Outside of My Ishikawa Bubble - Tokyo (Full Text Only Version)

Three days in Tokyo. That’s all it took to hook me in and fall in love with the city. But I wouldn’t want to live there after living in Komatsu. I like my rural life with the friendly people and the quiet nights—with the option of going to a nearby city like Kanazawa, which is only a 30-minute train ride away. Nonetheless, Tokyo is a place I wouldn’t mind visiting again and again, especially when so many good friends are living there now.

1/2/2010

I woke up around 6:30am and got off the overnight bus at Shinjuku, an area in Tokyo. My friend, Kazuki, and I headed over by subway to the Kamata JR stop to leave our baggage at the hotel. We wouldn’t be able to check into our rooms until much later in the afternoon.

Our first stop that morning was Sengakuji Temple, a temple that was originally built during the Tokugawa period. This shrine is particularly interesting to me because it honors the Akoroshi, the 47 loyal ronin warriors who avenged their master, Asano Takuminokami, by killing Kira Hozukenosuke and taking his head to Sengakuji.

Our next stop was lunch with Hiro in Ebisu. Kazuki and I headed over to Ebisu and had about an hour to kill before Hiro would arrive. We walked around the shopping center there, but I didn’t buy anything because I was all shopped out AND BROKE. People were still lining up to get the deals available that week. Our last twenty minutes was spent in a photographic arts museum. A lot of the images were beautiful, but I only took a couple shots of my favorites.

We walked back to the station to meet Hiro. I knew he was coming with a couple friends, but he appeared with an entourage. I was pleasantly surprised to find Ben amongst the group! I haven’t seen him forever, and I didn’t expect to see him in Japan. He and Hiro just met the day before through their mutual friends. What a small world.

Anyway, Hiro led us to a hamburg place and we had a nice hearty meal. I decided to be different and get hayashi rice. I had been craving it since Kyoto, because I wasn’t able to order it at the café in Kyoto since it was sold out. It was nice getting to meet some new San Diego people, even in another country.

After our delicious meal, we all headed over to Shibuya to walk around. There isn’t really a lot to see there unless you want to window shop. We ended up leaving that area and going to Akihabara—the electronic and anime otaku central.

Akihabara is the place to be if you want a wide selection of electronic goods or if you are obsessed with Japanese pop culture. Every other store in the area is selling computer parts, cameras, manga, anime, dolls, or idol paraphernalia. We went into one store that had 9 levels to it—each level with different otaku ware. There were strange looking dolls, anime cos-play costumes, ecchi (perverted) manga, and old school stuff. We took some photos until the staff stopped us.

We were going to check out a maid café, because Ben wanted to (jk), but its ridiculously expensive just to get in and look at the “maids.” In Osaka, you could go into the café without paying, but in Tokyo there’s a cover charge on top of the expensive treats and drinks. Also, if you look in, there were only creepy men in there…fulfilling their fetish fantasies. I was not about to be the only female going in.

The best part of going to Akihabara, for me, was finally buying an electronic dictionary. I got it for a decent price—about $200.

Kazuki and I left the group for a bit to check into our hotel rooms. He decided to stay in his room for the night and I went back to Shinjuku to meet up with the guys and some more San Diego people.

I met up with Hiro, Ben, Henry, Tony, Eri, Daniel, and Sachi. We all headed over to a nomihoudai/izakaya. Reuniting with old friends, delicious food and drinking, I was a happy girl that night. After dinner, we strolled on over to a karaoke place and sang for a couple hours. The night was a bit of a blur for me after the Izakaya. There are pictures from the others’ cameras, but I don’t remember taking those photos at all.

It was a great first night in Tokyo.

1/3/2010

Waking up in Tokyo is exciting because I know that I’ll have something planned for the day. That morning I felt refreshed, after a night of drinking, and adventurous. I decided to fly solo that morning and check out Harajuku. I got off the train and followed the hordes of people. I had originally planned on window shopping in Takeshita street, but decided to see where everyone was going.

Sometimes being a follower does take you places. I ended up at the Meiji Jingu, one of the most visited shrines in Tokyo. THIS is what I had imagined New Years Day would be like at the Osaka shrine with people crowding around the bell, tons of people lining up to buy arrows and omikuji, and plenty of families spending the first few moments of the new year together.

After tossing a coin in and after I bought an omamori, I headed to the original destination: Takeshi street. This shopping area is known for pop idol merchandise—mostly for the ladies’ viewing pleasure. There are also a lot of clothing shops, including sock wear. I checked out a couple places that were devoted to selling socks, tights, leggings, etc. I had to cut my shopping trip short, because I would have been late to a lunch appointment otherwise, but I did manage to snag three pairs of long socks for 1,000Y.

Around 11am, I met up with an old college friend, Kiel, in Shibuya. We went to a café where I had my first decent experience with Japanese pasta. Saizeria, a pasta place in Komatsu, is pretty terrible. It was nice catching up and next time I’ll remember to take a photo together!

Kiel had to run an do some errands, so I called Hiro to see what he was up to. I met up with him, the other guys, and Maki, a new acquaintance, to check out Ginza. Henry was set on buying tea omiyage, souvenirs, so we went to a tea shop to get green tea. Outside of the shop, the Tokyo marathon runners were passing by on the main street. It was little coincidences like this one that made the trip feel like I got a taste of everything. After that we walked around Ginza a little more and then headed to Odaiba to take some pictures.

Odaiba is beautiful. Definitely make sure to go to Odaiba on a nice day and take some photos of the Rainbow Bridge, the water, Fuji Television Station, and the Statue of Liberty. No joke. They have a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. It was as if we got a 2-for-1 deal to see Tokyo and New York all in one go. Odaiba is also home to the big giant ferris wheel. I love ferris wheels. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go, because I had to get some stuff from my hotel room.

Dinner took place in an izakaya in Ebisu at the same shopping area I went to the first day. The beer glasses were huge! Unfortunately, beer didn’t seem like such a good idea for me when ordering drinks, so I missed out. We tried to hit up Roppongi Hills for clubbing that night, but everything was closed since it was Sunday. The observation deck was the plan B, but it was $15 to get in and it would have closed within thirty minutes. We found a café instead and had some coffee with desserts.

It was a good day for touring Tokyo.

1/4/2010

My final day in Tokyo! Or at least the final day until I go in April…

After checking out of the hotel, Kazuki and I dropped off our luggage at the Shinjuku station. We met up with Ben, Henry, and Tony for lunch. The guys had to catch a plane back to the U.S., so we had to grab a quick bite. We found a Japanese fast food shop and scarfed down our udon/beef bowl combos.

Good bye, San Diegans! It was fun traveling together!

Kazuki and I had some time before going to our next destination, so we went to check out Yoyogi Park near Harajuku. It was nice, but it was an actual park so there wasn’t a lot to see. There is usually a lot of dancing or various performances that take place in the park, but maybe it was their day off.

The only thing Kazuki and I had planned for this Tokyo trip was in Mitaka. We had a 4pm appointment with Totoro at the Ghibli Museum! Cameras are not allowed inside the building, but I took plenty of the outside. It’s a small museum dedicated to the work of Hayao Miyazaki. There is also a short animated film theater inside, which is included in the entrance fee. The short that I saw was about sumo wrestling mice. Adorable! Its definitely worth going to, but make sure you get tickets ahead of time. We had to purchase ours from a Lawson convenience store.

Our last event of the night was with my Hiro. We had dinner and then some coffee. Hiro and I said goodbye to Kazuki at his bus stop and then I walked with Hiro to mine. Til next time, Tokyo!