Invasion of Area 11 – The Aftermath Day 3 & Day 4

Since these days are just about sightseeing more than anything else and is not really otaku related, I've decided to lump them together under the same post.

Imperial Palace

Getting off at the Tokyo Station, we made our way to the Imperial Palace on a sunny Monday morning. On the way, I got a glimpse of the Shin Marunouchi that we were supposed to stop by, but it was a bit too early anyway, so I doubt that there would be anything to see. Walked around the palace site and took pictures, although we could not enter the Imperial Gardens as it was closed on Mondays.

 

Statue of Kusunoki Masashige

Asakusa

Located here is Tokyo's largest and most significant Buddhist temple, the Sensoji. Leading to the temple was the Nakamise Shopping street where tourists can purchase souvenirs and other goodies. Apart from paying respect to the deities, visitors can also draw an Omikuji and visit the Asakusa shrine just beside the temple itself. There's also the Kappabashi-dori, an entire street dedicated to selling kitchenware. Cruises are also available at the wharf at the Sumida River, just a short walk from the Sensoji.

 

Entrance to the Nakamise shopping street

Tokyo University

Having seen and heard of this prestigious university from many sources(mainly anime and J Dramas ^^; ) we stopped by, to take photos of the campus vicinity as well as the famous Akamon, one of the 3 entrances leading into the university itself.

 

The Akamon(Red Door)

Tokyo Dome

With no real reason to visit this place other than the fact to see the actual building itself(Okay, so I came here because I was inspired by Eyeshield 21), the stadium was just a short distance away from the Tokyo University. Interestingly enough, they've managed to incorporate a small theme park built around the stadium.

 

The Tokyo Dome. Hiruma has been incapacitated, and Sena is now playing the QB role wtf?!

Roppongi

One of the trendier and more upscale wards in Tokyo, we made our way here around dusk, for sightseeing purposes of course, as we took note of the famous Roppongi Hills where you can find virtually every type of commercial premises in the same building.

 

A shot of the Roppongi Hills

Ikebukuro

Seeing as how this will be our last night here, we headed back to the hotel earlier than usual to shop at Animate. There was still a need to practice some self restraint, as we would be heading back to Akiba later for one last time to buy stuff too.

 

Just some of the loot we got from Animate. Yes, that's a Hentai manga.

Hakone

We checked out from our hotel at around 9am the next morning and made our way to the ryokan(traditional inn) to dump our luggage. We then proceeded to Hakone, a popular tourist destination even among the locals for its hotsprings. This is where we would spend the entire day, as it was quite a distance from our inn, and a round trip of Hakone would set us around 5-6 hours. Getting hold of the "Hakone Free Pass", visitors can have unlimited rides on the many modes of transportation within Hakone, be it trains, cable cars, ropeways and even a ship. The main purpose for this expensive journey to this locale was to fulfill Evern's lifelong dream of witnessing Mt Fuji upclose, which turned out not so close after all, but still enough to satisfy him lawl. At the end of a long trip, we headed back to the inn to soak inside the open air bath(no onsens here) and called it a day.

 

Our inn for the night

 

 

At the bottom of the cable car station

 

 

A blurry shot of Mount Fuji

Invasion of Area 11 – The Aftermath Day 2

Most definitely my favorite day of the trip for reasons which I would reveal later. In any case, referring to the guide meticulously thought out by Hoshi-kun, we are to head out to the Meiji Shrine near the Harajuku Station.

Meiji Jingu

This place was built for an Emperor, and it shows, judging from the vastness of the entire vicinity as it took us quite a while to reach the main shrine. To be honest, I'm ain't much of a religious person, but there was one reason why I had bothered to come here in the first place, and that is of course to see the Mikos(Shrine Maidens) >< As luck would have it, there was a wedding ceremony being held at the same place, so we got to see a couple donned in the traditional wedding kimono and hakama, not to mention the appearance of the head Shinto priest as well.

 

Meiji Jingu's Torii

 

 

Shrine Maidens! <3 Oh yeah, beautiful bride as well

Harujuku Station

Since it was Sunday, no visit to Harajuku would be complete without stopping over at Yoyogi Park, where members of the Gothic Lolita subculture were supposed to hang out. Unfortunately for us, we probably got there pretty late, as there were none in sight. However we managed to chance upon some Rockabillies and live bands performing there. As mentioned earlier, we were somewhat behind schedule as too much time was spent at the shrine earlier, so we wasted no more time and proceeded to the next location.

 

Live bands at Yoyogi. They sound real good and have albums on sale

 

 

Rockabilly Wheels

Saitama

The first of locales that we've planned to visit which is outside Tokyo, you'd be wondering why anyone would want to come to this sleepy part of the Kanto region. If you had read my earlier posts, you'd know that I came here to visit a particular shrine. Again, as I've admitted to the fact I'm far from pious, my visit here has ulterior motives.

Washinomiya Shrine

One of the oldest Shinto shrines around, this place received a huge influx of visitors outside Saitama when Newtype ran an article on the places featured in Lucky Star. Ever since then Otakus from all over have been pouring in to the extent that the locals were alarmed by them. It took us a short walk from the station to get here, and as expected, there weren't many people around to ask for directions. Nevertheless, we found our way around without any problems and reached the shrine at around past noon.

The one and only. For the curious, the little building on the right is actually a teahouse that sells souvenirs as well.

My inner fanboy was jumping for joy as I rushed towards to the main entrance of the shrine, taking pictures of myself and my other two accomplices standing at the same spot where Kagami was supposed to be. Speaking of which, I had Evern record a short clip of myself doing the Kagami Walk.

Without further ado, we went inside the shrine itself and noticed that there was minor construction taking place. I immediately guessed that it was for the Lucky Star event which is supposed to be held on the 2nd of December. Anyway, we reached the spot where worshippers were supposed to hang their ema(wooden prayer plaques) and surprise, surprise(not), it had Lucky Star all over it. They looked pretty much as I'd expect them to as seen before, but my jaw dropped when I came across a humongous ema featuring Konata which made the other emas look awfully noobish.

 

The many emas at the Washinomiya Shrine. Note the one on the extreme right

 

 

A closer look. Now that's what I call an ema

 

 

Minor construction/renovation at the shrine

Speaking of amateurs, I did what I came here to do(after from taking pictures of course) and bought myself an ema to write on. This is what I wrote:

KAGAMI IS MY WIFE!!!

 

LUCKY ☆ STAR

 

atalude.wordpress.com

 

25/11/2007

 

 

Please don't laugh lawl

I was caught by some old lady writing and hanging the ema who asked what anime the characters were from, to which I replied "Lucky Star." She had a puzzled look on her face so I continued by saying "Er..shin(new) anime", not that it helped clear her confusion anyway...

Shibuya

We took the rapid line from Saitama all the way back to Shibuya, and by this time, it was already dusk. Probably the most busiest place in Tokyo I've seen so far, we exited just right outside the Shibuya crossing, which was a sight of its own, as it is apparently the world's busiest. Surrounded by big screens and commercial buildings it is a very popular meeting spot it seems, as it is also home to Hachiko the dog which waited for its late master for 12 solid years! It became a symbol of loyalty, and a statue was erected in its honor.

Nakano Broadway

Our last stop for the day, this place is the Medina to Otakus, if Akiba was the Mecca. Unlike Akiba, this isn't so much of an entire district, as the only place you'd want to come here for, is situated on the 2nd floor of the Nakano Sun Mall. The place in question is Mandarake, one of the big time anime merchandise retailers similiar to Animate. Unlike the latter though, this place seem to serve the more elite crop of Otakus, judging from the atmosphere when we reached their shop. The Mandarake at the Sun Mall consists of several shoplots occupying the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor, each specializing in different goods. It was this point when I first realize on the otaku merchandise retailers phobia with cameras as I was stopped several times by the shop attendants, something which I will experience later at other places as well. Still it didn't really stop me, as I took pictures of what's available anyway. Apart from the feeling of elitism Mandarake seems to convey as opposed to the more family friendly feeling from Animate(which also bars photography if I recall, but I didn't notice this fact till I visited their outlet at Akiba), they stock goods such as animation cells and ready to wear cosplay outfits as well.

 

Nakano Sun Mall at night

 

 

One of Mandarake's many shop lots at the mall

 

 

Just like Animate, it has sections selling only male manga and another catering to girls

 

 

Ready to wear cosplay outfits. Most of them retail at about 20k yen, but the Suiseiseki one costs almost triple. ORZ

It was a pretty long day, as we got back to Ikebukuro quite late. Despite the minor setbacks such as not being able to meet the gothic lolis at Harajuku and not being able to get my hands on the Lucky Star phone straps at the shrine(I just found it is only available on the event day) it was still a successful day I feel. Heading straight to bed without taking a shower, today's eventful day marks the end of our 2nd day in Japan. つつく。。。。。

Invasion of Area 11 – The Aftermath Day 1

Armed with nothing but a few pieces of Yukichis and a weaboo level in spoken Japanese, we arrive in Japan on a cold Saturday morning. After completing all the necessary immigration procedures including the newly implemented one whereby photographs and fingerprints of all foreigners are stored into the database, we head off to our hotel in Ikebukuro.

Animate

Being told that we could check in after 2:00 pm, we decided to head out for a stroll to explore the vicinity. As luck would have it, just a 2 minute walk from the Sunshine City Prince Hotel is home to a branch of Japan's largest anime merchandise retailer. Being an otaku for the first time in Area 11, we knew we had to drop by a take a quick look. Entering Animate was an euphoric sensation as it was a sight never seen before by us, as it was filled with droves and droves of anime and manga stuff. Spanning 7 floors of cool shit and the 8th one being the event floor, we knew we had to return here another time to do our shopping.

 

Animate's flagship store in Ikebukuro

 

 

Just some of the merchandise available at the many floors in Animate

 

A section dedicated to Minami ke

 

 

I bought my Tsutsumi Akari H Manga from Animate too lawl

 

 

The Animate Tenchou. Last seen in Lucky Star.

Japanese Trains

For first timers, the Japanese rail transport system can be daunting, as it as an intricate and complex web of a transportation system. Thankfully, for us, my good pal Hoshi-kun assisted us by providing a schedule of sorts which lists down what trains to take to get to our destination and the fairs for it. By day 3, we had everything down pat and made full use of Japan's sophisticated transportation network which allowed access to virtually every corner of the country. Having said that, even if we were to screw up, there are fare adjustment counters at every station, so you can just "fix" your ticket accordingly and be on your way.

Akihabara

Finally, we arrived at the holy city of Akiba. Despite having seen this place many a times through various visual medias, nothing beats being out here in the flesh, but I guess that goes without saying. Since we were an about an hour early for the New Discovery Of Akihabara tour, we enthusiastically explored the surrounding area, and just as we did so, I felt a sense of (otaku)enlightenment and the feeling of having "returned home" Walking around, we resisted entering any of the shops, as we knew we would most likely blow all our expenditure on stuff and have nothing left for the rest of the trip, and just made a mental note of the places that we will come back to some other time.

 

ｷﾀ━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━ｯ!!

 

 

Newly launched lineup of Gundam 00 plamos

New Discovery Of Akihabara Tour

The highlight of our first day here. Jointly organized by the Japanese National Tourist Organization and the retailers in Akiba, 15 lucky people who sign up on their official site will be taken on a tour of the Electric Town by an English speaking guide. Meeting up in front of the Radio Kaikan building just a minute from the JR Akihabara station. We were given number tags and a earpiece so we can listen in on the guide from afar without sticking to her like glue. Yes, it was a she, and from the way she spoke to her co-guide in Mandarin, she was Taiwanese. In any case, after everyone had gathered(the group strangely enough consisted of old people more than anything else), we proceeded to the first location on the itinerary, which incidentally was in the Radio Kaikan building itself.

Registered participants are to report at this counter

1. Kotobukiya- For figurine enthusiasts, this name might sound familiar, as it is one of the better known manufacturers, alongside Max Factory and Atelier. Having pretty much what you'd expect from them, they had floors of figurines and other related merchandise, though we didn't stop for long as the tour was moving along pretty quickly.



Our guide explaining stuff in barely audible Engrish ><

2. Akky II- Part of a chain of duty free shops specializing in electrical equipment and souvenirs, we made a brief stop here, although I was hardly interested, as none of the items sold here were too expensive or are, as I said earlier, stuff you get for people back home, like the guy I promised to go out with to the newly opened mall on the very same day I left for Japan....
3. Tsukumo Robot Kingdom - A showcase of Japan's advancement in robotics were pint sized mechanical humanoids that were commercially available, and as you'd expect, comes with a hefty price tag that runs into thousands of dollars. At least they had a robot Hello Kitty which responded when you spoke to it.



This little punk costs a bomb

4. Yodobashi Camera Multi-Media Akiba - Easily the largest electronics store in Akihabara or anywhere in the world for that matter, it has the every audio/visual equipment you can ever think of, and also houses the largest commercially available television in the world(according to the guide) which costs around 6 million yen.



You can buy a house in Malaysia with the amount they're charging for this.

5. Tokyo Anime Centre - Located in the UDX building at Akiba Crossfields is this facility which was supposedly set up to market anime to the masses, be it locals or foreigners. To be honest, I expected it to be much larger and looking more like a museum, but it was still a good place to visit. The most unique thing about the anime centre would probably the recording room, where you can voice act to a muted anime clip and live out your seiyuu fantasies. You can then purchase the DVD containing the scene with your voice on it.



A glimpse of the Tokyo Anime Centre



I wish to take the Saber mannequin home ._.

Although the estimated time for the tour was to be 2 hours, we were done in under an hour and a half. After rendezvousing back at the Radio Kaikan building, we were given a goodie bag which consisted of a phone strap, a disc cleaner, a DVD of the various sights in Akiba as well as a Cosplay magazine. Next stop in Akiba(we're still avoiding shops) was the much talked about @home cafe just short walk from where we were. I felt my heart break, when we got there, as it was full and we had no chance of entering. Mind you, the maid cafe is located on the 6th and 7th floor, with the queue starting from all the way down the 2nd floor. We decided to hang around outside the cafe, as I was still unsatisfied, but was told by the maid to leave, in something Japanese that sounded like "Get the fuck out kudasai, Goshujin-sama" or something to that effect. So I replied with just "Sumimasen" and left the outlet in tears. Definitely Fission Mailed, but I guess it can't be helped, since even if we managed to get in, I do not possess that level of conversational Japanese to truly savor the maid experience. Maybe some other time then...

Tokyo Tower

The time was around 4pm but it was already dusk, so we decided to head over to the last stop for the day(since everyone was tired from the airplane trip) We were to initially meant to get there through the Ginza line after visiting the Imperial Palace, but decided against it and took an alternate route instead. Unfortunately for us, at the stop we got off, it was an awfully long trek to the tower itself, although we got to see a shrine at the foot of the tower, which we would have probably missed if we took the first route. Adding to our woes, by the time we got to the tower, there was an insanely long queue ahead of us. I thought we'd never get up the tower, but thankfully the line was moving pretty quickly, and we managed to go up the main observatory after about an hour of waiting. The entrance fee was about 820 yen, although with an additional fee, you get to visit the other attractions in the tower itself, including a wax museum and optical illlusion museum of some kind. Boy, were we glad we decided to brave the queue to get up here, as the view of the cityscape of Tokyo at night was magnificent. After taking a few pictures, we head back down to return to our hotel.

 

2 landmarks for the price of 1

 

 

View of Tokyo Tower from the bottom. I won't include any of the cityscape images since they turned out pretty bad...

After a long dip in the tub and toying with them new fangled high tech toilets in our room, we turned for the night at about midnight, which concludes the first day of our pilgrimage to Japan. つつく。。。。。