Day 13 – Hi Ho to nichome we go~

Alex was feeling better and had decided to take us around. We decided to head to Tokyo tower. We had lots of cool chances for pictures on the way there but when we made it to go inside we were met by a HUGE crowd trying to see it before the new year. We decided not to wait and instead head to Roppongi... the ritzy part of the city where all the rich gaijin live... It was funny to think that to us this was more of a sight seeing tour though their neighborhoods then I'm sure they are familiar. We did catch a few gaijin giving us dirty looks as we wondered though... we were easily discernible because we were the only ones not sporting any form of famous designer ware. We walked though some of the shops and it felt similar to being in America... in fact I remember the gut wrenching feeling I got when we walked into a book store filled with “artzy” gaijin sitting there pondering in which way they could best create their next masterpiece. It was a very infuriating to see that this part of town had succumbed to the same type of segregative bullshit that the US is so famous for. We left that place pretty quickly and didn't bother looking back. So we headed to Shinjuku and wandered around there for a bit and had some dinner. Alex showed us around some of the spots of Nichome he knew and we headed back home for the night.  

Day 12 - Alex still sick

Alex was still sick today and decided to stay in bed. Luckily we had made plans the night before to meet Tugbe so she could show us around Ginza. Ginza is pretty far downtown and full of really really expensive shops. But there are still some very impressive things to see around there. We met up with Tugbe and her friend Lydia at Ikebukro station around 1:30pm and hopped another train towards Ginza. After some crazy train station mishaps on which I will not elaborate... We were in Ginza. It was really quite awesome having those two as guides because Tugbe knew all of the crazy modern day cultural experiences to be had in Ginza and Lydia being a Japanese culture major was able to tell us all the history here. It was really cool that they could tell us both sides of all the places we visited. Some of those places were the traditional Kabuki theater, a Buddhist fisher mens temple, Takarazuka theater, a huge fish market, the Sony building and the Nissan building. All in all it was a pretty awesome night filled with exploration and good times.  

Day 11 – Harajuku + Akihabara (a loooong day)

Harajuku for those of you that don't know is the fashion capital of Japan, but in a different sense. When looking down the streets you won't find Gucci or Prada anywhere, what your more likely to see is various shops sporting the latest “Punk” or “Gothic” trends, those two themes are among the most popular but believe me when I say if there is some strange subculture of fashion to be found... you can find it there. On Sunday (the day we went) you can find loads of people right out of the station putting their new fashion ideas on display for everyone to see. We however did not get the memo that they were not coming the day we went... instead we found a whole lot of tourists... Call me lame, but I really don't like being in a place with a lot of tourists... it just makes me feel dirty. So we quickly rushed down some of the side streets to check out the shopping. Among the most impressive shops there were four worth mentioning. 1) Thankyou Mart is a place you can find loads of the latest “punk” apparels and accessories (basically pacsun) almost everything is under 390 yen ($3.90). 2) Sexy Dynamite. Aside from having an awesome name this was a smaller shop filled with all of the really worn “vintage” British punk clothing … too bad they were crazy expensive. 3) Condomania. Sounds suggestive right? It is. This is a shop entirely devoted to the sell of every type of condom imaginable along with some really hilarious party gifts... I was told it was a popular chain else ware in the U.S. But it was amusing to see one so well set into the conservative Japanese culture . 4) No Name. There was a shop we passed on the way that our friend Tugbe pulled us into that had no name above the shop and no discernible markings to let anyone know it was there. Inside there was a strange assortment of what I could only describe as Japanese metal clothing (you'd get that if you watched a j-metal music video). It was two floors and the top floor full of shoes and some strange people shaped chairs which was just tall enough for me to not have to crawl... granted I'm a lot taller (6'3”) then many Japanese but... this was outrageously short. After we checked out all the crazy shops we headed down some side streets lead by Tugbe to a huge three story art showcase. All three floors were completely painted or occupied by art in some way. It was really quite impressive but no pictures taking allowed inside. By this point Alex had started feeling a little ill so he headed back to his dorm and Tugbe lead us on to check out some of Akihabara and to find me an R4 card (mod chip for my Nintendo DS). Tigbe is a really impressive guide because she knows all of the crazy back streets and sketchy looking shops where you can find close to anything your heart desires. We were out wondering around Akihabara for the next 3 hours or so, looking at all these crazy shops, then grabbed some dinner and headed our separate ways home.

3 day recap

I apologize for not updating sooner... but I got lazy with keeping this log.

Day 8 we just did some exploring around Takadanobaba and I headed up to one of the Shinto shrines near by and with the ground keeper's permission snapped some pictures. He was a very nice old man who explained bits of the Shinto religion to me and was very enthused that an American came and was interested in the shrine. All in all it was a nice day and an eye opening experience to have someone so enthused in their religion and have it explained without it forced upon you. I was very pleased with how some of the pictures came out too.

Day 9 was mostly a day for rest because that night we knew what was going to happen... Karaoke with the Koreans... it was an experience that I will never forget... I was surprised how many English songs they knew... it's strange to think that American music is so popular in Asian countries when it just seems to mediocre to me... More impressive still was the choreographed dances that the three Koreans were able to execute while singing... it was quite a sight~

Day10 Sleeping in... because we were up until 6am doing karaoke... I did some laundry and made a run to the market for some food. Later we met up with Alex and made a run to Book Off where you can get your fill of manga for 105 ($1.05) yen a book... which is outrageously cheap... we perused the selection but there was nothing we really really wanted.... We headed back to the room and watched the Battle Royale and made our plans for tomorrow..... Harajuku

Fun Facts about Japan

I thought after bing here for a week it would be a good time to explain some strange cultural things you may not know and also list off some of my impressions.

-Gaijin in Japanese means “outsider”- this is what they refer to anyone one non-Japanese

-Being a Gaijin at times is very beneficial and other times its makes you feel a little outcast but not all Japanese judge you on this as I have witnessed.

-Night time – Here it gets dark at 4pm every day but that in no way stops anyone from being outside

-The night life here is almost every night there is no pause for holidays. Weekends are a little more busy but really its just as crazy as going out any other night.

-Christmas – Christmas in Japan is NOT a family holiday... in fact my room is by an Elementary school here and the kids are at school on Christmas day. Christmas is more of a Romantic holiday for couples. As you can imagine all the restaurant are packed with couples and all the bars and clubs are packed with singles trying to escape the reality of their single status.

-PDA personal displays of affection... NON EXISTANT the Japanese rarely hold hands in public (with the exception of Christmas) anything more then that is unfathomable to them...

-Sickness, there is no means of self medication here... no aspirin, nothing like that. If people have a cold... they go to the hospital and if that strikes you as odd I might also add that they also wear masks (like doctor masks) as a courtesy to other people as well as filtering their own in take... so its not uncommon especially this time of year to see large groups of people wearing surgical masks around town while carrying out their day to day tasks or simply hanging out with a group of friends.

-Trains... the JR Yamanote line is the most packed train in the city because it operates in a circle and you connect to trains from there... if your claustrophobic... avoid it... you will sometimes get a little toooo intimate with the person next to you...

I still have a million other strange things to share... but I really don't wanna be stuck in this room typing them... id rather be out enjoying them... so when I get some time... I'll write some more. 

Day 7 A very BLEACH Christmas Eve

One week into our travels we decided to try something new in Japan. We went to Denny's. You may be saying to me... Justin we have those in America... your dumb. I would say YOUR WRONG... Denny's in Japan is something close to a 3 star restaurant... there is really no concept of the traditional American breakfast here there are very few dishes that actually contain egg. Even their bacon is weird... but it was quite delicious. After some strange new foods we headed to a movie theater to check out the new Bleach movie. YES... they play anime in movie theaters but I would discourage anyone from going to one... because Japanese movie theaters are outrageously pricey. But we did see it and I was surprised how much I could understand... luckily anything I couldn't I had my personal translator Alex to help me out. After that we headed to a park in Ebisu to see their famous Christmas lights... to be honest... it was rather unimpressive but while we were their we did stop at McDonnalds for what we thought was going to be a cheap meal... WRONG AGAIN... McDonalds in Japan has about 6 things on the menu and they are all at least 700 Yen or 7 dollars... as we felt our wallets shrinking and gradually felt more depressed we got a call from our friend Tugbe who was out with some friends and wanted to meet up. This time all of the Japanese who we hung out with spoke English to some extent and we all had a good time... 

Oh and if your looking at my pictures you may be a little confused by the man in the pink one piece... On our way to Shibuya we ran into this guy who I guess just really wanted to blow off some steam being that it's Christmas Eve... and well Tugbe really wanted her picture taken with him... haha

Day 6 A nerd pilgrimage

Today was really just one of the most exciting things I could have asked for. We get to go to Akihabara which some of you may know as nerd paradise. Every inch of district is head to toe electronics and anime. The shops are in fact so over stocked that they just put the best deals out in the streets so most of the streets look like a bizarre. They had every piece of anime nerd gear one could ever hope for. It's not an exaggeration to say there were multiple buildings each having at least 3-5 floors of just anime stuff. We spent a good amount of time just looking around at all the cool gizmos and what not. The rest of the time we were accidentally walking into porn stores. Now some of you may be rolling your eyes right now but I assure you that as someone who can not read Japanese the signs do not help any... one second you'll be on the first floor checking out some new computer gear and you decide to go upstairs... MISTAKE because apparently every computer store doubles as a smut shop in Akihabara...

I picked up a sweet gundam shirt and some cheap stickers and left that place with my wallet intact... somehow...    

Day 5 Sitting around and saying goodbye

This day was mostly filled with recovering from Jump Festa and all the walking we did the day before. Alex Dimmick had to take some finals today so we were on our own for most of the day. John and I decided to go up to a tempura place and I did our ordering... I was quite proud of myself. Once Alex got out of class John hung back while I met Alex and Hissian (sorry if I killed the spelling) so they could do some shopping. After they finished they got a call to meet Moby and Woodie for a good bye hang out as Mody was leaving the next day and Woodie would be leaving soon as well. After they had a couple of drinks and we had some fish and chips (yes you can find those in Japan). We made our way to do the fantastic past time known as Puri Kura or “Print Club” which is basically a huge photo booth that you can make silly backgrounds then draw all over them after the picture has been taken. After that John and I stayed to play some of the best arcade games that Japan had to offer. Including an awesome new rhythm game balled “Jubeat” which you can see in the pictures ill be uploading soon. After that we headed home and went to bed with the promise of going to Akihabara (nerd paradise) tomorrow.

Day 4 Jump Festa + More Crazy Koreans

This was an exciting for all parties involved... you all know by now I'm a big anime / video game nerd so I was excited to hear that my visit to Japan would come with one of the biggest and free-est cons this side of the planet. We woke up at about 7am and got ready to meet our other group members at Ikebukaro station (Alex Dimmick, Alex Hill, and Byeolyi) and we made our way to the con which roughly involved switching two trains and about an hour altogether to ride. When we got there we were met by an outrageous number of people shuffling in and out of that place. The line moved at a steady rate and we were in after snaking between fences for what felt like a mile. The convention itself was set up a lot differently then ones I was accustomed and the reason being is because of the mass numbers of people. Instead of panel rooms there were just huge stages where they would usually have the writers of the respective jump stories talking along with the various voice actors. I got to see the Naruto and the Bleach stages. Though out the 3 huge airplane hangers that involved the Jump Festa there were scatterings of various video game vendors which were a great way to check out some of the new stuff that may never hit America or we'll have to wait for, for 2 years. The lines for most of these booths were very very long but we did get to sample some stuff. One such game was Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (for the Nintendo DS). We got to watch some of the newest demo videos for various other Square Enix games like Final Fantasy XIII and all the FFXIII related games along with the new Crystal Chronicles game for DS and a couple other games that didn't really gain our attention haha. We also got to eat various anime themed foods and got lots of free merch. We left the convention about an hour before its closing in hopes to beat the mad rush but that helped very little seeing as we all packed in like sardines for the train out. As we changed trains and the population decreased we eventually got a chance to sit down. Now as a gaijin or “outsider” you are looked at by much of the population as out of place and there-fore tend to avoid contact with you if they arnt introduced to them first. So here is a group of dumb gaijin sporting out cardboard Naruto headband/hair combo we got for free at the con sitting on a train. The rest of the group was able to sqeeze onto one side and so I sat down right by a young-ish Japanese guy who didnt really mind my presence and then an older Japanese lady came from the stationa and hesitated for a second and then wipped looked for another seat but gave up and sat next to me... but she wasnt so much concerned with me being a gaijin as she was trying not to laugh at my cardboard headband... so what does alex hill do... she starts taking pictures (with the flash off) I'm still waiting for that picture but man I can't wait to see it. After we made it home shortly after we left again to meet more people to go out for Byeolyi's birthday at a thai food place where there was conversation, good food and pictures for all to share. It was really a good time even when all the Crazy Koreans kept putting food in front of me... I don't think I ever felt that full before.  

Day3 Recovery and Partying

Most of the day was us recovering from all the activity while still getting over jet lag so... today was a little exploring around a few blocks from where we live and then resting until later in the day. Alex's college Rikkyo University was having a Christmas party and had invited us to come. I met a lot more of the foreign exchange students who were all really welcoming and so were all of the Japanese locals they seemed very interested in meeting John and I as we were easily the most noticeable people in the room because of our height. They even made us name tags in Japanese and were happy to try and speak English to us as best they can which was a nice treat because most of them are really shy about using their English because they are afraid of making mistakes. After the dinner and conversation we continued over to the Rikkyo University gateway which held two MASSIVE Christmas trees. After most people decided what they wanted to do for the rest of the night our group made our way to a park up the road. We all gathered and talked and joked and had a merry time. I met some really nice exchange students like Woodie (the crazy brit), Tesa (the angry aussie) and a guy who I can only remember calling moby (why? Because he looks like the singer Moby. It's sad to say but I can not remember all the Japanese names that were introduced to me that night but I assure you that they are all really amazing and warm people and were so much fun to hang out with.

That's pretty much all that happened that day because we took the chance to rest up.   

Day 2 Learning the subway system

To be honest the subway map is one of the most intimidating thing for a tourist to look at. Luckily we had Alex. John and I woke up at about 8am to start showering and we made a trip up the street to get some food from the market. The instant food there was really quite delicious, which is hard for someone from America to grasp but Japan has found a way to balance convince and quality. Around 1pm Alex finished his class and came to meet us. We headed to the train station and headed to Ikabukaro to meet some of Alex's friends all of whom were foreign exchange students he had met in his foreign exchange dorm. Quite a few of them spoke English and any who didn't Alex communicated with in Japanese.

We met two Korean Girls that Alex introduced as the Crazy Koreans who's names were given to me but as of now I can't recall but Alex assured me we would have to at least once go to Karaoke with because it was an experience we would never forget. Some of the other people we met were from countries like Australia, Germany, France and America. The one guy from France we met was quite a fun guy to just bullshit with and quite welcoming. The other American's name was Alex so for sake of not getting confused I will refer to her as Las Vegas Alex or LV Alex. LV Alex then joined our group as her and one other person had a reservation at a tattoo shop that Alex Dimmick had agreed to visit.

The appointment for the tattoo shop was at 7pm and we had about 4 hours to kill until then so we hopped a train to another part of town and started to explore the different shops and festival like side streets. The sun here goes down around 4pm which sounds kind of lame but really the city is so brightly illuminated that it makes no difference. We visited a 6 story building called BIC camera which was a massive 6 story display of all the latest and greatest electronics. Obviously I was like a kid in a candy store having to stop and examine all of these new things, which most of the time lead to the group getting ahead of me and then getting separated. After our excursion through there we went to a huge mall like area called Sunshine City which I thought was an odd name considering you go underground to enter the building. It was odd to see so many American shops mixed in with some really cool Japanese fashion stores. We grabbed a quick meal and headed to the station to make our way to the tattoo shop.

We made it there; though, a little late and met up with Alex's German friend named Tugbe (pronounced Tuba) and we headed to tattoo shop. This tattoo artist was known for his traditional Japanese style and his shop well reflected the cultural time period his art was accustom too. Tuba had intended to get a tattoo there and LV Alex was there to gather some information for a paper on Japanese fasion and by extension tattoos. They staid and talked for a while then we left Tuba to discus her tattoo design and our group made our way into town and explored our way through some side streets and small shops. We all got tired and hopped our respective trains and made it home.  

Day 1 Traveling and getting lost... IN TOKYO!!!

First off, I apologize that this entry is scatter brained and a little hard to follow but its hard to separate my thoughts and what was happening last night because of all the chaos but after this one I'll try and make my entries a little easier to read.

Well John and I got to Cleveland airport in plenty of time and made our flight to Newark airport to problem. I'll spare you all the details but in Newark we grabbed some food and exchanged some of our currency for the Japanese Yenn and so we began the 14 hour flight from the U.S. east coat to Tokyo. The flight felt like it took days and I believe during that time I developed a derivative of restless leg syndrome because sitting that long with only the occasional walk around and bathroom break is just TOO LONG. We arrived in Tokyo Narita international airport at apporx. 4 p.m. Japanese time. We made it through customs ok considering that John looked like a drug smuggler carrying something like 10lbs oh hypodermic needles and insulin for his brother. We were suppose to call our contact; Alex, and then we get on the train towards going to Nippori and meet Alex there but the number given to us for Alex was not it mobile phone number and was in fact his school apartment phone number... which caused a problem because we were now in one of the largest overcrowded city in the world with no way to contact the one person willing to act as a translator for us. Us being nerds the first thing we did was hop online to see who we could get to contact John's mom so she could contact Alex... to no avail we broke down and payed for a taxi to take us to our location because luckily we had a print out with the address on it. The taxi driver got us there despite us having no way to really communicate with him. He navigated the super tight streets made really only for bike riders and people walking and got us just down the street from our hotel. Now this may seem ok but we were kind of in a pinch and I knew this before we got in the cab... we had no way to check into our apartment, even if we spoke the language the check-in desk was closed by the time we got there. If there was ever a miricle moment... it was then. Alex and one of his Japanese friends named Kazu happened to be walking back to the room after not being able to find us at the train station. After some shouting and hugs exchanged we were very grateful we had finally been able to relax since we got there. We unloaded our suitcases and bags to out room and proceeded up the street to get some food. The city was absolutely amazing at night we are in no means in the down-town area of Tokyo but from airport to apartment we saw just how huge and populated this city is. We walked for a while to the tempura shop and grabbed a super delicious and relatively cheap (by their standards) meal. After that we made an attempt to go to the 100 Yenn market to just have a look around but it had just closed when we got there. We said goodbye to Kazu and lex lead us back to our apartment. When we got back the only thing I could think was how lucky we were in getting here and just how tired I was after getting virtually no sleep on the plane. I emailed home to tell them I got here and I fell asleep very quickly after that.  I'm sure my parents are reading this and freaking out at the fact that me and John got lost and what not but I want to assure them that John and myslef were able to make it here safe and sound. 

In all the mess last night I had no desire or time to take pictures of our entry into the country but I promise there will be LOTS of our adventures today and for the rest of the trip.  

Forward

I figured I would take the chance to explain what the purpose of this blog was before we get much further.

Thanks to a whole boatload of reasons I am lucky enough to be traveling to Japan this winter. I am a pretty big anime nerd so if you know what that is then you can imagine just how excited I am. Best of all I get to stay for close to a month (Dec. 17th - Jan. 9th). I will be traveling with one of my best friends John who is quite an awesome individual. John is less of an anime nerd and rivals me in being a video game nerd. We will be traveling to Tokyo where we will be met by John's brother; Alex, who has been studying abroad there for the past 5 months.

So in summation these will be the chronicles of two nerd's pilgrimage to the video game and anime mecca of the world. Armed only with their poor understanding of the language, a few dollars, and their wits... they will have to brave the strange foods, the strange language, and the strange customs if these two nerds have any hope of surviving... It can't be that hard... right?