the Sakai Line, aside from their actual name, are nicknamed after a yōkai.

Sign of Yonago station, featuring the character Nezumi Otoko from Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro.

Train to Sakaiminato, featuring the character Medama-Oyaji from Ge Ge Ge no Kitarō, taking a bath.

I finally reached the Sakaiminato station, Sakaiminato-eki [境港駅]. Upon exiting the train, the first thing I saw was a mural with all the recurrent characters in the manga. The second, that the street lights were shaped like Medama-Oyaji, Kitarō’s eyeball-shaped father.

Mural of Ge Ge Ge no Kitarō characters. The street lights in front of it are shaped like eyeballs, and the irises have different colours.

As I came out of the station, I was greeted by a bronze statue of Mizuki Shigeru writing among his characters, and a themed postbox. At the end of the block there was a mall-like building (actually, a cultural centre) which holds the Tourist Information Office. There, I got a copy of the yōkai booklet to carry out the Yōkai Stamp Rally [妖怪スタンプラリー]. The booklet was 120 ¥, of course I could not let it go – there are 35 stamps to collect, and if you get all the stamps of the main rally, you get a small certificate. There are extra stamps for day trips, too. I wish I had known beforehand, I would have planned two days out there to try and complete it.

In order to complete the stamp rally, you have to go down the main street and stop at the many shops which have a small stand out front with a stamp and an ink pad. It was stupidly fun to do, even if there were a few parents who thought nobody but their kids should get stamps and a certificate. Some of the stamps were “hidden” away from the main street and the documentation is in Japanese, so some effort is required – or just use the convenient interactive map.

Stamp Rally booklet

Booklet acquired, I could go forth and explore (and stamp). I backtracked towards the bronze statue of Mizuki Shigeru writing among his characters Mizuki Shigeru-sensei Shippitsu-chū no Zō [水木しげる先生執筆中の像], and the Kitaro postbox [鬼太郎ポスト].

Statue of a character writing with his mouth open. Two manga characters are looking at him, hearing his stories.

Kitaro sitting on top of a post box

And as you follow the road and turn the corner you directly go into Mizuki Shigeru Road. However, when have you read me going into something directly without getting distracted? First I had to see the Yōkai World Summit, Sekai Yōkai Kaigi [世界妖怪会議].

The bronze statues that comprise the Yokai World Summit.

Finally I got down to Mizuki Shigeru Road [水木しげるロード], which features dozens of small and not-so-small bronze statues representing yōkai as they appear in the manga, alongside the characters designed for the story itself. The Tourist Information claims that there are 177 statues in total. I honestly did not count. Shops line to the sides, and a bunch of them have the stamps that you ink on your booklet – and it was hard to get to them, it was so crowded!

I walked the right side to the end, then I decided to come back to check into the hotel, which was close to the station, and drop the luggage. Why didn’t I do that from the beginning? Either it was too early for check-in, or I was eager to get started with the stamps, or maybe both. I reached my hotel and it was gorgeous! It was actually the most expensive hotel in the whole trip, but it was amazing! Outside, it was just a brick building. Inside, it was full of wood and tatami, and so was the room. There was an onsen (artificial hot spring) on the uppermost floor, which I decided I would visit later.

I actually felt a bit bummed that I only had a night there, because I would have really stayed in that room for hours just lounging around – and there were more stamps to collect… But as soon as I thought about the stamps I realised I just had to go out again to continue my adventure. There were lots of things to see and do! Thus, I headed out again, and realised I needed to find myself some food as it was close to 15:00 and I had only had a coffee and a cracker at around 8:00. Then, I set off to walk the left side of the Mizuki Shigeru Road. Of course, every time I went up and down the street I took photographs…

Collage showing Japanese mythological characters as depicted in the Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro manga. They include a Medama-Oyaji, Betobetosan, a dragon, a nurikabe, a giant skeleton…

Of course, I also had to visit Yōkai Jinja [妖怪神社] on the way (the amount of time and times I had to wait till I was able to take a picture of this without anybody in it was ridiculous (≧▽≦)).

Japanese shrine entrance, depicting the torii as something ghostly. There is a sacred tree just behind the torii.

At the end of the road, I had seen the Mizuki Shigeru Museum, Mizuki Shigeru Kinen-kan [水木しげる記念館] and I knew that it was open (on a Monday!) until late (in Japan!). I actually had put Sakaiminato on the schedule like this so I could make the most out of the Monday. I decided to enter before I had finished the stamp rally, because I keep getting distracted by shiny new things. The Museum features some of the original manga strips, a replica of Mizuki’s office, some items of his mythology-artefact collection and personal library. You can peek at haunted house and see a lot of “domestic” yōkai that that may lurk in a traditional home. There are also replicas of different yōkai – big, moving, and trying to be creepy but only managing to be awfully cute: Nurikabe, Shirouneri, Otoroshi, Azukihakari, Betobetosan, Suiko, Akaname, Miagenyudou. There are also photo spots to compensate that more than a few items cannot be photographed. The museum also had a nice garden for the “wild” yōkai.

The Shigeru Mizuki Museum and garden

I still had a few stamps to go, so after I left the museum, I diverted towards the harbour to find them. That is how I ended up at Ominato Jinja [大港神社], a much more traditional shrine, not for tourist but actual practising.

Japanese Shrine. Pretty standard in comparison to Yokai Jinja.

It was time to look for the “hidden” stamp spots. The very last one I found was at the Sakaiminato Ekimae Police Box, Sakaiminato Ekimae Kōban [境港駅前交番]. I had completed the booklet in one afternoon! However, it was just around 18:00, so the tourist office was already closed. I saw something called “Kitarō Haunted House”, but I did not enter – it seemed to be for kids, and I did not want to brave too many hyper-protective fathers.

Open Yokai stamp booklet showing the stamped characters.

Instead, I went to the harbour to have a look at the setting sun. This was my first time in the west of Japan, so I thought I could see the sun going under the maritime horizon. I had not counted on the bay, but it was overall pretty.

Sunset at the harbour. It looks pastel.

As it was “after hours”, I went to look at the fountain Kappa no Izumi [河童の泉]. That day, the city employees had been cleaning it, and I did not want to take pictures with the workers in them, or disturb their work and power-washing. The fountain was still not running, but the city officials had left.

Dry fountain with Ge Ge Ge no Kitarō characters.

Afterwards, I tried to grab a bite to eat, but most places had either shut down or were not taking customers any more by 18:00. Thus, I found myself some conbini food, and headed back to the hotel. I had a nice traditional bedroom and a fantastic shower, but honestly, I ignored it in favour of the onsen. I went there to enjoy a long soak. As night falls and the shops close down, it looks like this small Japanese town would go quiet. Nothing further from reality! The Mizuki Shigeru Road displays a creepy illumination complete with sound effects. This is probably an incentive for people to stay overnight. I had read about it on the brochure, so of course I walked out again to see the town at night.

The whole Mizuki Shigeru Road had been completely overtaken by the wannabe creepy atmosphere – at least. There was music, and some of the shop windows had shadows. The Medama-Oyaji street lights flickered. Suddenly, as I was walking down the road, there was a thunderclap sound and all the lights went out at the same time. I jumped! They got me good! Well, me and everyone who was just experiencing it for the first time. Part of the fun became identifying when the lights would go out and watching out for people getting as startled as you had been. I plead guilty of doing it.

Mizuki Shigeru Road, with creepy lighting.

I went back to the hotel around 21:00. However, as part of the stay-in-town incentive, my hotel also offered a free bowl of ramen between 22:00 and 23:00. I wondered if it would be greedy to go and have it, but I decided to take full advantage of the offer. Thus, to finish the day, I got free ramen at the hotel for dinner! Indeed, I could have stayed in that hotel for days on end!

Bowl of free ramen with algae and bamboo sprouts.

I went to bed soon after. But remember, Sakaiminato is “The City of Kitarō and Fish”. I had done the Kitarō part. The following day, I needed to focus on the fish.

Walked distance: 13641 steps, 9.76 km in one afternoon/evening. It was bloody amazing and I had a blast!

27th July 2019: Osaka by drizzle and twilight {Japan, summer 2019}

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After the KAMIJO concert, I set off again, this time over to Osaka (where I was a train-challenged idiot and this time I can’t even blame it on the chaotic Osaka transport) and my first stop was Namba Yasaka Jinja [難波八阪神社], one of whose buildings is shaped as a lion-dog head. It was a very nice and fun shrine.

On the way to the station I walked through Namba Koen [浪速公園].

Then I rode to the hotel to drop off my things – and of course gotout the wrong station at Shin-Imamiya station (I also held a little prayer so I did not end up at a love hotel again – I had chosen wisely!). I had a bit of a rest and then I headed back towards Dōtonbori [道頓堀] and after once again checking the map before getting my butt there, I was able to find all the spots I wanted too – count me out of the Donki ferris wheel though.

The plan was waiting until sunset to see all the lights, but I miscalculated again and I did see the lights, but only against the twilight. Oh. But I made some time eating takoyaki [たこ焼き].

I got some rest on the way, so I was rested enough to have a stroll down Shinsekai [新世界] at night – including Tsūtenkaku [通天閣] and Billy Ken.

Afterwards, before going to sleep, I watched a NHK TV special on one of the bands I like – but have never seen live – LunaSea. I was in my hotel in Osaka, but I watched “with” my friend E**chan, as we both kept messaging each other about what we were listening to at the moment.

Walked distance: 19319 steps / 13.8 km.

26th July 2019: KAMIJO’s Persona Grata {Japan, summer 2019}

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I woke up, and had some coffee from the convenience shop on my way to the station. I took a train to Tokyo [東京] – the great thing about the JR Pass is that you can ride back and forth as much as you want. The itinerary I have for this time over might not the most efficient in terms of optimising time, but it does maximise the number of concerts I can attend. This was the day of KAMIJO’s the opening concert of his 2019 Japan Tour Persona Grata.

When I arrived in Tokyo, I headed off towards Roppongi Hills. There, I met up with D****e and we had some some delicious yakiniku together for lunch.

Lunch set. Salad, white rice and some raw meat for the grill, along with the sauces to dip

I first saw KAMIJO in Barcelona in 2018. He is a visual-kei rocker from the old school – with the costumes, the backstory and lots of theatricality. He is basically pretending to be Lestat de Lioncourt during the stint he becomes a rock star. I mean, we are the same age. We must have read the book around the same time, so I know where he is coming from.

Since, aside from vampires, KAMIJO is also obsessed with France, a while back he opened a European fanclub. Unlike most Japanese artists’ international fanclubs, Rose-Croix international allows for very real benefits. Since the European chapter is actually located in France, everything was much easier in terms of payments and so on. I was able to ballot for tickets for the Japan tour, and I actually hit for Premium tickets for Persona Grata’s opening night at Mainabi Blitz Akasaka. The tickets included “seating in front of the stage” and special presents. To prevent tickets getting lost in the post, you have a reference number and need to drop by the ticket booth to receive your physical ticket on the day of the concerts you hit for. I was lucky enough to buy the tickets for the two concerts I wanted.

Kamijo Persona Grata poster

After lunch, I went to D****e’s to drop off my backpack and changed, then I set back out. I arrived at the venue around 16:30, and the shop to buy merchandise was already open, but the ticket booth was still closed. I could not claim my Premium goods without the physical tickets, but I looked at the merchandise. I decided that I needed the small lamb plush with vampire fangs Hitsuji Vampire [羊ヴァンパイア], along with some other items, the more important being the booklet.

Around 17:30 I was able to retrieve my ticket – I only had to show my passport to get it. The premium seat guaranteed a “front seat”, which was second row – better than expected. Afterwards, I went to collect my premium “goodies” – a jewellery pouch (I really thought it was a wallet at first), an autographed board, and a mug, all inside a limited-print plastic bag that was given out for purchases over 3,000¥. I think that between second row and the presents, the ticket price was fair in comparison to the regular one.

Kamijo Persona Grata Premium gifts
The tour doubled as an introduction to the new songs for the upcoming singles. Aside from the new compositions, I discovered a few songs I really liked (a lot of my Book Off shopping this year had to do with trying to build KAMIJO’s entire discography)., The concert felt quite special. I enjoyed every second, and having a chair really helped to get some rest when he was off stage and we had the “film” instalments. Unfortunately, the fandom is not too open so I did not get to make any new friends.

There was a large screen on stage where the conducting story was projected. This is another thing that some v-kei artists do, have “plots” for their concerts, and big stories for tours / releases. This is usually done in the form of short films shown throughout concerts, and snippets written on the CDs or DVDs (it’s the original transmedia strategy, I guess – and reading the booklet helped figure things out). It also works to give the musicians a break during high-energy concerts. The story of Persona Grata takes the viewer back to the times of Louis XVII of France. The Count of Saint Germain – whom is never seen, but is voiced by famous voice-actor Tomokazu Seki [関 智一] – is a vampire masquerading as alchemist. He created the Émigré, a system to obtain energy from the blood of resurrected corpses. These corpses are a sort of sentient human “battery” who are allowed to meet their beloved ones once more before their final, eternal death. Émigré created an “ideal world” with infinite energy. Time passes and in the present day, the Émigré is working in Japan and being exported to America. The film opens with the Secretary of Energy in the USA killed, delves into the investigation, and culminates with a meeting between the President and the Count, after which the Count’s car is blown up.

After the first instalment of the film, KAMIJO came on stage along with the musicians – Meku (guitar), Yuki (drums) and Masashi (bass).

Setlist:

Intro: Sang-epilogue- (recorded)
    1. [New song]
    2. [New song]
    3. Nosferatu
    4. Emblem (recorded)
    5. Émigré
    6. Vampire Rock Star
    7. Ecstasy
    8. 闇夜のライオン [Yamiyo no lion]
    9. Delta -Interlude-
    10. Castrato
    11. [New song]
    12.The Star-Spangled banner (recorded)
    13. [New song]
    14. Eye of Providence
Encore
    15. BASTILLE
    16. 第四楽章 – Dying Table – [Dai shi gakushou – Dying Table –]
    17. Moulin Rouge
    18. 追憶のモナムール [Itsuoku no mon amour]
    19. Louis ~艶血のラヴィアンローズ~ [Louis, Enketsu no La Vie en Rose]
Ending + Eye of Providence (recorded)

I like KAMIJO because he is fun. He tries really hard to stay in character all the time, but he does not manage, and keeps slipping into being a goof ball. However, he is a great singer. Furthermore, I also like vampires, I’m not going to lie, and he makes for a very pretty one. One of the things I find hysterical is that he uses a goblet to drink at concerts, a member of the staff keeps it full of water all the time.

The Blitz show was pretty powerful and really good. There was something special about it, something magical. Artistically, KAMIJO showed everything he can do. He did not miss any cue, his voice never wavered, he never hesitated. Every line and twirl and drop were timed perfectly. He hit all his crazy highs and the husky lows, and did not have any issues with songs with completely different tempos back to back. He jumped, made the audience jump, made the musicians jump and fake-bit all the guitarists’ necks. During the emcee, he announced the final October tour, a “trilogy of singles” that would complete the Émigré story arc.

The audience struck me as pretty rather quiet, in comparison with the HYDE concerts I had just attended, where the crowd is a bit… overenthusiastic. In this case, everybody just clapped, but did not scream or speak.

Out of the new songs, I really liked Ecstasy, for which KAMIJO had practised his English a lot. Lyric-wise, I think Eye of Providence hit hard. Of the not-so-new songs, I absolutely adored Bastille. He sadly did not sing Mystery, but it probably did not fit the ongoing theme. Neither did Moulin Rouge, I think, but it is a staple of his. At the end of the nine-minute concert, he said that we all were a family, and coached us to hold hands and jump together with him and the musicians.

Night view of the venue, reading Mainabi Blitz Kamijo

After the concert finished, I headed back towards D****e’s place, and I had some dinner on the way. I must have. I don’t really remember…

Walked distance: 13515 steps / 9.66 km. I don’t believe this for a second, the watch is totally messing up between moving arms doing furutsuke, and walking.

24th July 2019: Morning in Kyoto, afternoon in Nagoya {Japan, summer 2019}

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After waking up early again (what can be done? Early night → early morning) I walked out the hotel and took another stroll in Maruyama Kouen. Only this time, instead of heading towards Yasaka Jinja and Gion, I continued straight and I found Daiunin [大雲院].

The roof of a pagoda, in oxidized green colour

I continued on to Nene no Michi [ねねの道], which has temples left and right. These temples have little statues that you have to touch for luck, wealth and so on. As I have been feeling so lousy this last year, I decided to find the health one.

Statuettes of the Buddha and local gods

On my way I climbed up the Daidokoro-zaka [台所坂], a bunch of gentle stairs that lead up to Kōdaiji [高台寺], a fun temple with a lot of yokai folklore. It also held some healing sutras, so I took the liberty to make them spin.

Temple with funny-looking lanterns decorated with yokai and ghost faces

From there, I went to Kongoji (Yasaka Kōshindō) [金剛寺(八坂庚申堂)], which is a temple with… colourful balls where people write their wishes. They are supposed to entertain the ‘good faith monkeys’ (Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil) that guard the temple, I guess.

Buddhist temple with a decoration of thousands of brightly coloured pompoms

After that, I walked towards the Hōkanji (Yasaka no Tou) [法観寺 (八坂の塔)], a five-story pagoda.

Five story pagoda

A bit farther, I also found Rokuharamitsuji [六波羅蜜寺].

Buddhist temple exterior

I went down towards the river Kamogawa [鴨川], where I saw some more wildlife – ducks, cormorants, herons (cranes? Have I told you I can’t tell cranes and herons apart?).

Black cormorant standing in the river

Finally – for my Kyoto trip – I walked down the Pontocho [先斗町] Alley before I headed for the station. It is renown for its restaurants, but everything was too expensive for my budget.

Narrow alley with restaurant lanterns and signs

Then I took a Shinkansen to Nagoya [名古屋] as I was going to attend HYDE’s 2019 tour that afternoon. As I arrived too early for 15:00 check in, I headed off to Zepp Nagoya to see whether the goods were out. They were. A girl passed out at the queue a bit behind me due to heatstroke, and that was a bit creepy, but the staff took good cafe of her.

After buying goods, I went to leave my stuff and have a shower at the hotel, then I met up with several friends and even new friends. I enjoyed HYDE Live 2019 much better than the 2018 shows, which felt… somewhat disappointing at the time, almost clumsy and disarranged. Since then, HYDE put out the album Anti in May 2019, so he has found his grounds again. Last year he seemed to be rehearsing / perfecting a few of the songs, and combining them with the echoes of L’Arc~en~Ciel and VAMPS, which only emphasised what we did not have any more – I am still not too happy with the covers of VAMPS songs, especially Ahead, where I miss KAZ’s guitar. And honestly? Not a fan of Duran Duran’s Ordinary World.

Setlist:
    1. Who’s gonna save us
    2. After light
    3. Inside of me
    4. Underworld
    5. Fake Divine
    6. Two face
    7. Set in Stone
    8. Zipang (Japanese version)
    9. Out
    10. Mad Qualia
    11. Sick
    12. Don’t hold back
    13. Lion
    14. Another moment
    15. Midnight Celebration II
– break –
    16. Duality (Slipknot cover)
    17. Devil Side
    18. Ahead
    19. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

As his solo goals, HYDE has set his heart in in the US. Thus, his new music is heavily influenced by American producers and musicians, and completely in English. Though he is mainly a vocalist, HYDE started off as a guitarist, so there is a heavy reliance on powerful strings. To emphasise the fact that he is solo now, he has given his support musicians masks to cover their faces. Or maybe he’s just decided he likes masks as he himself wears a half-mask for the first few songs. He was very active and engaging with the audience, which always makes lives more fun. In general, I enjoyed the act, it was powerful and engaging.

Zepp Nagoya logo

When the concert was over I met up with Sr-san for dinner. We had misokatsu [味噌カツ] in a famous shop, and had a long conversation about the concert and HYDE’s new songs.

Dinner: breaded pork on rice and shredded cabbage

Walked distance: 23305 steps / 16.6 km.

18th & 19th May 2019: Madrid (Spain) for Jupiter (and fesFE[M]!)

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The weekend started extremely early on Saturday, when I took the first bus out to Madrid, and I think I was there around 7:30 to meet my friend C*****. She had been having a rough time and she had asked me to “keep her head off things”. Up until a couple of days before, we did not even know whether she would be able to come to the concert, so I had a whole plan up my sleeve. Unfortunately, a couple of steps backfired slightly. The main event – which we had been planned since the previous December – was Jupiter’s concert for the ZEUS Europe Tour on Sunday the 19th, but we made a whole weekend out of it. I was not actively following Jupiter at the time of the announcement, but C***** and I decided to attend because Madrid is easy and convenient, well-communicated and an opportunity to spend a weekend decompressing somewhere. As the time drew near and we could access more material, the excitement built up – I also managed to find the album they were promoting and it sounded really well, actually.

Her bus arrived earlier on Saturday than mine, and when we met, we decided to have breakfast at the coach station, to catch up and to give shops and so on the time to open up. When it was a reasonable time, we took the underground to drop our luggage at the hotel – the lovely EXE Moncloa. I had selected it because it was near the concert venue, and I hoped that we could hang out the terrace and the swimming pool, which unfortunately did not open until June. After getting rid of the luggage, we rode the underground towards the neighbourhood of Chueca, where I had looked up a bunch of Goth apparel shop which were right up her alley and… did not open at 10:00 as the internet said, but at 12:00.

Fortunately, other shops were already open and we were able to pass the time amicably. We were actually close to the Telefonica building, so I suggested we headed up there for the TeamLab exhibit, which I had already seen, and I thought she might like the digital art.

Teamlab logo and digital art: Waves, butterflies in red and green, and a dripping circle as if it were painted with a brush. All of them are light or bright colours on black.

Afterwards, we moved onto Callao Gourmet Experience for a snack. I wanted to introduce C***** to the Niji Mochi shop, and we also shared a chocolate ice-cream shake.

Mochi and coffee with whipped cream

Afterwards, we were shopping for a little longer before we moved on to have lunch. I had a surprise for her. While I care little to nothing about Korean food, she is a fan of everything Korean. Thus, we hit one of the best Korean restaurants in Madrid, called Seoul. I gave her free reign to order for both of us and we shared, though being honest, the only thing I enjoyed was the green tea at the end.

Lunch: fried dumplings, roasted meat, rice with vegetables, and green tea.

After lunch, we went on and found an underground station. We rode towards the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, National Archaeological Museum, although we had not realised that it was museum day so instead of a quiet exhibition I was used to, we had to deal with a ton of families! On the bright side, it was free, though. The museum, which shares a building with the national library Biblioteca Nacional, was founded in 1867, at a time when creating national museums had become popular among European governments. It was the start of the development of archaeology in Spain. I remembered it from the time I was a kid, dark and with wooden floors, but it was recently renovated with wide spaces and modern interiors.

Exhibits at the archaeological museum: bones from a mastodon, boar statue, lady statue, Neanderthal skull, Roman mosaic of an octopus, Horus statue, Iberian stelae, primitive animal that looks like a boar or a bull carved out of stone, Grecian vase

C***** was tired from spending all night in the bus, so we left the museum and headed back to the hotel to finish our check in process and then catch a break. On the way, we stopped and bought a few snacks for the following day because you always have to be ready for a post-concert low.

We had to look for a place to have dinner, and I found a few interesting places. There were not one, but three Japanese restaurants in the area where we were staying. One of them required queueing and sounded quite self-important, so we were left with two options. We decided to try one in the evening and the next for lunch the following day. Thus, I booked a table at the nearby Naniwa. We had some decent sushi, chicken, and takoyaki… then ordered takoyaki seconds because we had a discount (and I was hungry because I barely picked on lunch).

Dinner: sushi, fried chicken, octopus balls, chicken skewers

The next morning, we headed to the venue Sala Copérnico door around 9:00 and upon seeing nobody queueing yet, we went to have breakfast at a nearby café. Then, we walked around the Moncloa park area, mostly chatting, until we went back to the venue – no queue. And later went back to the venue – no queue. And afterwards, we went back to the venue again, just to find there were still no people in the queue.

Coffee and bread breakfast

In the end we ran into the supporting bands went to have lunch to the second Japanese restaurant in the block, Morikaen. It was around 13:30 as we were heading there, and I said something along the lines of “I feel sorry that they’ll arrive and there’s nobody here to greet them”, and as we turned the corner we almost literally ran into the whole crew coming out of the bus. Talk about timing. They looked tired so we just walked by, but we were rather sure that we had been noticed. On our way to the restaurant, we walked past a family all clad in “Sunday church clothes”, and their small girl wearing aaaall white just stared at us – in rock-goth black clothing – with pure envy in her eyes. Here’s to you, little one. You’ll get there too.

Lunch was all right – tuna tataki, tonkatsu, takoyaki. A bit more expensive than the previous day’s dinner, but we also ordered higher-class ingredients and more complicated dishes.

Lunch. Tuna tataki, rice and chicken, breaded pork, octopus dumplings

Jupiter is a Japanese band who define themselves as “melodic metal band”. It could be said that it is a visual kei symphonic power metal, which means they combine a very particular image (or a bunch of images, the most iconic being Hizaki’s Baroque-inspired dresses) with a subgenre of metal that combines hard drumming, metal guitars, and elements of classical music. On the 22th November 2018, Jupiter announced their new album, a Japanese Tour, and a European Tour, ZEUS Europe Tour. Bassist Rucy left between the announcement and the album release due to creative differences, and I really thought they would cancel the tours, but luckily everything went ahead. The remaining members – guitars Hizaki and Teru, current vocal Kuze, and drummer Daisuke were joined by support bassist Shoyo.

Schedule for the tour

There were two promoters involved for this concert. The local promoter, which in Spain was Madness Live, sold general admission tickets – they have a clean and neat webpage and buying from them is easy; I got ours on the 12th of December. The other, Editions Hikari, was in charge of coordination of the European tour, general information, and ticket upgrades. I think they are one of the worst organisers I have ever come across.

Hikari announced those upgrades in January. There would be VIP experiences, on sale on the 14th of February. Besides that there would be two kinds of upgrades, there was no real information about them until a few days before the sale. The best tickets were called “Venus Premium” (40€ face value + 5€ reservation costs) included autographs + handshake + backstage access before or after the show or soundcheck access (if possible) + photo with 1 member taken by a professional photographer (sent by e-mail later after the tour) + priority access to the merchandise, and there were five per show. The “Venus” upgrade (25€ VIP + 3€ reservation costs) comprised autographs + handshake + priority to the merchandise, there were 20 available per show. Getting the tickets was chaotic, but in the end, C***** managed to buy the two Venus Premium tickets we wanted – luckily. A lot of people did not even find out about the option to upgrade. In the end, the backstage pass / soundcheck was not available for any concert in the tour, and the priority access to the merchandise was impossible in Madrid due to the two independent promoters. Either of the VIP upgrades granted the option to buy an “Instax” (Polarid) photograph with the whole band at extra cost.

Hikari’s Facebook instructions were that Venus and Venus Premium ticket holders had to go to the merch booth – to which they supposedly had priority access – at the beginning of the concert. However, as the access to the actual venue was controlled by the local promoter ticket, there was no way they would access the merch booth with any kind of priority unless the managed to somehow skip the queue. Any kind of communication with Hikari was impossible as “they could not check emails, Facebook messaging, nor reply to comments.” However, they still made posts, and that is how we found that the CDs which Jupiter brought to sell at the merchandise booth were confiscated by customs’ officers before the first concert!

On the 10th of May, we received an email form the local promoter, Madness Live, informing us that the door timing had been changed and they were nice enough to send us the following schedule: Doors at 19:00, VII ARC (German support band) at 19:15; fesFE[M] (Japanese support group) at 20:20; Jupiter at 21:30. There was no information on the upgrades, because they had no clue about those, as Hikari was in charge. The day of the concert thus arrived and we had no actual about that, except for rumours and comments of what had happened in previous concerts. That was why, even if there was no queue, we had decided to stick around Sala Copérnico instead of heading into the city centre.

Eventually, after lunch, I decided that I was too tired to keep going up and down the streets, so around 16:00 we settled at the venue doors until they opened so we could get into the chaos that was the concert. At 16:30, other people arrived, so we got talking – that was how we found out that many people had never even heard about the upgrades. Doors opened around 19:00 – without any kind of priority access to the merchandise, nor separating VIPs and GA. C***** and I decided to divide and conquer – she went to secure a spot on the first row, while myself checked in at the merch booth to get the Instax tickets with the whole band.

That is when I saw the lousy, half sheet of paper taped there saying “Venus and Venus Premium ticket holders, gather at the merchandise booth at 20:00”. That placed the “Venus experience” in the middle of the support act, which meant either having very good friends who saved you the first row spot, or sacrificing it. We decided to give the place up and find somewhere more convenient so we could move about. Without holding spots for the VIPs, this was totally unacceptable in my opinion, especially since there had been no early entry, or priority merchandise. A bunch of people who did not want to buy anything missed out on what they had paid for.

The first support band was VII ARC. They were okay, a bit of stereotypical German heavy metal. I can see how they might appeal to the general metalhead crowd, but it feels that they were chosen because “they dress up sometimes”, and Hikari thought they would fit. It is formed by Kay (vocals), Fū (lead guitar), Bena (guitar, screaming), Grazel (Bass) and Z’ev (drums), and they could probably fit a bit on the “visual” style, but they did not bring any distinctive gear.

VII Arc playing in Madrid

At 20:00, as fesFE[M] prepared to take the stage, the Venus Premium and Venus ticket holders gathered around the merch booth and we were ushered past a barrier, towards the bar. There, we had to wait for about 10 minutes while the second support act started. A Japanese staff lady with little to no English came to “check” the Premium tickets and “sort of explain” to us the whole thing. First the Venus Premium would be shown backstage one by one for the one-on-one photograph – there were four of us, we never knew if the fifth was never sold, they did not come, or they missed the whole experience. Afterwards, we would come out again and joined the regular Venus for the autographs and handshake, then the Polaroid would be taken for the ones who had bought it. We were ushered past a curtain and the backstage door towards the mess room where the remains of the lunch buffet were.

As I entered, I caught sight of Shoyo, the support bassist, who was sitting down on a low mattress in a room to the left, looking bored. I greeted him in Japanese, and he greeted back. C***** turned to see whom I was talking to and her eyes were wide. I asked Shoyo if he felt lonely, he said a little. Another attendee who also spoke Japanese asked for a picture (beating me to it, actually) but he said he was not allowed.

The conversation died out when it was time to go into the private band area for my picture with one of the members. As I walked in, there was Kuze to my left, Daisuke to my right and Teru and Hizaki in front of me, Teru dead centre and Hizaki a little to the right. I was asked whom I wanted my picture with and chose Teru, as I had long ago decided that I would if I could. He smiled and posed with me, then he shook my hand. I have got to learn to look into Japanese musician’s eyes when I talk to them.

We said good-bye to Shoyo on the way out, and almost left, but it was now time for autographs, handshakes and Instax. I pulled out the CDs I had brought for C***** and myself, and I got to shake hands with all four of them and receive the band’s autographs. Since the CDs the band brought had been seized, we might have very well been the only ones in the whole country that produced some official material for signing. Then, we took the Instax and the staff would ask with a thumbs up sign “okay?” to check the picture was good, before we left.

CDs signed by Jupiter members

All in all, the band was very friendly and amazing, but the timing and organisation was horrid. We lost out first row – despite having “priority access”, and we missed half of the fesFE[M] concert. As Copérnico has two levels though, we found a nice spot at the stairs that connect both, and I could lean against the handrail to watch the rest of the act.

fesFE[M] is a relatively new visual kei band where all the members take up “doll” personas. Their career in 2017 and released their first mini-album in May 2019, just in time to come over to Europe for Jupiter’s tour. For each album / season, the band dons a doll theme, and they were currently on the “horror genre” dolls. The members and their doll types are: Lion [リオン], vocal, Distress Coppelia doll (from the namesake ballet, dressed as a bloody bride); Aito [アイト], guitar, Apathetic Prince doll; Zeno P [ゼノP], guitar, Bloodthirsty Child Killer doll; Toru [徹], bass, Emotional Princess doll; Rensa [蓮沙], drums, Psycho Butler doll; and Jun, keyboards, Scalded Dollmaster doll (dressed as a nun because… reasons?).

The first time I heard a song by fesFE[M], I was not extremely impressed – the PV was a bit too creepy. However, they are really good in person, even with the bad sound quality and reverberation in the venue – and the fact that we missed about half of their act. They were really engaging. The whole visual part was amazing, and the coordination was great! Their music was much more powerful live. The band played some songs from their mini-album enseMble autoMata: Doll in blueberry jam [Doll in ブルーベリィジャム], Arachne ni haitoku wo [アラクネに背徳を], Psychological stolen heart, and Freiya [フレイヤ].

Fesfem live in Madrid

The Jupiter concert was as expected, very energetic and fun – it actually went beyond expectations. Our spot was really good in he end, a bit raised, without getting pushed, and we actually watched the concert next to fesFe[M]’s bass Toru. Sometimes he smiled and waved at us, and we waved back without fail.

Kuze, Jupiter’s vocalist held his ground better than I thought he would be able to. I was kind of impressed when I listened to the Jupiter single Theory of Evolution and later to the album Zeus: Legends never die. While we were expecting the guitar and metal power, Kuze’s voice range in the recording was rather wild, and I did not think that he would be able to keep it up live, especially on a final concert after touring both Japan and Europe. He proved me wring, and he held all his notes and his vocal range, just like the recording. He had practised his English a lot and learnt the MCs, but he switched to Japanese quite often, and he spoke too fast for me to get! He did a great job even with songs that had been released in the previous vocalist’s time.

Daisuke was pretty much hidden by his own drums from where we were, but we did see him bounce a couple of times. Hizaki was on the other side of the stage from us, and he looked divine in his Baroque dress. I don’t understand how he can even move in those clothes, much less play guitar or crouch, which he did so a few times in order to interact to first-row fans. A couple of times I did fear for his safety as someone grabbed either him or the guitar. Most of the songs that were played were his. It’s fun to imagine what he would be thinking when writing “die, die, die, go fuck yourself”, when he presents as such a beautiful and innocent lady, but it surely was fun to yell.

And finally, Teru had a blast. He kept twirling around as he played, his stud-leather coat swirling around him. He played with a huge smile on his face all the time and he gave off the vibes that he was having a lot of fun. He also interacted with fans a lot.

Jupiter Live in Madrid

Setlist:

  1. Arcadia
  2. Last Moment
  3. Angel’s wings
  4. Drastic Night
  5. Bring me out
  6. Show Must Go On
  7. No cry no more
  8. The spirit within me
  9. Tears Of The Sun
  10. Memories of you
  11. B.L.A.S.T
  12. Blessing of the Future
  13. Zeus: I. Legends Never Die / II. Conversations with God
  14. Symmetry Breaking [Encore 1]
  15. Theory of Evolution [Encore 2]

While the concerts were a lot of fun, the whole event was stressful due to the abysmal organisation. I actually feel a bit ripped off, because they did not deliver a lot of what they had sold in the upgrades. At least C***** and I are lucky enough that we managed to get our pictures, autographs, and saw the concert from a relatively good place. All in all, Jupiter are amazing, they were super nice, and so were the guys from fesFE[M]. The concert was great, and we don’t regret going for a second.

After the event, waved at Toru for what we thought was the last time. When lights went on, we also saw Rensa, who stopped for us when we told him he had done a good job. C***** and I decided to pool our money together to buy the CDs fesFe[M] had brought – and not got seized. Apparently, it is typical that the entry-level bands hang around merchandise booths after concerts, and we were lucky enough that they agreed to sign the CDs and take a photo with us. Lion was extremely surprised and nice – or acted so. He complimented me on my poor attempt of Japanese and complied with what we requested.

CD signed by Fesfem members

Finally, C***** and I headed back to the hotel, and we went home the next day – fortunately we left from the same bus station so we could maximise our time together.

Hikari took a few days to send out the VIP pictures, but they eventually arrived on the 1st of June. Getting them was also hard, and amateurish – they wanted to put them in a Google Drive link and post that on Facebook. At least we got them to send them via email, citing European Data protection laws at them… I really, really hope to avoid this promoter in the future, but if I do, I’ll be on the lookout in order not to miss anything.

23rd & 24th April 2019: El Escorial, Vizmalo & Lerma (Spain)

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23 April 2019: El Escorial

The Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial aka Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial is located a shy hour away from Madrid. It is most known for the Monastery that used to be an official residence of the King of Spain. The Monastery was built between 1563 and 1584. It is the masterpiece of the Spanish architect Juan de Herrera, after whom the Herrerian style, a sub-style in the Spanish Renaissance, was named. The building is a sober building made of a granite, and it is the burial place of most of the Spanish kings and queens. Some urban legends say that it was based off the descriptions of the Temple of Solomon.

We drove in around 9:00, dropped off the luggage, and went out, as we had tickets for 10:00 – although the hotel did not want to let us in. Contrary to the nice weather that we had been enjoying, it was cold as hell. The whole town felt grey and sober, and the cloudiness helped the mood – we had breakfast at a nearby bar (the only one open) and headed off to the monastery. The building hosts many artworks, along with a chapel, the royal pantheon and the most amazing library ever. Pictures in the inner areas are forbidden, unfortunately. The Monastery is a Unesco World Heritage site.

At lunchtime we walked out of the Monastery and headed off to the Royal Carriage House / Cocheras del Rey, a museum / restaurant. We had lunch, then visited the museum as the entry was free with lunch. It was raining like mad by then so we headed to the hotel to finalise the check in.

After an hour or so the rain had stopped so we decided to walk to the Prince’s House and Parks / Parque y jardines de la Casita del Príncipe. By the time we arrived it had started raining again – pictures were not allowed inside of the house either, but OMG was the inside Baroque, with flashy wallpapers.

On the way back, we could catch a glimpse of the monastery through the park. By now it was raining like crazy, so we spent the rest of the evening indoors.

24 April 2019: Vizmalo & Lerma

We left El Escorial early in the morning and we headed north for lunch. Yeah, well, let me explain. We had a reservation for lunch some two-and-a-half hours away, in Vizmalo (Burgos). This was a bit of a silly whim, but we were going to visit an estate / farm and have lunch there – the St. Rosalia Estate / Finca Santa Rosalía breeds wagyu for meat, and holy are they yummy. We had a booking to see the estate first.

While it was still cold, the weather was slowly improving, and in evening we had some sun. We saw the orchards, the grapevines, the cattle, the trees and so on. Then we moved into the wine cellars and saw the barrels, before we tried the wine and some of the meat-dishes that they prepare and sell. The selling point of Finca Santa Rosalía are the wagyu, cattle of Japanese origin. Wagyu meat is completely different from any other beef because it is soft and tender, and in general delicious.

Lunch was brilliant, based, of course on the wagyu meat. The T-bone was scrumptious and even if it was on the “a lot of money” side, it did not feel too expensive for a once-in-a-lifetime experience considering the amazing quality.

After lunch we drove off towards Lerma, a city which was revamped by the Duke of Lerma back in the 17th century. After finding our hotel and dropping our stuff off, we walked to the Duke’s Palace turned luxury hotel: Palacio Ducal & Parador de Lerma.

We walked around and came across the Mirador de los Arcos / Archway Viewpoint.

Then we saw Colegiata de San Pedro / St. Peter’s Collegiate church, where there was a religious exhibition being held (“Las Edades del Hombre”), with the topic of angels. Pictures were not allowed, or we would have shown you a few… interesting representation.

Sunset crawled upon us and it was nice view. We had dinner somewhere around the town centre, and called it a night before we drove home the following day.

2nd January 2019: Jurassic and 19th Century Madrid (Spain)

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I was in the middle of winter holidays and a couple of family members asked me if I had plans – I said I was getting tickets for a dinosaur exhibit in Madrid, and they jumped in. We made arrangements to head over there on the 2nd of January and spend the day in Madrid. I don’t think they really realised what it meant to be around me and the “terrible lizards” (≧▽≦). But off we went.

General entry ticket for 2nd January 2019

The Jurassic World: Exhibition was held in Madrid. The whole thing is organised in-verse, as if you actually visited the island.

Jurassic World the Exhibition logo and title

After you walk in, there is first a small introduction on the “boat” as you travel towards Isla Nublar. There you are given the instructions (mainly, keep your hands to yourself), the boat makes dock and you are let into the Park. Keeping in touch with the spirit of the films (not the book though *giggles*) there’s a Brachiosaurus there to greet you, just like the first animal you see in Isla Nublar (and later the last).

Pretencious gate with two columns on the side, reading Jurassic World. A brontosaurus head peers down at you

You also catch a glimpse of a Parasaurolophus.

The head of an herbivore dinosaur (parasaurolophus) peering through the bushes

Then you get to the “stables” where you get to see a Triceratops mama with her baby.

Mom and baby Triceratops behind a fence that reads Gentle giants petting zoo

Afterwards, there is a small room that represents the laboratory where the dinosaurs are made – I could have made it out with a critter but there were only baby Iguanodon.

Fake amber pieces and DNA extactor along with an incubator with eggs and baby dinosaurs

Next, you walk into a tiny museum with some fossil reproductions and actual scientific information…

Reproduction of carnivore dinosaurs skull and bones, along with the drawing of a huge T-rex fooot print drawn on the ground to compare it to a human one

… right before everything goes to hell and back when you’re shown a hologram of Owen Grady talking to his velociraptor Blue and you get a… guy in a velociraptor costume prancing around (≧▽≦).

Person disguised as a verlociraptor

The next room shows the Tyrannosaurus rex cage (by the way #TeamTRex here, in case you did not know) behind her cage, menacing and staring.

T-rex animatronic, showing the huge head behind a fence

The final room is another garden in which you get to see a Stegosaurus being stalked by the made-up Indominus rex.

Stegosaurus

Head of the Indominus rex, looking like it's stalking prey

And at the end of the exhibition, after the shop even, you find the velociraptors, which have apparently escaped and are ready to attack!

Jurassic world velociraptors on a wrecked crate

All in all, being the dinosaur geek I am, I had a blast. I’m not sure that my poor family members that had wanted to tag along with me knew what they were bargaining for (≧▽≦).

However, they were still willing to put up with my for a little longer, and together we drove off to the centre of Madrid, and somehow ended up at the Museo Cerralbo. They asked if there was something I wanted to see, and the Cerralbo Museum was running a couple of Japan-related specials I was curious about. The museum stands in the Palace of the same name, and it holds the collection of the late Marquis Cerralbo.

The museum is… crammed and chaotic, but interesting in its own way. It holds thousands of pieces, from worthless-looking mementos to priceless paintings by masters such as El Greco. Art experts say that the Cerralbo collection was the most valuable of its time.

Collage of cerralbo museum. A room with two samurai armous. A centrepiece made with swords. A long table, set, with chairs along and an ellaborate lamp hanging from the ceiling. The hall of the museum, with a staircase with an ellaborate balaustrade and a glass lamp hanging from the ceiling.

The museum was holding a designated route focused on the Japanese pieces it has, including samurai armours.

Collage of Asian and Japanese pieces of the museum: hars, a samurai armour, and an hexagonal carey box

Furthermore, there was an origami exhibition on the lower floor.

Origami pieces: a phoenix, a snake, an orca, corals, and a life-sized hippo

After the museum we sat down for lunch at a fusion Asian-Japanese restaurant, because the family members “wanted to try” – although they were rather scared of the food. Eventually they managed to enjoy it too, and even have seconds – however I needed to make a run to get my tablet serviced.

Lunch. Sushi, chicken skewers, rice dish and noodles dish

Once it was up and running, and family had come to find me, we walked towards the shopping centre in Principe Pío for dessert – yoghurt ice cream with berries and smarties. A great way to end the day!

An old station from iron architecture epoch repurposed into shopping centre

Frozen yoghurt with berries sauce and smarties

4th September 2018: また今度 with a red rose petal (HYDE LIVE 2018, Strike 3) {Japan, summer 2018}

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First thing in the morning, after D****e left for work, I got packed (hoping that my suitcase did not get lost again). Later, I went to Odaiba [お台場] on my own as she was working. It was my last HYDE live for the season, and my last day in Japan, too. It was windy and it rained on and off, but it was not bad especially considering that there was a super typhoon in Osaka that had slammed a ship against a bridge and cut down communications to the airport… I mean, compared to that I won’t even complain that my hairdo went to hell because woah there. I just had to not worry about my own flight a few hours later.

I checked out the Venus Fort to check if there were any new goods, but as there were not, I moved on. There are two exhibit rooms about cars in the area. One deals with newer and racing cars – MegaWeb Toyota City Showcase [メガウェブ トヨタ シティ ショウケース].

A collage with some cool and futuristic-looking car. The logo reads MegaWeb Toyota City Showcase

The other one is quite the opposite, and focuses on classic and historical cars – History Garage [ヒストリーガレージ].

History Garage classic cars.

It was at this time 12:55, so I hurried to the giant Gundam that stands in front of the Diver City. I wanted to check whether it moved at 13:00 and I was lucky. It changed its helmet and all (≧∇≦).

Gundam robot looking up to the sky. it is white and taller than the two-story shopping centre behind it.

After that, I went to eat get some food. The food court in the shopping centre was not too busy as it was a weekday, so I decided to sit down and have some ramen. I really love the way they prepare eggs for ramen, so I wanted ramen with egg. Unfortunately, could not read the super long name of the ramen to save my life, so I just asked for it using the number. The girl just turned to the kitchen and ordered ‘tamago’ (egg), which was pretty frustrating.

Ramen bowl with algae, chasuu (pork), spring onions and noodles

Once I had eaten, I went to see the waves, because even if the typhoon was making its effect known, and I am still fascinated by hot storms. Odaiba is, in the end, an artificial island in the middle of the bay, so it makes strange patterns sometimes.

A cargo harbour with unsettled sea

And I got a drink at Starbucks.

Starbucks plastic cup. It says thank you and it has a smiley face and a heart

I joined the people wait for HYDE to come in, waved hi at him, and thought that he did not look too awake. Afterwards, I decided that I had not spent enough in this trip (sarcasm). Thus, I went to buy something else: since I liked HYDE’s opening act STARSET, I wanted to get their CD and M&G experience, which included a handshake and an autograph. I felt that they had done an awesome job and deserved the credit and the cheering.

Once D****e made it, we went inside. By now, I had figured out what I had found amiss on Saturday and Sunday regarding HYDE’s live 2018 and made peace with it. Or maybe it was just my last day, and I really wanted to enjoy myself. I found a good spot in Zepp Tokyo – one thing I really like about going to converts there is that they keep the barriers up to separate the areas of the floor. That allows me to lean onto something and I don’t need to stay back to have something to hold on to, so I can get rather close even when I’m tired or sore. This time it was even better – since I was closer than usually, I managed to find a petal from one of the roses HYDE threw as goodbye at the end.

STARSET’s setlist:
1. Frequency
2. Carnivore
3. Gravity Of You
4. Telescope
5. Monster feat. HYDE
6. Ricochet
7. Bringing It Down
8. My Demons

HYDE’s setlist:
1. Fake Divine
2. After light
4. Out
5. Set in Stone
6. Don’t hold back
7. Zipang
8. Who’s gonna save us
9. 監獄ロック [Kangoku Rock]
10. Rise or Die
11. Lion
12. Two Face
13. Devil’s side
14. Midnight Celebration II
(pause)
15. Kiss of Death
16. Ahead
17. Rise up
18. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

After HYDE’s concert was over, I put my rose petal away, and I found my way towards the STARSET M&G. They were were extremely nice. We were around ten people, and they paid attention to each of us and they shook our hands (whoops, I forgot to take my wristband off). They were pretty patient and nice to everybody. Even after they left the venue, they were willing to sign items for people who had not purchased their merchandise (even though 3,500 ¥ for CD and signature is almost a gift).

Zepp Tokyo Venue from above

Starset CD with the band's autographs

A red rose petal

Finally we got home and D****e helped me so I got my trains sorted out to go to the airport the following day.

Night view of Tokyo, with Tokyo Tower lit up

3rd September 2018: More friends, less tourism {Japan, summer 2018}

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I walked towards Nakano [中野] again – realising that Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] is in walking distance has been a problem – and the Aoyama Daiso where I got some stupid things, basically fake nails, stickers to put them on and blue mascara.

On my way I reaffirmed the existence of Tōkō-ji [東光寺]:

Then I came across Araiyakushi Baishōin [新井薬師梅照院]:

Once in the Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] building I checked out the shops and jumped on the train to meet B**** for sushi (not killed in front of us, thankfully), and drinks and talking. This time we were not at Starbucks spending my voucher, but at Tully’s spending hers. Afterwards we were having a look at the make up shops in Shibuya 109 and Super-Donki. It ended up with me buying some red eyeliner.

Four our last dinner B****, D****e and I got shabu-shabu. In all honesty, I wanted curry but it has not sat well on my stomach the last few times, so now I’m afraid to try ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ ← most of the tears are because I had to say goodbye to B**** anyway.

2nd September 2018: HYDE LIVE 2018 @ Odaiba, Strike 2, and Pretty Lights, Strike 3 {Japan, summer 2018}

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It was raining that morning when D****e and I walked out and headed towards Shin-Okubo [新大久]. The weather actually turned so bad for a while that around halfway, we just walked under a bridge to wait the worst of the downpour out. By the time we arrived at our destination, though, it had cleared out. We were walking to Kaichū Inari Jinja [皆中稲荷神社], also called Minna Ataru no Inari.

Entrance to a Shinto sanctuary through a back alley, and main altar

The shrine is dedicated to the kami [神] Inari [大稲荷], one of the most important deities of the Shinto mythology, the kami of fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture, and worldly success. Inari is said to use foxes as messengers. Shrines dedicated to Inari often have a lot of torii gates, usually offered by business in search of that success, and stone fox guardians. The most famous Inari Shrine is Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto.

The legend surrounding Kaichū Inari Jinja tells that after the introduction of firearms in Japan during the Edo Period, a battalion was stationed near the shrine. The captain could not shoot well, no matter how much he trained. The deity Inari appeared to him in a dream, and after he went to the shrine to say thank you, he became a great shooter. Not only him, all of the battalion went to the shrine and they became good shooters. Both “Minna Ataru” and “Kaichū” translate as “hit all the targets” and at the same time “everybody hits”. Kaichū Inari Jinja became “the Inari shrine of everybody hits the target”, Minna Ataru no Inari Jinja. The news spread, and eventually people from the whole country started visiting so their wishes came true. The shrine’s relation with firearms was constant until it was burnt down in WWII.

Nowadays, Japan does not have firearms, but people still want to hit… for concerts! And thus Kaichū Inari has become the fan-shrine, where people go to pray to hit for lotteries for concerts and events!

I’m not even kidding. Kaichū Inari Jinja is also known as “the fan shrine”. In Japan, you do not queue for concerts. Instead, your ticket has a number printed on it, and you enter when it is called. However, there are different series of numbers. The best tickets are offered within the artists’ fanclubs, and if there are more requests than tickets, these are assigned lottery-style. Fanclubs also have lotteries for other privileges such as attending trips and exclusive events, VIP meet&greets or special merchandise – when I belonged to Gackt’s fanclub I hit for fanclub tickets for the Last Visual Live and his birthday dinner. People want to “hit” for these tickets, and somehow Minna Ataru no Inari became the shrine to go to pray for that. Fans go to the shrine to offer a prayer, then they write what they want in volition tablets called ema [絵馬], which are then hung in the shrine premises. Much nicer “hits” that the ones which kill people.

An offering wall with tons of votive wooden tablets

Close up of the votive offerings with names of bands on then

After visiting the shrine, we headed off to Odaiba [お台場] again, to meet with N***chan for lunch. We made a short visit to the Unicorn Gundam beforehand, but it was not moving.

Gundam robot statue. It is white and taller than the two-story shopping centre behind it. People can walk under its legs

Then we went to have lunch at an “Osaka delicatessen” restaurant at the Venus Fort. I ordered Takoyaki (buried in katsuomi (≧∇≦)) and kani koroke (octopus dumplings with bonito flakes, and crab dumplings). Yummy! Apparently other people’s orders were not as great though…

Dish of octopus dumplings that cannot be seen because there are a lot of bonito flakes on top

Afterwards, we headed to Zepp Tokyo for the second concert of HYDE’s Live 2018 concert, again with STARSET. Impressions were similar to the previous day. I really enjoyed STARSET, who played the same songs, and I again had mixed feelings about HYDE’s – not bad but… could have been better. I had not figured out my problem with the disconnected act yet.

Setlist:
1. Fake Divine
2. After light
4. Out
5. Set in Stone
6. Don’t hold back
7. Zipang
8. Who’s gonna save us
9. 監獄ロック [Kangoku Rock]
10. Rise or Die
11. Another Moment
12. Two Face
13. Devil’s side
14. Midnight Celebration II
(pause)
15. Kiss of Death
16. Ahead
17. Rise up
18. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

Hyde's tour truck reading his name

After the concert we had tickets to visit the MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM EPSON teamLab ★ Borderless. This is a pretty much interactive museum that relies on technology and light to create art – or at least pretty things for you to play with. D****e, N***chan and I were very lucky that it was open late, so we could go after the concert. There were few people there and we could be silly around it. Part of the museum was closed because some TV station was there doing interviews though, and even then it was worth the visit.

Most of what you see in the Digital Art Museum are light projections. You’re encouraged to interact with them, even create some of them that they will project for you. We saw a butterfly and flower area, pink elephants, kangaroo, waves…

I enjoyed a couple of the exhibits particularly – one of them was a light water fall, in a room that had kanji shadows on the walls. If you touched them, they turned into what they represented. I also liked the whales made of light and how peacefully they moved and floated. There were some other interactive exhibits that were very fun, like the… egg-balloons thingies which you could prance through or make float.

Collage of Mori interactive and light art – a walking elephant made of projected lights, it's pink with white flowers. Many rays of white light coming from everywhere in the dark. Waves. Giant purple-pink balloons. Flowers projected on the walls – sunflowers, daisies in different colours

Dancing whale with flowers, projected with light

Afterwards we had some dinner and left for home.

1st September 2018: HYDE LIVE 2018 @ Odaiba, Strike 1 {Japan, summer 2018}

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In the evening, the first concert of the HYDE LIVE 2018 tour took place in Odaiba [お台場]. Luckily, I was going to be able to attend three shows in a row. Since it was a Saturday, we decided to make “a day” out of the concert and headed towards the area. There was an offer going on, so buying ten Yurikamome tickets would be cheaper than going to the three concerts using the usual underground system, so we decided on those.

The concert was in Zepp Tokyo, next to Venus Fort. And what do you do before a concert? Queue. In Europe it is so you get in first, in Japan, since tickets are numbered, you do not do so. You queue to buy goods, because they sometimes run out – at least that’s how people justify it. Unfortunately, not all the announced goods were on sale yet, which was disappointing. At least we did not get a sunburn while waiting, as we were prepared for rain and thus carried an umbrella-turned-parasol against the merciless sun.

After we had bought our goods, D****e and I went to have lunch at the Venus Fort. We surveyed the places and ended up in a yakiniku place which was almost empty, and still had a long line of people waiting to get in. Things I’ll never understand. Food was good, though.

Yakiniku lunch – a dish of uncooked meat, the grill to cook it, rice, broth, and pickled vegetables

The concert was HYDE’s new solo project. After VAMPS disbanded a few months back, this was my first concert watching him. It was a strange situation, because the feelings were very bittersweet. It seems that HYDE has been trying hard to do damage control on the band break-up and has put a couple of singles out this summer, along a bit of a haphazardly-organised tour. He could probably not afford a show-less summer.

This time there was an opening act, progressive-rock band STARSET, who have a very distinctive style that I liked pretty much. The band itself is composed by four men: Dustin Bates (lead vocalist), Ron DeChant (bass), Brock Richards (lead guitar) and Adam Gilbert (drums). They were touring with two back-up members: Mariko M (cello) and Siobhán Cronin (violin). DeChant, Richards and Gilbert played their whole set wearing full-astronaut suits, and I have no idea how they did not die of heatstroke.

STARSET’s opening act took around 45 minutes. They were opening for HYDE as part of their promo in Japan – they actually collaborated with him for a re-recording of one of the band’s hits, Monster. At first, the audience had no clue about when and what to chorus, but it caught up quite quickly. When lead singer Bates managed to get the interaction he wanted, he visibly brightened up, which was cute.

Setlist:
1. Frequency
2. Carnivore
3. Gravity Of You
4. Telescope
5. Monster feat. HYDE
6. Ricochet
7. Bringing It Down
8. My Demons

After the STARSET show, there was a short intermission, and then not a countdown to zero but a “countup” to 666, which may have lasted about five minutes. In total, maybe about 20 minutes.

Setlist:
1. Fake Divine
2. After light
4. Out
5. Set in Stone
6. Don’t hold back
7. Zipang
8. Who’s gonna save us
9. 監獄ロック [Kangoku Rock]
10. Rise or Die
11. Lion
12. Two Face
13. Devil’s side
14. Midnight Celebration II
(pause)
15. Kiss of Death
16. Ahead
17. Rise up
18. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

There was something weird in the show, something amiss that I was not able to put my finger on until later. It felt… incomplete. Disconnected. Zipang was like a power-ballad lacking power, there was something strange about Devil’s side, HYDE’s guitar was the most powerful one in Ahead. It took a while to put my thoughts in order to understand. On the one hand, it felt that HYDE had half an album ready, and filled the rest of the concert up with other songs that he owned the rights to. On the other hand, it felt that what was played was either not completely arranged or not rehearsed enough. It was not that the musicians were bad, they just felt… out of synch. Like… there was “noise” where there should be music, and each of them was playing a different tempo.

In contrast to the music, someone had put a lot of thought on the visuals. The stage was decorated with a cyberpunk background, with a lot of neon and LED lights. HYDE was also going with a mask theme. He used one when he came out to echo STARSET’s Monster, and he kept the mask on for the fist couple of his own songs, and all his supporting musicians wear them too, they don’t take them away. He also brought in a retractile throne that went to the centre of the stage and back, so he could appear from behind it, or sing sitting (or flopped) down. This show is about HYDE and HYDE alone – he wants to feel like “the only one” and have exchangeable musicians, it feels.

Among the new songs, my favourite was Out – the lyrics read something akin to “I’m not afraid of standing out. A hundred devils messing with my head again. I won’t pretend, I won’t back down, I’m not afraid of standing out”, and they resonated in a way usually only Yoshiki’s songs vibrate with me. I think I could have done without the VAMPS songs though, but I guess that without a whole ready album, HYDE sang whatever he owned rights to.

Also, I think I bought too many goods: a python necklace, gummies and gaccha.

Hyde's tour truck

After the concert, we just went home to get some rest.

31st August 2018: Tokyo Tower Reprise and off to Roppongi {Japan, summer 2018}

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I went to Minato [港] because Tokyo Tower [東京タワー ] is there, and I love Tokyo Tower. My first stop, however, was Shiba Koen [芝公園], to visit a certain tree. However, the park was under construction! Who the hell closes a park for construction?! (O_O)!

They have reopened the upper observatory in Tokyo Tower so of course I had to come back. It was imperative for my mental health. When I arrived I found out that they were running a “haunted house” on the basement and I decided to give it a go.

The story was of a cursed samurai who has killed 332 people and you’re supposed to be number 333. I had been wanting to try one of those for a while but in the end I did not enjoy it that much – the not seeing down the corridors was too stressful. Maybe with someone else it would have been more fun.

Afterwards I got my ticket for Tokyo Tower [東京タワー ] and the “VIP = Very impressive panorama” from the second observatory. I don’t understand why Tokyo Tower makes me so happy, but it does so more power to it. Oh oh oh and I had awesome(ly expensive) ice cream on the tower!

Afterwards I walked towards Roppongi [六本木], making a stop at the Don Quijote, a macro store that has nothing useful but lots of fun little stuff, with half a mind to buy a traditional red eyeliner or coloured contact lenses. But in the end I was strong and did not waste money (yet (≧∇≦) ).

I continued to the gardens Mori Teien [毛利庭園], and I was a tiny bit disappointed that the pond had been emptied!

And I saw that the TV Asahi [テレビ朝日] building was open for visitors, so I went to snoop into that, because of course I did.

Later I met with D****e and M*****san for a shabu-shabu dinner which was out of this world.

26th August 2018: To the East: Niigata → Aizu-Wakamatsu → Koriyama → Tokyo {Japan, summer 2018}

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As there was not much to see in Niigata [新潟], we took a scenic train to the east – Niigata is famous for being ‘countryside’, and growing rice. We saw lots of rice fields.

Our destination was Aizu-Wakamatsu [会津若松], a ‘samurai town’ famous for Tsuruga castle and the story of the Byakkotai [白虎隊], a troop of young soldiers who fought during the Boshin war. Back then the ‘Aizu warrior spirit’ was a very important thing, and 19 youths committed ritual suicide when they thought the castle had fallen. This is called the Tragedy of the Byakkotai.

On the other hand, the town’s mascot is a cartoonish phantom red cow Akabeko [赤べこ]. Because why not?

We headed out to the castle first and foremost. Tsuruga-jo [鶴ヶ城] or Aizu-Wakamatsu-jo [会津若松城]. If you google it, you might think it’s pink. So did we. We were a bit on the amusedly disappointed side (≧∇≦).

But we made-do with some awesome (and ice-cold) Aizu Coke-bottles.

Within the castle grounds we found Tsuruga-jo Inari Jinja [鶴ヶ城稲荷神社].

And Kasama Inari Jinja [笠間稲荷神社].

After the castle it was lunch time so we went to have lunch in the ‘old samurai town’ which to be honest does not feel too old. On the way we stopped by Shinmei Jinja [神明神社], which was rather on the empty side, but still nice.

We ate lunch in a place called Mitsuta-ya [満田屋] to eat miso dengaku [味噌田楽]. We had a course of skewers consisting on two konjac (one with salty and one with sweet miso), fried tofu, mochi (rice cake), sweet potato, shingorou (some kind of rice croquette) and smoked herring. All these were grilled just in front of us, which was on the one hand really cool to see, and on the other, bloody hot because hey, there was a fire burning in front of us. We were told that this was typical samurai food, because it could be prepared and eaten ‘on the go’. Who knows whether it is true, but it was fun and yummy.

Once we had eaten we had to make a run to the station so we could catch the train – as the following one was two hours later – and we made it with three whole minutes to spare despite google maps saying we were too far away. And thus we were off to Koriyama [郡山], which… we had not really heard of before this whole thing? (≧∇≦). There we took the Tourist Office by surprise when we asked what we could see even if it was already ‘late’. Map in hand, we headed off to see Asakakunitsuko Jinja [安積国造神社], which was a little on the creepy side.

Then we saw Nyoho-ji [如宝寺].

And continued to the park Hayama Koen [麓山公園], where we saw the Asaka Canal Hayama Waterfall Asaka Sosui Hayama no Hibaku [安積疏水麓山の飛瀑].

And the so-called Of the 21seikiki nenkouen Hayama no Mori [２１世紀記念公園 麓山の杜], the 21st Century Memorial Park Hayama Forest.

Finally we headed back to the station area, where we checked out the Observatory in the Big-i [ビッグアイ] building.

And finally caught a shinkansen back to Tokyo, we had dinner on the go and crashed in bed when we got home.

25th August 2018: Niigata + Otohige {Japan, summer 2018}

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D****e and I went to Niigata [新潟] to attend Otohige, a summer music festival.

I took in a few things:

  • Golden Bomber are fun (well, this I knew already). Sho got hit for real a couple of times
  • Wagakki Band are fun too. I have given them money
  • I can’t go to arena moshpit without anything to hold on. Too painful.
  • Being on third row for HYDE should be amazing but it sucks if you can’t see HYDE and all your body hurts due to pushing and shoving.
  • I shall avoid macro festivals that do not have seats. If there are seats and arena, I will stay at the seats
  • Japan summer rain when everything hurts is not nice.
  • Painkillers and yummy yakiniku can make things better. Eventually.

This was not such a great experience for me as going into the pit turned out to be a good decision, causing a flare. I’ve decided to avoid festivals from now on.

24th August 2018: Friends! {Japan, summer 2018}

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In the morning, I went to the Shōbō hakubutsukan [消防博物館] or Fire Museum, in Yotsuya [四谷]. I blame my last binge on Chicago Fire for the curiosity bug to bite on that one. It was strangely interesting, but the helicopter was closed due to wind and rain – also the problem with kid friendly museums is… kids overrunning you and parents cheering for them…

Then I met B**** in Shibuya [渋谷] for sushi, and that was awesome, until we were done. Then we saw the shrimp and fish being beheaded alive in front of us. That was a shock (O_O)! After that we went for ice cream, window shopping, karaoke and dinner in Shinjuku [新宿], in MyLord building next to the station, which was really convenient and surprisingly good (and well-timed on our part). Okonomiyaki! This was my masterpiece!

(Added a lot of katsuomi to it afterwards (≧∇≦) )

20th August 2018: Ise, the Soul of Japan {Japan, summer 2018}

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Ise [伊勢] in the Mie Prefecture, is a coastal town home to the Ise Grand Shrine Ise Jingū [伊勢神宮] dedicated to Amaterasu, Sun Goddess, and said by many to represent the soul of Japan. It is also, according to the legend, the resting place of one of the three Imperial Regalia, the mirror Yata no Kagami [八咫鏡]. The Grand Shrine is actually a compound, but there are two main shrines, the Inner Shrine Naikū and the Outer Shrine Gekū

I left the hotel just in time to make it to the local station and get to Ise stfation, where I checked with the Tourism office and bought a bus pass. As much as I dislike buses in Japan, sometimes it’s the only way to get around. My first stop was the Outer Shrine: Gekū [外宮].

Then I took the bus to the Inner Shrine, which was packed with people and school trips. I crossed another Uji Bridge, Uji-bashi[宇治橋].

Then walked into the Inner Shrine: Naikū [内宮].

My general impression of the Ise Grand Shrine: it felt really severe and not too welcoming, which is different from what I usually feel in Shinto Shrines. It was full of people praying at the different shrines and sub-shrines, and families with grandparents, parents and kids. There were also a lot of children in trips. In the Great Shrine, people usually pray at what is called the third level. When I was there, a woman was shown to the second level for her to pray there, which caused some outrage around the parishioners. That amused me.

After I had seen the Grand Shrine I took the bus again to head off to the coast. On the way we passed by Azuchi-Momoyama Bunkamura, and I filed it for future reference, as it had a castle. But for the time being I was heading off to see the Meoto Iwa.

I got off the bus and first I was distracted by the ocean.

Then I walked through Ryugusha [龍宮社], a dragon Shinto shrine.

I walked around the cliff and got to Futamiokitama Jinja [二見興玉神社].

Which is home to the Married Rocks Meoto Iwa [夫婦岩], two rocks in the ocean that are joined by a sacred rope and represent a married couple.

I had now some time to do something else. I considered the Aquarium, and the Azuchi-Momoyama Bunkamura [伊勢安土桃山文化村]. I decided to give myself some more time to think by taking the bus backtracking towards the Naikū, and I had almost decided on the theme park – featuring samurai, geisha and the castle.

But then I saw the price. It was over 4,000 ¥ and I had spent 10,500 ¥ at the Oiran Experience than expected, so I was a bit off-budget. Thus I decided to just head back to the shopping and restaurant area and grab a bite to eat. (Full disclosure: I might have to go back to Ise just to check this out anyway (≧∇≦).)

I had heard about ‘Ise lobster’ Ise ebi [イセエビ] (Japanese spiny lobster, Panulirus japonicus), but in the end it turned out that I only bought a koroke. It was yummy though.

After this, being already late afternoon, I decided to head back to the station, stopping by Seki Jinja [世木神社] before I left towards Nagoya [名古屋], which would be my operational base for the next couple of days.

11th August 2018: The Luna Sea Connection {Japan, summer 2018}

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Luggage arrived around 9 am, and let me tell you I have never been this happy to see my own underwear. I put together all the presents I had brought for people (feeling sorry that I had not been able to take M***chan’s for her the previous night) and headed out, first with D****e to Shinjuku and later to Akasaka, as I was meeting a friend over there for a concert.

Back in April 2018, when I went to the INORAN concert at the Salón del Manga de Alicante, one of the people I met was E**chan, who is coincidentally a Luna Sea fan and studying Spanish.

When she heard that I was going to Japan this summer she offered to help me find tickets for the solo concert of her favourite Luna Sea member, the bass J in the Mainabi Blitz Akasaka [マイナビBLITZ赤坂]. I met E**chan at Asakasa station [赤坂駅] for lunch and coffee / tea before the concert. We ended up in a place called Uchi no Tamago Chokubaijo [うちのたまご直売] and ate tamago kake gohan [卵かけごはん], which I had never eaten before and was absolutely yummy (I’ve looked up recipes by now (≧∇≦). I mean, it’s basically raw egg and rice so…).

Lunch. A bowl of miso soup and a bowl of rice with cooked egg on top

After lunch we were talking for a while, and then headed for the concert. I bought some goods (Tshirt) and she was nice enough to wait with me even if she had a much better number since she’s a fanclub member. The concert was super lively and rocky, with almost a mosh pit and all! It was fun, and J was very energetic – one day I will see the whole of Luna Sea together. I got pushed and shoved a little, so even if fun, it turned out a bit exhausting.

After the concert I headed back of to Shinjuku [新宿] to have a shabu-shabu dinner with D****e before we headed back home.

Dinner watching the shabushabu broth until it boils. There are mushrooms, tofu and spinach leaves ready to be cooked

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 – 3rd ‎August ‎2018: The Spanish “Levante”

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My parents sometimes vacation in this tourist-like complex in a little town called San Juan de Alicante in the east of Spain (the “Levante”). My father uses it as a base for diving trips, and sometimes I tag along to keep my mother company. When we arrived this year we found out that there was a new resident family in the garden – a family of squirrels that had apparently shown up travelling in trees that were going to be planted. The complex management decided to make squirrel-nurturing the local sport. Guests were encouraged to watch out for them, and leave them nuts. Also, there were educational signs about what was safe or unsafe to feed the little critters. I caught sight of them at some point or another.

One of the selling points of the complex – aside, of course, from the swimming pool and the great room service – are the big gardens, with lots of trees and plants, and the rescue bunnies. Now the squirrels came over to complete the scene.

Collage. A hotel room. Red flowers. A garden. A tiny rabbit. A tree and a close-up of that tree focusing on the squirrel on one of the branches.

31st July 2018: Chocolate & Lobster. Not together.

A meagre 20-minute-drive away from this little town stands the village of Villajoyosa, which translates into something akin to “The joyous village”. If you’ve never heard of it, I’ll just have you known that it has a chocolate factory, the Fábrica de Chocolates Valor, and the chocolate museum (and of course the shop). As it is a working factory, the visit is of course guided. We were told that there was usually a long queue, so we were there before 9:30 for the 10:00 visit, and we were quite literally the first to arrive. Once inside, you get to see what they call the museum, with a short video about how they used to and still make the chocolate, and you visit some of the old equipment. Then, there is a short trip around the factory using some hanging planks – when we were there, the production was halted due to pre-Christmas-campaign holidays. So FYI Christmas chocolate is made in August. The visit was done in one hour, and then we splurged in the shop.

Chocolate factory from outside

Inside the chocolate factory shop. A painting on the wall says we heart chocolate, another, in the backfround of several chocolate bars packaged as presents, it says All you need is chocolate, with the word love scratched out

After the visit we went back to the complex, where we had booked a made-to-order lobster “paella” (traditional rice dish) for lunch, and boy was it awesome. I totally sinned with the apple pie afterwards, too.

Collage. Rice pan with lobster pieces, and a piece of apple pie

1st August 2018: Alicante

The day started awesomely with coffee and pancakes, and that alone worked to make me happy.

Pancakes with chocolate syprup, a glass of milk, and a cup of coffee

Besides, twenty minutes in the opposite direction from Villajoyosa we had Alicante. And we could also be lazy and not take the car out, we could just take the bus. We wanted to see the archaeological museum, Museo Arqueológico Provincial MARQ de Alicante, and that was out first stop. However, for some reason a bunch of pictures got lost – and I can only show you this of the library, where pictures were not allowed anyway. It was a… photography accident.

A former chapel, with gothic windows. A glass lamp hangs from the ceiling and there are dark shelves full of books in the foreground

After the museum, we walked around the base of Monte Benacantil, the mount in the middle of Alicante – again, literally – until we were exactly on the opposite side to find the entrance to the Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Santa Bárbara’s castle. The castle is of Arab origin, it may have been built the 8th century. However, there are archaeological remains in the mount dating from prehistoric times. The castle gave the city of Alicante a vantage point towards any kind of threat, whether it originated on land or the ocean. The castle was reconstructed in the 16th century, and later, in the 18th century, it played a part in the war against the French.

Castle ruins and views of the sea underneath. It looks hot.

After this we walked over to have lunch at a restaurant we had read over in the tourist complex magazine, a prime Japanese restaurant called Nigo, which has the best sushi I’ve ever tried outside Japan.

Lunch - Japanese salad, fried chicken, sushi and tuna tartar

After that we headed back to the complex and planned our next move.

2nd August 2018: Valencia Diversion

My father was unable to go on his two planned diving outings, so we decided to head home early. However, he was feeling a little disappointed over the cancellation, and I suggested that maybe we could take a detour somewhere else instead. In the end, we decided to book a hotel in Valencia and use the time to visit the Oceanogràfic over there. This is a large aquarium complex. We also reserved a table at the “Submarine Restaurant” and had lunch there.

The aquarium opened in 2003 as part of a big project called “the city of art and science” in Valencia. It has a double layout, over- and underground. The underground area is the big aquariums are built, while the upper enclosures hold most the mammals and the birds.

An empty restaurant surrounded by an aquarium where fish swim

Collage of different marine animals: octopus, sea urchin, anemone, clownfish, surgeon fish, rockfish, seal, jellyfish, seastar, sea dragon, turtle, reef shark

Collage of different animals, and general view of the park. Penguins, crocodiles, seal, pelicans, snipes, ibises, tortoises, carps, crane

Once we were done, we said goodbye to the sharks and hi to the nice sunset. Next morning we drove back home.

Sunset above an unremarkable city skyline