JAPAN TRIP 2007
I'm back from Japan~!! :D With far too much stuff and PHOTOS 8DD
TRIP TO JAPAN 2007
. August 31st - September 1st . London ---> Tokyo .
Left London Heathrow at 2 o'clock (an hour late) and then had an 11 hour flight to Tokyo. Landed at 9am Japan time which was 1am British time (-______-);; Didn't sleep on the flight and so was completely exhausted.
Got Narita Express to Shinjuku Station - utterly massive. Someone told us it was the busiest station in the world - every day 2 million people pass through it. All the stations were bigger than British ones - even the small stops had bigger stations than Waterloo or Victoria, it was incredible.
Walked to Keio Plaza Hotel - a huge skyscraper in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Goverment Offices. X/1999!! XDD
the Keio Plaza Hotel
view from my hotel window of the Tokyo Met towers
view from my window
Went for Teppanyaki at a restaurant on the 45th floor and then slept for a few hours.
In the early evening we went into Shinjuku's electronics area and I bought a few games: Final Fantasy IX (because I love it so much), Chrono Cross and Tales of Legendia.
. September 2nd . Tokyo .
Went to the Imperial Palace and walked all the way around it - much longer than it looked on the map. But it meant we saw all the government buildings.
my mum xDD with dad taking photos in the background
me, looking like a dork
the Diet Building
the British Embassy
Then in the early evening we took the train to Nakano Broadway which is basically anime heaven. It's a shopping mall pretty much totally devoted to various anime stuffs - visited the Mandarake doujinshi shop and bought rather too much doujinshi... Loads of Prince of Tennis, especially Silver Pair and OshiAto with some Golden Pair, then a few Harry Potter (Sirius/Lupin), Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Death Note, D.Gray-man and Bleach.
Also saw the Tenimyu DVDs but they were about £50!! I'm not paying that much. What a rip-off.
. September 3rd . Tokyo .
Went to Zojouji Temple in the morning.
random side-street XDD
MONK!! XDXD
there were bajillions of these statues with red bonnets on and windmills. Apparently they're representing dead babies DD:
Then went up Tokyo Tower to the special observatory at 250m - good views of Tokyo but it was hazy as usual and we couldn't see Mt Fuji.
views from Tokyo Tower:
roppongi --^
rainbow bridge --^
Then went to Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics centre. Went to Tora no Ana and mistakenly went into the pr0n!z section first (>____<); that'll teach me to rush into shops without reading the signs... Then went into the right bit and bought some manga and a bit more doujinshi. Just in case. Then bought Valkerie Profile 2: Silmeria and Tales of Rebirth from games store. As well as 'Kamikaze' (divine wind) and 'Goukaku' (pass exam) headbands XDXD just because.
We tried to book a train for Nikkou for the next day but were too late... DD: Sucks.
In the evening we went for Tenpura and my father and I embarrassed ourselves by committing a complete faux pas and eating all the radish which was meant to be dissolved in sauce... Oopsie XDDD They also served battered prawn head and legs which my mum and I just couldn't eat (>____<); The rest of it was really good though :DD (and REALLY expensive).
. September 4th . Tokyo .
The temperature was up to 35 degrees today (>_____<) SO HOT AND HUMID~! DD:
First we walked a fair way to Asakusa.
In Asakusa we went to the Sensou-ji Temple Complex.
Kaminari-mon
a stone with poems on by Basho and some other poets...
Then we went to Shibuya and I went into the Shibuya 109 department store - literally just teenage girls. How come everyone in Japan dresses so well!? I looked really out of place in my scruffy shorts and T-shirts, but thats what I'd wear into the village in England... Oh well. The store was massively over-priced - I found the same stuff for less than a third of the price in a shop outside. Also, Shibuya is the place with those massive crossings where hundreds of people cross the road at once, which features in a lot of anime, like the end of Gundam Wing :DD
Went on to Harajuku, which was just awesome :D Because it started raining (and I was very tired) we didn't see much of it, but the clothes were crazily great. Better clothes than Camden, although I think Camden wins on the shoes front... I bought some stuff but it must be so cool to be able to shop there regularly. Wow.
. September 5th . Tokyo ---> Kyoto .
2 and a half hour / 500km train journey from Shinagawa to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train).
very clean railway tracks (unlike England).
Hikari Shinkansen. The faster Nozomi trains have really long noses; this one is shorter.
Kyoto station:
Kyoto Tower in daytime...
...and at night
Got taxi to the Kyoto Kokusai (International) Hotel with THE MOST MISERABLE TAXI DRIVER EVER. Weird. Most Japanese people are very polite when they're doing their job. I think this was just unlucky... Hotel just like the last one except a lot cheaper and without a good choice of restaurant :/
view from my room
view from my parents' room of Nijou-jo
useful instructions in case of fire or earthquake XDDD
. September 6th . Kyoto .
Sussed out the Kyoto bus system and went to Tou-ji in the morning and saw Japan's (the world's?) tallest wooden pagoda and various temple-y things.
random Colonel Sanders in a yukata XDDD just like my picture of Ronald McDonald bowing from Thailand XDXD
Saw adverts in Kyoto station for Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar sung in Japanese, and acted with Noh-type make-up. Looked great XDD
amazing looking cake shop in Kyoto station 8DD we never actually ate there, unfortunately.
. September 7th . Kyoto ---> Hiroshima --- Kyoto .
There was some unholy confusion and delays with the Shinkansen this morning - I thought that wasn't meant to happen here!! Reminded me of good old England where the trains are never on time and usually cancelled. In the end we had to get a Kodama Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka instead of the Hikari we had booked, then caught the right Hikari to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima was amazing - very interesting, but very depressing (obviously). Saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, the Peace Park and its various monuments, and then went into the museum where we saw various remnants from the explosion like bloody school uniforms and pieces of skin and nail (>____<); Ick.
Atomic Bomb Dome - one of the only buildings left standing when the bomb hit, about 600m from the epicentre.
Flame of Peace
the prayer monument
you can see the dome through the arch
children's monument
dad ringing the peace bell :D
where the ashes of thousands of the victims are buried
the origami cranes etc which children make in remembrance
the Korean memorial
. September 8th . Kyoto .
Some guy in the lift who I spoke to in Japanese asked me how many years I'd been living in Japan! :DD And some woman later asked me if I was at university in Japan and complimented my diction. This makes me happy XD
We set out to go to Nanzen-ji but on the way stopped off at a few shrines and temples including Koun-ji and Kumano-nyakuaji-jinja.
random huge dragonfly :DD
random shop
Then went into the Eikandou Complex.
Finally went onto Nanzen-ji but by that point we were pretty much templed out, so we saw San-mon but didn't go any further.
rickshaw!! :DD
San-mon
Then we got the bus to Gion and walked through the old streets and into the shopping district. Got various CDs and such.
In the evening there was some entertainment at the hotel - a maika dance.
. September 9th . Kyoto .
First we literally crossed the road to Nijou-jo and went around inside the castle on the squeaky Nightingale Floor - as usual with these things, we weren't allowed to take photos inside.
Then we went to the downtown area again to go to a camera shop but apparently it had been replaced by a Pachinko parlour, so that was a bust.
Finally we went to the Kyoto Handicraft Museum and saw various samurai swords and shizz.
. September 10th . Kyoto ---> Atami .
Went to Atami in Hakone by Shinkansen - a 2 hour journey which brings us most of the way back to Tokyo.
Managed to get bus to Hotel New Akao only because I can read Japanese and despite the very rude pushy Japanese women who don't understand how to queue, we finally arrived. We booked a ryokan room with traditional Japanese tatami mats and futon bedding, although the hotel itself is not a ryokan. It's set jutting out into the sea and is a strange place - to be honest, the hotel wasn't very good and we were pretty much the only Westerners there. We only stayed for two nights though, so it was ok despite rather gross food and it being kinda shabby DD:
night time entertainment
some strange 'pound the rice cake' ritual or whatever XDD
some wonderful engrish from the cleaning staff...
views from the hotel:
. September 11th . Atami .
We were planning to go to see Mt Fuji today, but due to various miscalculations and not-that-great weather we didn't end up doing that, so this day was a bit of a bust.
Anyway, we went to Atami-jo which looked great on the outside but was weird on the inside - a sort-of museum and gallery with the randomest stuff in it.
views from the castle:
Then we caught the bus into Atami, although there was pretty much nothing to do in the town. Had a great lunch though in a little caf on the 'Atami Ginza' street.
our ice cream parfaits were smoking!! XDD
Also went to Kiunkaku which was an old inn that famous people like Tanizaki Junichirou and Mishima Yukio stayed in. Just like the hotel (and Atami generally) it was full of old Japanese tourists.
. September 12th . Atami ---> Tokyo .
30 minute or so Shinkansen journey from Atami to Shinagawa and then got taxi with happy friendy driver to Shinjuku.
Took a final trip to Nakano Broadway and got a Vivi keyring and an Ichigo plushie <333 Went out into Shinjuku again and got Legend of Mana and Vagrant Story from the Yodabashi games shop.
<333
Shinjuku at night
. September 13th . Tokyo ---> London .
Had to get up at 5.30 to get the Narita Express to the airport (-______-); 12 hour flight back, then an hour or so taxi back to HOME~!
And now I'm still a bit tired and I have a cold which my parents so kindly gave me, but it was a great trip~! :DD I recommend that everyone go! My parents loved it too, even though they have no interest in anime and don't speak a word of Japanese. Except Shinkansen. They picked that one up. XDDD
Recommendations for travelling to Japan:
1. If you're planning on travelling much, especially on the Shinkansen, get a Japan Rail Pass. We got them for about £70 less than most other places from the Japan Centre in London, and saved a lot of money with them. In Tokyo, you can get pretty much everywhere on the JR lines (especially the Yamanote Line), in Kyoto the bus system goes everywhere at 220 yen a pop and in Hiroshima the tram system goes to right outside the Atomic Bomb Dome for 150 yen or so. We didn't need to use the subway system once.
2. Don't get confused by the toilets. They all have various bidet functions and some have warmed seats, some flush regularly while you're using them and most public ones have this hilarious feature where you can press a button to generate an electronic flushing noise.
the explanation for the flushing sound effect. It basically says 'make the flushing noise many times. let's only flush the water away once.'
the usual kind of options you have for the toilet, including bidet and blow dry. And don't you love the picture of the bum? That totally cracked me up, lolz XDXD
haha XDD this just made me laugh.
3. Be warned that the Japanese actually have very bad manners on the street and when they're not doing their jobs. When they're working, they're incredibly polite, helpful and genuinely motivated. When they're on the street they won't generally apologise if they bump into you, or thank you if you hold the door for them or whatever. They also suck at queueing and will just barge you out the way. Given that queueing is pretty much the British national sport, this took us by surprise.
4. Nobody does Western-style desserts better than the Japanese. Eat lots of them while you're there. Their 'hotto sando' (hot sandwiches) and toasted sandwiches are usually delicious too (and no, I don't know the difference between them...)
5. Learn enough Japanese to read menus and ask simple questions etc. They are much more eager to help if you speak the language, and also even if they have an English menu, they won't generally understand if you order in English. The Japanese words I used most (apart from obvious words like ~ o kudasai and arigatou) were hitotsu/futatsu/mittsu when ordering in restaurants, chiketto/kippu for trains, daijoubu and omochikaeri.
TRIP TO JAPAN 2007
. August 31st - September 1st . London ---> Tokyo .
Left London Heathrow at 2 o'clock (an hour late) and then had an 11 hour flight to Tokyo. Landed at 9am Japan time which was 1am British time (-______-);; Didn't sleep on the flight and so was completely exhausted.
Got Narita Express to Shinjuku Station - utterly massive. Someone told us it was the busiest station in the world - every day 2 million people pass through it. All the stations were bigger than British ones - even the small stops had bigger stations than Waterloo or Victoria, it was incredible.
Walked to Keio Plaza Hotel - a huge skyscraper in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Goverment Offices. X/1999!! XDD
the Keio Plaza Hotel
view from my hotel window of the Tokyo Met towers
view from my window
Went for Teppanyaki at a restaurant on the 45th floor and then slept for a few hours.
In the early evening we went into Shinjuku's electronics area and I bought a few games: Final Fantasy IX (because I love it so much), Chrono Cross and Tales of Legendia.
. September 2nd . Tokyo .
Went to the Imperial Palace and walked all the way around it - much longer than it looked on the map. But it meant we saw all the government buildings.
my mum xDD with dad taking photos in the background
me, looking like a dork
the Diet Building
the British Embassy
Then in the early evening we took the train to Nakano Broadway which is basically anime heaven. It's a shopping mall pretty much totally devoted to various anime stuffs - visited the Mandarake doujinshi shop and bought rather too much doujinshi... Loads of Prince of Tennis, especially Silver Pair and OshiAto with some Golden Pair, then a few Harry Potter (Sirius/Lupin), Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Death Note, D.Gray-man and Bleach.
Also saw the Tenimyu DVDs but they were about £50!! I'm not paying that much. What a rip-off.
. September 3rd . Tokyo .
Went to Zojouji Temple in the morning.
random side-street XDD
MONK!! XDXD
there were bajillions of these statues with red bonnets on and windmills. Apparently they're representing dead babies DD:
Then went up Tokyo Tower to the special observatory at 250m - good views of Tokyo but it was hazy as usual and we couldn't see Mt Fuji.
views from Tokyo Tower:
roppongi --^
rainbow bridge --^
Then went to Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics centre. Went to Tora no Ana and mistakenly went into the pr0n!z section first (>____<); that'll teach me to rush into shops without reading the signs... Then went into the right bit and bought some manga and a bit more doujinshi. Just in case. Then bought Valkerie Profile 2: Silmeria and Tales of Rebirth from games store. As well as 'Kamikaze' (divine wind) and 'Goukaku' (pass exam) headbands XDXD just because.
We tried to book a train for Nikkou for the next day but were too late... DD: Sucks.
In the evening we went for Tenpura and my father and I embarrassed ourselves by committing a complete faux pas and eating all the radish which was meant to be dissolved in sauce... Oopsie XDDD They also served battered prawn head and legs which my mum and I just couldn't eat (>____<); The rest of it was really good though :DD (and REALLY expensive).
. September 4th . Tokyo .
The temperature was up to 35 degrees today (>_____<) SO HOT AND HUMID~! DD:
First we walked a fair way to Asakusa.
In Asakusa we went to the Sensou-ji Temple Complex.
Kaminari-mon
a stone with poems on by Basho and some other poets...
Then we went to Shibuya and I went into the Shibuya 109 department store - literally just teenage girls. How come everyone in Japan dresses so well!? I looked really out of place in my scruffy shorts and T-shirts, but thats what I'd wear into the village in England... Oh well. The store was massively over-priced - I found the same stuff for less than a third of the price in a shop outside. Also, Shibuya is the place with those massive crossings where hundreds of people cross the road at once, which features in a lot of anime, like the end of Gundam Wing :DD
Went on to Harajuku, which was just awesome :D Because it started raining (and I was very tired) we didn't see much of it, but the clothes were crazily great. Better clothes than Camden, although I think Camden wins on the shoes front... I bought some stuff but it must be so cool to be able to shop there regularly. Wow.
. September 5th . Tokyo ---> Kyoto .
2 and a half hour / 500km train journey from Shinagawa to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train).
very clean railway tracks (unlike England).
Hikari Shinkansen. The faster Nozomi trains have really long noses; this one is shorter.
Kyoto station:
Kyoto Tower in daytime...
...and at night
Got taxi to the Kyoto Kokusai (International) Hotel with THE MOST MISERABLE TAXI DRIVER EVER. Weird. Most Japanese people are very polite when they're doing their job. I think this was just unlucky... Hotel just like the last one except a lot cheaper and without a good choice of restaurant :/
view from my room
view from my parents' room of Nijou-jo
useful instructions in case of fire or earthquake XDDD
. September 6th . Kyoto .
Sussed out the Kyoto bus system and went to Tou-ji in the morning and saw Japan's (the world's?) tallest wooden pagoda and various temple-y things.
random Colonel Sanders in a yukata XDDD just like my picture of Ronald McDonald bowing from Thailand XDXD
Saw adverts in Kyoto station for Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar sung in Japanese, and acted with Noh-type make-up. Looked great XDD
amazing looking cake shop in Kyoto station 8DD we never actually ate there, unfortunately.
. September 7th . Kyoto ---> Hiroshima --- Kyoto .
There was some unholy confusion and delays with the Shinkansen this morning - I thought that wasn't meant to happen here!! Reminded me of good old England where the trains are never on time and usually cancelled. In the end we had to get a Kodama Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka instead of the Hikari we had booked, then caught the right Hikari to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima was amazing - very interesting, but very depressing (obviously). Saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, the Peace Park and its various monuments, and then went into the museum where we saw various remnants from the explosion like bloody school uniforms and pieces of skin and nail (>____<); Ick.
Atomic Bomb Dome - one of the only buildings left standing when the bomb hit, about 600m from the epicentre.
Flame of Peace
the prayer monument
you can see the dome through the arch
children's monument
dad ringing the peace bell :D
where the ashes of thousands of the victims are buried
the origami cranes etc which children make in remembrance
the Korean memorial
. September 8th . Kyoto .
Some guy in the lift who I spoke to in Japanese asked me how many years I'd been living in Japan! :DD And some woman later asked me if I was at university in Japan and complimented my diction. This makes me happy XD
We set out to go to Nanzen-ji but on the way stopped off at a few shrines and temples including Koun-ji and Kumano-nyakuaji-jinja.
random huge dragonfly :DD
random shop
Then went into the Eikandou Complex.
Finally went onto Nanzen-ji but by that point we were pretty much templed out, so we saw San-mon but didn't go any further.
rickshaw!! :DD
San-mon
Then we got the bus to Gion and walked through the old streets and into the shopping district. Got various CDs and such.
In the evening there was some entertainment at the hotel - a maika dance.
. September 9th . Kyoto .
First we literally crossed the road to Nijou-jo and went around inside the castle on the squeaky Nightingale Floor - as usual with these things, we weren't allowed to take photos inside.
Then we went to the downtown area again to go to a camera shop but apparently it had been replaced by a Pachinko parlour, so that was a bust.
Finally we went to the Kyoto Handicraft Museum and saw various samurai swords and shizz.
. September 10th . Kyoto ---> Atami .
Went to Atami in Hakone by Shinkansen - a 2 hour journey which brings us most of the way back to Tokyo.
Managed to get bus to Hotel New Akao only because I can read Japanese and despite the very rude pushy Japanese women who don't understand how to queue, we finally arrived. We booked a ryokan room with traditional Japanese tatami mats and futon bedding, although the hotel itself is not a ryokan. It's set jutting out into the sea and is a strange place - to be honest, the hotel wasn't very good and we were pretty much the only Westerners there. We only stayed for two nights though, so it was ok despite rather gross food and it being kinda shabby DD:
night time entertainment
some strange 'pound the rice cake' ritual or whatever XDD
some wonderful engrish from the cleaning staff...
views from the hotel:
. September 11th . Atami .
We were planning to go to see Mt Fuji today, but due to various miscalculations and not-that-great weather we didn't end up doing that, so this day was a bit of a bust.
Anyway, we went to Atami-jo which looked great on the outside but was weird on the inside - a sort-of museum and gallery with the randomest stuff in it.
views from the castle:
Then we caught the bus into Atami, although there was pretty much nothing to do in the town. Had a great lunch though in a little caf on the 'Atami Ginza' street.
our ice cream parfaits were smoking!! XDD
Also went to Kiunkaku which was an old inn that famous people like Tanizaki Junichirou and Mishima Yukio stayed in. Just like the hotel (and Atami generally) it was full of old Japanese tourists.
. September 12th . Atami ---> Tokyo .
30 minute or so Shinkansen journey from Atami to Shinagawa and then got taxi with happy friendy driver to Shinjuku.
Took a final trip to Nakano Broadway and got a Vivi keyring and an Ichigo plushie <333 Went out into Shinjuku again and got Legend of Mana and Vagrant Story from the Yodabashi games shop.
<333
Shinjuku at night
. September 13th . Tokyo ---> London .
Had to get up at 5.30 to get the Narita Express to the airport (-______-); 12 hour flight back, then an hour or so taxi back to HOME~!
And now I'm still a bit tired and I have a cold which my parents so kindly gave me, but it was a great trip~! :DD I recommend that everyone go! My parents loved it too, even though they have no interest in anime and don't speak a word of Japanese. Except Shinkansen. They picked that one up. XDDD
Recommendations for travelling to Japan:
1. If you're planning on travelling much, especially on the Shinkansen, get a Japan Rail Pass. We got them for about £70 less than most other places from the Japan Centre in London, and saved a lot of money with them. In Tokyo, you can get pretty much everywhere on the JR lines (especially the Yamanote Line), in Kyoto the bus system goes everywhere at 220 yen a pop and in Hiroshima the tram system goes to right outside the Atomic Bomb Dome for 150 yen or so. We didn't need to use the subway system once.
2. Don't get confused by the toilets. They all have various bidet functions and some have warmed seats, some flush regularly while you're using them and most public ones have this hilarious feature where you can press a button to generate an electronic flushing noise.
the explanation for the flushing sound effect. It basically says 'make the flushing noise many times. let's only flush the water away once.'
the usual kind of options you have for the toilet, including bidet and blow dry. And don't you love the picture of the bum? That totally cracked me up, lolz XDXD
haha XDD this just made me laugh.
3. Be warned that the Japanese actually have very bad manners on the street and when they're not doing their jobs. When they're working, they're incredibly polite, helpful and genuinely motivated. When they're on the street they won't generally apologise if they bump into you, or thank you if you hold the door for them or whatever. They also suck at queueing and will just barge you out the way. Given that queueing is pretty much the British national sport, this took us by surprise.
4. Nobody does Western-style desserts better than the Japanese. Eat lots of them while you're there. Their 'hotto sando' (hot sandwiches) and toasted sandwiches are usually delicious too (and no, I don't know the difference between them...)
5. Learn enough Japanese to read menus and ask simple questions etc. They are much more eager to help if you speak the language, and also even if they have an English menu, they won't generally understand if you order in English. The Japanese words I used most (apart from obvious words like ~ o kudasai and arigatou) were hitotsu/futatsu/mittsu when ordering in restaurants, chiketto/kippu for trains, daijoubu and omochikaeri.