Tag Archives: Shinjuku

28th December 2016: Find all the things （　･`ω･´)! {Japan, winter 16/17}

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One of the items in my calendar this time was visiting the three Dragon Gates of Tokyo. These are three torii gates that have been carved in stone and have an ascending and a descending dragon on each one of the pillars. The legend says that touching the dragons will bring you good luck.

Two torii are located in Suginami [杉並]. The first torii I went off to visit was in the grounds of Shukuhōzan Kōenji [宿鳳山高円寺]. The gate is a bit to the side, in a small adjoined shrine to the left of the main building.

The second gate I visited is in Mabashi Inari Jinja [馬橋稲荷神社], about 15 minutes walking from the previous one (which I chose to hit first because it is closer to the station). As this is indeed a shrine, the torii is pointedly displayed, as it is the second one on the main entrance.

Although I would have wanted to hit the three gates on one day, going back and forth between the first two and the third was not a good idea. Thus, I headed off to Shinjuku [新宿] to check out the Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁], the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, as the day was very clear. And bingo, it worked, and I managed to see Mount Fuji Fuji-san [富士山] in the background. Being a little bit of a geek, and since both observatories were open, I decided to climb both this time (just in case the stamp was different, of course!). Then (also of course) I was doing some shopping around…

And since I was in the area, I decided to go back to Isetan, having devised a plan to get some images of the kimono. Which succeeded. Then I saw other people taking pictures, so I shielded myself with them and took some, too.

After that I met with D****e and we went off to find some of Gackt’s Gakucchi and Hyde’s Chupacabra crane games and UFO Catchers. For this we headed off to Odaiba [お台場], where we had a chance to look at the Winter Illumination, especially the Rainbow Bridge [レインボーブリッジ] looking… well, rainbow-coloured.

Then we went to say bye-bye to the Gundam in front the DiverCity and had some food inside. Somehow I feel like I’m talking about food all the time (*´∀｀*)ノ… This was very yummy and the writing on the algae cracked me up.

As we did not find the Gakucchi nor Chupacabra in Odaiba’s Venus Front, where we had read they would be, we backtracked to Shinjuku [新宿] to search for them. We did not manage to get the stuff out of the crane games but we got the bags that you got with putting 500 ¥ into the UFO Catchers…

27th December 2016: Yoshikimono in the Box {Japan, winter 16/17}

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Battling over jet lag, the first thing I did in the morning was setting of the Isetan in Shinjuku [新宿], because they were showing (and selling) some of the Yoshikimono. As a matter of fact, I headed there over twice over the course of the few days it was open, because on the first try I could not take pictures, and then I devised a plan to record stuff – and the second time I was there were people taking pictures, so I did too. But at that point, this was the best I could manage, from the outside.

After that, I headed off to “MAVERICK DC GROUP 35th Anniversary JACK IN THE BOX 2016” (mouthful, huh?), because D****e had gotten her hands on tickets, as Hyde was going to show up there. The concert was held in the Nippon Budokan [日本武道館], which looks a bit on the smallish side from above, as we were very far away (last minute tickets were last minute indeed).

Artist Lineup: MUCC; SID; MUDD (half of MUCC and half of SID); SICC (the other half of MUCC and SID); AKi; UNiTE.; Kameleo; CLØWD; VALS; PARTY ZOO Ken with Naughty stars 20th&25th Celebration: Ken (L’Arc~en~Ciel’s Ken), YUKKE (MUCC), AKi, Show (A9), Hiroto (A9), Tora (A9), Ryo (BAROQUE), Kei (BAROQUE), kazuma (gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy) and KENZO; D’ERLANGER feat. HYDE; 35th MAGNUM: PAUL (44MAGNUM), JIMMY (44MAGNUM), D’ERLANGER feat. HYDE; M.A.D SUPER ALL STARS ＆ MDC SUPER ALL STARS. And seriously don’t expect me to do all the alignments and setlist because most of this was AKi around with other people. You can check everything out in the JITB website.

It was a long concert, from 2 to 9 pm and between the different acts there were short videos of past acts. One of the funniest moments in the whole concert was when the screen showed someone covering TOKIO’s “Love you only” and the whole Budokan sang along “only yo~u” without even realising it. Then there were many embarrassed chuckles after that.

Hyde, who was the reason we were there, showed up lateish. In total he may have sung like four songs, including the closing act with “Honey”. We also saw Ken, who can’t do anything without his guitar. The most curious (tending towards sad) was how Hyde and Ken proceeded to ignore each other for as long as both of them were on stage (╯︵╰,).

After the concert we met up wit N***chan, T***pi and M***chan to have dinner.

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

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

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

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

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

Shibuya [渋谷]:

Shinjuku [新宿]:

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

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

21st July 2016: Shopping spree (II) {Japan, summer 2016}

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This was the last planned big shopping spree and honestly I felt quite pleased after that. I started off in Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] and then made my way to Shinjuku. Nakano aka Mandarake Land has reorganised itself to have topic-oriented shops. I had not been able to find the one that interested me – male singers – just yet. Actually I had found it but they had been moving things around and nothing was to be found there. Fortunately this one time I found interesting stuff at very good prices ＼(^o^)／ (I saw the same item I got for twice the price later in TRIO). After the Mandarake I moved onto the JRock TRIO and fell in love with a Gackt’s Ghost pendant so I got myself that, along with a VAMPS postcard and a Galileo special from Fukuyama Masaharu’s fanclub Magazine (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

Happy with my items, I headed off to Shinjuku [新宿] to find the Closet Child CD shop. The previous day I had been in the punk goth one and gotten myself a ring, but this time I wanted the CD one. And when I found it, it was so worth it ♥

After class, I headed off to have dinner with a friend, totally ignoring that I had an exam the next day. Oh and when I got home I did laundry. Cause I’m cool like that ψ(｀∇´)ψ

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

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

Japanese sweet pastry on a toothpick

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

The entrance to Kabukicho district

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

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

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

9th July 2016: Rainy season is rainy {Japan, summer 2016}

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Because yes, we’re in rainy season, and in rainy season, it rains, lots. Especially when I want to go to certain places. I hoped that the rain would not be too much, and headed off to Kawasaki [川崎] (yes, like the motorbikes) to check out a temple called Kawasaki Daishi (川崎大師) or Heiken-ji (平間寺, Heiken-ji)

It was wet. There was some kind of child ceremony because there were a bunch of parents with very young babies braving the storm rain, while the kids (and occasionally their siblings) looked unimpressed or plain zonked out.

The only other thing for me to check out in Kawasaki were the Chinese gardens, but I decided that it was raining too much for that, so I came back to Tokyo [東京], and headed off to a shrine called Hie Jinja [日枝神社], in Chūō [中央], which I wanted to check out.

One of the most interesting thing of Hie Jinja is the way the torii is designed, with a sort of triangle on its top. It might be to deter wayward otoroshii, a creature from the Japanese mythology. Yes, this is important. As it was that it was raining. To get to Hie Jinja you have to climb a hill, as it could not be otherwise. In the rain, with my broken umbrella – because my awesome umbrella decided to stop being overdone and break, thankfully it was fixable, but not before I got home.

There was a marriage photo shoot in the shrine, and I was torn for the poor bride, having to walk in those clothes through the rain. I tried to be out of their way as much as I could, too. But kudos to the photographer for bringing a traditional umbrella which made the couple look awesome.

Tired of being wet, I decided to head out to a museum. I had two exhibitions I wanted to see, one of them in the Edo-Tokyo Museum, and the other one in the Museum of History and Science. I decided that I really wanted to se the former, just because I was feeling like it. It was an exhibition called ‘From Eerie to Endearing: Yokai in the Arts of Japan’ [大妖怪展　土偶から妖怪ウォッチまで], held in the Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan [江戸東京博物館], the Edo-Tokyo Museum, in Ryōgoku [両国]

This was the scenery of the first almost panic attack I caused. If you’re a visible foreigner in Japan, some people don’t want you around and they don’t want to speak to you, especially because you may require them to speak in English. This is a bit on the ridiculous side in the tourist industry, where you can be met with actual hostility at times. Japan, sorry to tell you this but you’re not ready for 2020. Point and case, the lady selling tickets in the Edo-Tokyo museum. She was literally paralysed for a moment, then she pulled back. Keep in mind, my Japanese is not the best thing in the world, but I said a grand total of six words, five if you count ‘onegaishimasu’ (please) as one “special exhibition, one ticket, please”. Straight forward. She was so much in a panic that she did not even hear me at first, it took her half a minute to realise I had asked in Japanese. When she asked me to repeat I just gave her the “yokai, one” and showed her one finger (to count!). She was so freaked out that I did not even get a brochure.

The exhibition has three main parts. The first one runs through the historical representation of yokai as supernatural beings, explaining old questions that humanity had (for example, what is the echo) or forming part of legends. It exhibits part of the Parade of the One Hundred Demons classic paints and scrolls, and a bunch of key ukyo-e in mythology, which I was very excited to see. Apparently, an huge bunch of Japanese people had decided that the museum was a perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon, too, and the exhibition was packed.

The second part dealt with the representation of the different worlds, especially the Buddhist ideas of heaven and hell, and the concept of ‘spirit’ or ghost (yurei) as opposed to a yokai. Out of these, my favourites were the umibozu and the Peony Lantern representations.

The final part was dedicated to ‘Yokai watch’, a contemporary anime series that explores the concept of cute yokai causing mischief in present days.

On my way back I dropped by Shinjuku [新宿] and the Book Off there. The number of acquired items was slowly climbing up, and I was still on budget!

Then I did my homework because I might fail at Japanese all my life but I will still try not to.

8th July 2016: 勉強しました, I seriously did… {Japan, summer 2016}

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On this day I was at home all morning studying, not sure why because it really did not work all that well (￣◇￣;). The first week was a review of the previous level in the intensive course, so I found myself in a bit of a disadvantage. I passed it, but by the skin of my teeth. I was not too happy about it but oh well, at that point I’d make up my mind to take the best out of the course, learn as much as I could, and not be huffy or upset or think about how much money I had invested on it.

After the class and test, I headed off to Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ], which should just be renamed ‘Mandarakeland’ or something as seriously, they are taking over. Leave my TRIO alone, people! There I pondered if I needed a TOKIO bag, and decided that I did need a TOKIO bag for 108¥, and then got some Gackt stuff after the longest convo I’ve ever had with a fan-shop staff member regarding what the hell a free size was （≧∇≦）. I also decided I did not need a Yoshikitty key ring for 1500¥.

Then we headed off to show T**y the sights of Tokyo at night from the observatory of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] in Shinjuku [新宿]. Impressive as always, even if it was cloudy, because you go to the TMGB during the day to look beyond Tokyo, but you want to look at Tokyo at night. One of the most amazing things was that we were alone in the lift! Bloody alone, he and myself, in a TMGB lift (O_o)!!! While he was gawking at the numbers of the floors, I was taking pictures of the empty lift (⌒▽⌒)

I know my priorities.

For the record, getting my bearings around Shinjuku was hard for a bit, mostly because there you can’t really stop and look where you are going or you’ve got to go. And since I was coming out from a line I’d never used before, it was confusing. Then we ended up following the right passageway, but it’s either new or severely renovated, because the ‘street’ we ended up taking was not the one I remembered at all! I might have to explore again from the Yamanote platform.

After that we headed off home because it had been a long hard day.

4th July 2016: Scary, scary… aaaaaah {Japan, summer 2016}

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After hitting for Gackt’s concert, I figured out that I would ballot for the insanely impossible birthday party – GACKT’s 43rd Birthday Party in ANA InterContinental Tokyo, located in Akasaka [赤坂]. And somehow – somehow – I hit. I might have been a little in histerics about the whole thing for a while, especially with how strict the dress code seemed to be.

Before that I organised a swift visit to Harajuku [原宿] and Meiji Jingu [明治神宮]. For starters, I wanted to catch Godzilla in Shinjuku [新宿], which I did not do last year – I had stolen a glimpse of him when I had picked my keys up.

Godzilla, a giant mutant iguana, peers throughout the building roofs, roaring

Then I headed over to Harajuku [原宿] and I had a stroll down Takeshita-dōri [竹下通り] (天気がいいから、さんぽしましょう、and so XD) and into Yoyogi Kōen [代々木公園] to show Meiji Jingu [明治神宮] to T**y. Then I headed back home to get ready because PANIC！(◎_◎;) I was ridiculously nervous about the event. Fortunately, it worked out almost perfectly.

The event itself consisted on a formal dinner, and a later appearance of the birthday boy himself and the band to… basically have a drinking game, a card game, and a talk show on stage. It was a lot of money to be honest, and I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need to do something like it again, but I am glad that I was crazy to do it at least once. I unfortunately had to leave before it finished in order to make it to the last train, so I missed the songs *sigh*. Nothing is perfect I guess.

Pictures I snuck at the party - flowers, the screen with the logo, my invitation, then the food - sausage entree, soup, salmon, fillet, and chocolate cake, along witht the shot glass we got as souvenir

July 2nd, 2016: Starting off with the right (bruised) foot {Japan, summer 2016}

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I have to admit that even if we took off late this was the smoothest flight from Europe that I’ve had to Japan. We left Frankfurt with about an hour’s delay and arrived about 40 minutes late. However, best landing ever. The plane was cold, but I am not going to complain considering the time that the heat made me sick. I prefer huddling up in the blanket. I kind of slept for a few hours, which was good, but I really don’t like when they just tell you to put your window down because it’s bedtime. Oh well.

This trip, I have been showing some of Tokyo to T**y, so a lot of the ‘we’ that skip refer to him and me.

The first day was a bit of a bit of everything one, and even a week later I’ve got bruises from hurling the suitcase up and down the stairs. After lunch with B**** in Shibuya [渋谷] (to get my Internet from her, too), I headed off to Shinjuku to get my keys. This time I was staying for a month and I could not impose for that long on any of my friends so I decided to rent a small apartment via an agency named “Sakura house” which rents places to foreigners for a long or short stay in Japan, starting at one month. As my stay was 28 days, it made sense to use their services.

Sakura House is located in Shinjuku [新宿] and that is why I headed there. The procedure was completely in English, and not difficult, but long, as it included all the specific info for an apartment rental. It is not as quick as checking into a hotel.

The whole process involves reserving a room online and paying a deposit, then signing a contract and paying at least the first month at the place. Afterwards they give you your keys, give you specific instructions and then you’re off on your merry way.

I was staying in an area called Komagome [駒込], 15 minutes away from Ueno and 20 away from school. Right downtown, and what I spent in location I would save on transport, or so I hoped.

After signing and getting my keys, I took T**y to his hotel and we got horribly lost on the process. In the end it all had a happy ending thanks a nice car park guard and after checking him in, we headed off for sushi and karaoke with B**** （＾＿＾ｖ）♪.

After that, I braved the Yamanote on my own to get to Komagome, and was lucky to get my station exit right, so I could arrive home in good time to have a shower and get some sleep because the next day I had to wake up early.

2nd September 2015: New views of known sights {Japan, summer 2015}

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I went to Haneda Airport to see D****e off as she was leaving already, and on my way back I shook melancholy off by climbing up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] in Shinjuku [新宿]. I had noticed that my camera was better than I was expecting it to be, but I was a bit blown away when I realised the neat stuff it could do. I am very happy with it. Here is a sequence of me aiming at Tokyo Tower [東京タワー].

Views of the Skyscraper District from the TMGB observatory:

After that, I took a stroll down the Skyscraper District, as I wanted to go back to one of the shops I had visited on Sunday. Unfortunately, at this time I was not feeling too well, so when I made it to the shop I had to be quick.

After I had made a much-needed stop, I hit a Book Off (once again) or two (again, once again) and finally headed back for an early evening. B**** and I had a relaxing dinner, tonkatsu in my case, and we both ranted out about our problems. Good for the soul.

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

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

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

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

21st August 2015: Shibuya and Shinjuku {Japan, summer 2015}

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I was to meet with D****e in Shibuya [渋谷] as she was coming directly from Haneda that day and we had arranged to meet in Tsutaya – there would be Hachiko meeting point later on, but we wanted something covered, just in case the skies opened.

As it takes a bit to get from Satte to any place downtown Tokyo, I organised myself to be out of the door with enough time to find myself a shrine to visit. Because yes, I can find shrines anywhere in Tokyo and beyond and after a while walking through skyscraper-type buildings, I turned a corner to the Konnō Hachiman-gū [金王八幡宮], which I had not been able to find the previous year due to an Internet failure. I’m still torn about going to Yasukuni Shrine, by the way, which would have been another of my options. On one hand, I would like to come back and get a calligraphy seal; on the other, it would feel like condoning the whole thing Yasukuni means and… I don’t know, I think I have to think harder about that, especially with Abe’s whole revisionist attitude. Meanwhile, this is Konnō Hachiman-gū (which was being repaired so loop-sided picture not to bother the workers), and the little Inari altar located next to it.

Once the shrine fix was achieved – come on, it was my third day already!! – I headed back to Shibuya [渋谷] to meet with D****e and as I walked back I saw something I had not noticed before, as it had been on the opposite side of the direction I was heading. However, now I could see it straight ahead.

The L’Arc~en~Ciel’s L’ArCasino billboard. Pictures happened. Maybe some inner fanbying too. Did I mention I love my new camera? Cause I do, a lot.

After a while doing experiments with the zoom, I headed off for the Tsutaya floor we were going to meet in, and barely had the time to check out the stuff before she arrived. Afterwards we headed off for the Book Off (which… is changing names?) because we could, and afterwards to the BIC Camera so she could pick up her own SIM card.

She wanted to check out a Shinjuku [新宿] kimono store to see if she found VAMPS’ bat yulata, but we were out of luck and it was already gone. And then there was karaoke, because for some reason there’s always karaoke with her in Shinjuku?

And then there was home and CocoCurry. Finally CocoCurry ♥

14th August 2014: When trains took forever {Japan, summer 2014}

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It started with the train stopping for a few minutes that in the end turned out to be over an hour. Then there was an unexpected train change, and my Internet going crazy which got me lost. In the end my sightseeing morning was crushed to 10 minutes of walking around Shibuya [渋谷] and a Book Off visit.

Lunch was good as we met in the Book Off and headed for a great shabu-shabu. That was very yummy and I probably ate too much of it. But come on! There was wakame to spare and then some!! XD

Afterwards we headed off towards Shinjuku [新宿] to browse Kinokuniya Book Store to buy JLPT study material and, in my case, GACKT’s novelised version of MoonSaga, because I am weird like that. It was raining like crazy, too, so not much stuff to do outdoors, and shrines would already be closed by that time, so I was feeling rather unaccomplished.

We ended up heading off to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁], to watch sunset – which did not work as it was cloudy – and the pretty lights – which were fewer than usual because some of the buildings were not as full since it was Obon and many people had head home for the holidays.

Day was finished with CocoCurry. CocoCurry is always good, although I was so intent on reading kana correctly that I ended up messing up the order XD

8th & 9th August 2014: Never trust the French {Japan, summer 2014}

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I have discovered that it is easier to get up before 4 in the morning rather than between 5 and 8, don’t ask me why, but I suspect vampire genes. Boarding the connecting flight to Paris was a bit of a hassle as baggage drop took forever I (on the fast, already checked in queue, sheesh.) but the flight itself was good.

Transfer in Charles de Gaulle was however a true nightmare, which involved elevators, buses, mobs of people and staff calling out who could go on each bus according to the gate. Still made it to the gate with 10 minutes to spare… until they delayed the flight. The first notice talked about 3 hours, in the end we left with barely over an hour. Apparently there was something wrong with the entertainment system that could only be partially fixed, so we ended up with 15 films streamed over and over again.

I managed to doze through most of the trip, might have even slept some, because I had to watch Captain America II twice for it to make sense. Same with The Hobbit 2.

There were three or four turbulence alerts but it was not terribly bad, and we made up for the delay and arrived almost on time. It was Saturday, 6 am, which made it about 11 pm my regular timezone. I thought it would be dead, but surprisingly I was not, and after retrieving my luggage and making it thorough customs, I plunged into the maze that is the Tokyo chikatetsu service after being greeted by Tokyo Banana. The first thing that I heard when arriving in the platform was the music box version of SMAP’s “Sekai no hitotsu dake no hana“.

I’d be staying with a friend in Satte (Saitama), so that meant two hours and a few train changes along the way but it turned out fine. Now, getting the suitcase down from her third floor would be fun.

We decided to heard off for sushi and first Jmusic mission of the trip – which turned out to be Nakano Broadway and Shinjuku Book Offs. Sushi was, as always, delightful and I was quite oh-shinied by a few things in Nakano, also as always. Then there was a little DVD watching. That was an early night as jet lag and exhaustion eventually caught up.

5th July 2013: Enoshima {Japan, summer 2013}

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Enoshima [江の島] is a bridged island not far from Tokyo where there are three shrines that have been merged into one for convenience, a local dragon legend and an asphyxiating hot and humid weather. It was also the last stop for this trip.

I guess that’s why the local rhythm is so chilled:

Enoshima Iwaya [江の島岩屋], the Enoshima caves, are beyond amazing.

The legendary dragon, which roars when you get close and produces flashlight when you clap your hands.

There was a bit of wavy weather due to wind, which allowed for a couple of good pictures of the seaward area:

Including the “turtle rock”, even in high tide. You just need to know how to count the wave frequency to know when the water is going to retract enough to let you see it ^_~

It was so windy that at points it was difficult to keep the camera straight for pictures, but we also visited Enoshima Jinja [江の島神社]

Well, the actual last stop was a bunch of Shinjuku [新宿] Book Offs but… don’t tell anyone XD. Then, the next morning I was off to the airport to go back home, fortunately the flight was much, much better.

27th June 2013: Shinjuku, Ōji and Ikebukuro {Japan, summer 2013}

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One of the fun things about Tokyo is that combination of modern and traditional that you find merged in quite a bit of harmony. Take for instance Shinjuku [新宿]. When one thinks of Shinjuku, one imagines skyscrapers and neon lights, but just a few minutes away, you find Hanazono Jinja [花園神社]:

Five minutes away from the station there is Shinjuku Gyoen [新宿御苑], which is huge, and holds small wonders like this, Kyūgoryōtei [旧御涼亭], or Taiwan Pavillion (Taiwan Kaku [台湾閣]):

Of course, there are lots of skyscrapers in the Skyscraper District:

There is also this sculpture:

And yet another shrine, Shinjuku Juniso Kumano Jinja [新宿十二社 熊野神社]:

After Shinjuku I went to Ōji [王子] to see the Ōji Inari Jinja [王子稲荷神社].

And just the Ōji Jinja [王子神社]:

Then I headed to Ikebukuro [池袋] where we had a reservation at Swallowtail for 80 minutes of indulgence, and hell did we enjoy it XD”””

18th July 2012: Weeping Wallet {Japan, summer 2012}

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The 18th was my last day and I was lucky I was able to spending it completely with D****e. I tagged along for her doing some immigration bureaucracy or another, which showed me that red tape sucks the same no matter the country. After she was done, we went to eat an okonomiyaki lunch with pretty waiter to make things nicer.

After that, we went to burn down our wallets, also know as shopping the idol shops in Harajuku [原宿]. This included Johnny’s Entertainment shop, which turned out to be a bit on the disappointing side. I kinda expected something more… grand. Thankfully other shops had enough to make up for it, especially considering my Nakano Broadway spree and the previous day Book Off day.

Leaving Harajuku with lots of Idol stuff and *some* money left. Wohoo:

The day ended with yet another visit to Shinjuku [新宿].

As a final activity we visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] for viewing Tokyo Tower lit up.

Shinjuku Skyscraper District. I discovered how to activate my camera’s slow shutter mode XD

And then it was over, and the following day I would be heading back home. But fear not because Jbinnacle is not done! There’ll be more. Monotheme posts! Reviews! Fangirling galore! To-do-the-next-time lists! Stay tuned!!

12th July 2012: Ikebukuro {Japan, summer 2012}

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I have decided to give my blistered feet a bit of a rest and take it easy for a couple of days. Thus, I’m indulging in my newly-found love of canned coffee and karepan.

A breaded bun, open. The inside is white, with a golden filling in the middle

Yesterday, Thursday 12th I spent most of the morning updating the blog and refusing to move from the chair. Then I headed off towards Ikebukuro [池袋], where my first stop was the Ikebukuro West Gate Park [池袋ウエストゲートパーク]. Ikebukuro West Gate Park or IWGP, is a series of urban mystery novels by Ira Ishida. It was adapted into a very successful TV series directed by Tsutsumi Yukihiko and starring Nagase Tomoya. And Chibi Yamapi. [spoiler] And then Yamapi dies. Really sad. [/spoiler] Loved it.

An urban park with a decorative fountain in the middle. There are a couple of trees, but it's mostly surrounded by buildings

I found the Ikebukuro Station Owl. Somehow. After missing it a couple of times.

Sculpture of a big barn owl with a red vest. There are three smaller owls on the left, one of them is carrying a heart

And while there is not an Aquarium at the top of the Shibuya 109, there is one at the top of the Sunshine 60 – the Sushine Aquarium. Literally at the top. They have also some non-aquatic animals like an armadillo, a tapir and a lovely couple of desert foxes or feneqs.

A glass wall that opens up to a tropical aquarium

Small jellyfish swimming in a round aquarium

A cuttlefish, an anemmone and some coral

An octopus huddled in a knot so most that is shown are the suckers against the glass

A shot from the open roof of the aquarium building. Some pathways for the animal residents have been built, they are made of glass. A sea lion is swimming through one

A feneq fox curled up sleeping

A Humboldt penguin colony

After a quick browsing through Mandarake and K-books, we had a reservation for dinner at Swallowtails, which is a butler cafe. I was a bit on the apprehensive side, because my level of Japanese is enough to guesstimate some normal conversation but… yeah, not Keigo or polite Japanese in a formal environment. It turned out really, really nice, too. A cool experience sponsored by my insiders in Japan.

Themed cafés are common in Japan. They are normal restaurants which sell passable food and great experiences, or at least an experience. There are cafés for all tastes and personalities – some are related to animals, others to fantasies. Swallowtails has a number of young men “butlers” who treat you as a royalty and take care of you to almost ridiculous extents. I absolutely loved it, because being the doormat I normally am, it feels nice to be… spoilt a little.

A screenshot of a Japanese webpage. It shows a fancy entrance to a tea house, and reads Swallowtail

Afterwards we headed off for a quick sneak peak of Tokyo by night from the observatory in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] before coming back home and crashing for the night. Today will hopefully be another slow day…

A view of Tokyo at night, from above the roof tops. The buildings are dark, bit there are thousands of lights and lit windows.

3rd July 2012: A recipe for jetlag {Japan, summer 2012}

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Good morning all! It’s before 9 am (note to self: update time settings) and the only reason I’m chirpy is the fact that I am terribly jetlagged XD

It all started in Madrid where a very unfriendly Air France assistant ‘helped’ me get my boarding passes and check my luggage in (11 kg out of the 23 allowed. Want to bet I’ll have trouble when I go back? XD). Anyway, I went through security, beeped, got felt up and found my gate.

After locating gate I found myself some gummy bears (had my first blue gummy bear ever) and D****e some pure Spanish ham, and sat to wait for the plane to Paris, where I was to take my connection.

Boarding passes from MAD to NRT via CDG, and passport

Uneventful ride which was almost on time.

The sun is shining on the plane window

Paris de Gaulle was a nightmare to get around though. Terminal 2 is divided in letters and the one I was looking for was on the other side of the building and BADLY indicated. Then the guy checking boarding passes did not want to let me through because my boarding pass had been issued in Madrid and was slightly different… yes, idiot, it says TOKYO there. I finally made it through to my gate with time for a bathroom break, a Kit-kat and a bottle of water.

A very long airport lounge with a burgundy carpet

We boarded on time, and I think it’s mean you pass through business class before going into tourist, because that way you see what you are missing XD Acquired goal in life: fly to Japan on first class XDD. I did not really sleep through the 11 hours of flight, but was not too awake either so it did not feel too long.

The screen at the seat showing the plane over the sea of Japan, from above

I made the same route as J in Bloody Monday season 2, so there was either no bomb, or Falcon did his magic again XD as we landed safely – and early!

The screen at the seat showing the plane over the sea of Japan, from behind of sorts

After landing immigration and customs were easier than I thought. Then I changed money and got my Suica + N’EX (Narita Express Train) combo. Finding the money exchange was dead easy, and for the trains I just followed the train signs and asked a nice information lady where to find it, with a print out of the internet page XD She pointed, I followed XDD

With a whole six minutes to spare for the 18.48 train, I sank on my N’EX seat Shinjuku bound.

A 1000 yen note, a train ticket and Tokyo transportation card

I was surprised that it was already dark – I’ve gotten used to sunset about 10 pm by now, but soon the neon took over. It is also hot as hell, and humid. As a Spanish, I tend not to trust Germans too much when they say it’s hot but damn she was right XD

Then this happened:

Screen on the train showing that the next station is Tokyo, in different languages

And the only way to describe the feeling is キヤアアアアアアアアア!!! XDD. I safely met D****e in Shinjuku and we came to her apartment after getting some food. My first dinner in the country was yakitori, gyoza and dorayaki. Biased? Me? Ya think? Well, then you are right xD

Tiredness and jet lag fought for a while, though I slept most of the night (which means my usual 5pm – 1am XD) and now I am getting ready to brave the Tokyo public transport system all on my own. Wish me luck!!