Che's Japanese adventure
By Che –
I had the good fortune of spending last week in the land of the rising sun, Japan. While my fellow monkeys were layering up and toiling away at Mighty Ape HQ's warehouse and office I was catching the warm rays of summer in Japan :P And warm it was, it averaged over 30 degrees during the day and in the late 20s at night, mmmm. (By the way, I'm Che, just in case you haven't figured that out already :P)
I've always had a fascination with Japan and Japanese culture since I was young. I distinctly remember a parent coming to class when I was five years old to talk about her recent visit to Japan. She taught us some origami and had photos of Mount Fuji, Sumo wrestlers, bullet trains, and Japanese style toilets; all really fascinating stuff to me as a child. I ended up studying Japanese at high school and managed to go on a class trip for to Japan when I was 15. It was my first big overseas trip, I hadn't seen much of the world at that stage, suffice to say it was mind-blowing. I've been itching to get back there for a few years and when some cheap flights came up recently I jumped at the chance.
On this recent trip I spent a week in Japan. For the bulk of that time I was in Tokyo but I caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) to see some more of the country for two days. While outside of Tokyo I went to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum at the site of the 1945 atomic bombing; a very sobering experience. I also visited Kiyomizu-dera, a beautiful Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Back in Tokyo I visited both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea parks. I did a little shopping in Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku and I visited some of Al's cuzzies at the Zoo in Ueno park.
Eating Japanese for breakfast lunch and dinner was awesome too, I love it. I tried the okonomiyaki in Hiroshima and it was extremely tasty; the easiest way to describe it is like a Japanese style pizza (with udon noodles as the base). And of course Tokyo Banana, which are these little banana-shaped and flavoured cakes that I bought in Shinjuku station, yummy!
Anyway, I've picked out a couple of highlights from my trip and discussed them in a little more depth below (shameless plugs included :P). I hope you find it all interesting, but if not I'm sure you'll let me know in the comments LOL.
One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to Ghibli Museum. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation company founded by celebrated anime directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. They are responsible for popular animated films like My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Ponyo, just to name a few. A friend explained to me that Ghibli movies are to Japanese children what Disney movies are to us.
The museum is amazing and gives adults a chance to feel like a kid again. You get a great insight into the history of the company, it's films, and directors. Entry to the musem also includes a ticket to see a short film. The ticket is made from one frame of a Ghibli movie (apparently some of them are very sought-after and very valuable) and the short films are exclusive to Ghibli Museum and not shown elsewhere. I saw めいとこねこバス (Mei and the Kittenbus), a thirteen minute sequel to My Neighbour Totoro. There's also one room where they showcase some really awesome animation techniques. If you ever go to Tokyo, I highly recommend visiting the Ghibli museum, it was one of the best things I did there. And if you do go, make sure to familiarise yourself with some of the movies if you haven't already.
For gadget-geeks and technophiles, no visit to Tokyo is complete without a visit to Akiharbara (aka electric town). This is where you come to find electronics, computers, games, anime, and manga stuff. On a friends advice I visited a store by the name of Super Potato (awesome name!) which specialises in retro-gaming products. Like many children of the '80s I grew up on a diet home gaming consoles so this place was like heaven to me. They had every console imaginable (remember Virtual Boy?), plus games and loads of cool merchandise. I was super stoked to see a pile of Super Famicon consoles (aka Super Nintendo) too, my favourite console evah! I'm a bit of a geek for Nintendo stuff so I picked up a pack of Super Mario Bros. playing cards and this cool product which you can use to create and display 3D Super Mario Bros. sprites. If you are a gamer and plan on visiting Tokyo, make sure you seek out Super Potato!
For a treat I went out for a drink at the New York Bar on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel; the view of Tokyo is amazing. This is the hotel bar from the Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (a great movie by the way). I didn't drink Suntory, but I did have a relaxing time :P It's a pretty swanky bar and they have live jazz bands playing there all the time, so you have to dress up a little, none of that shorts and jandals business that we get away with back here LOL. With a cover charge of about NZD$33 and drinks costing about the same price each, this place is just for when you feel like splashing out a little.
I had a great time in Japan and can't wait for my my next visit there! If you're interested in Japan or looking for somewhere to go for your next holiday, I'd definitely recommend going there. My only other advice would be to not go in the middle of summer like I did, unless you are comfortable with really hot and humid weather. I'd recommend going during the Japanese spring time when the climate is a little cooler and the Cherry Blossoms are blooming :)
So who here has been to Japan? And where else in the world have you monkeys swung to?
15 comments
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cool photos!!
When I went to Tokyo, I went to the Ninja restaurant in Akasaka. It is on my list of things that I tell everyone they need to do when in Tokyo - It was so fun and cool :) http://www.ninjaakasaka.com/
Awesome, I'll have to swing by there next time. Speaking of ninja's I went to a ninja museum when I first went to Japan. I can't remember where exactly but it was an hour or so by car from Nagoya. I scored myself some shurikens there too :P
日本は一番好きな国だ！
Popped over only a couple months ago for the first time myself - it is an awesome place to visit, never have felt so safe walking alone at night in the streets anywhere. Didn't get to the Ghibli museum in Tokyo, but managed to get to the Manga museum in Kyoto.
Agree - it is very warm in the summer summer months. Have heard autumn is also a very good time to visit, not too warm, and the wet season is over. - And a tip for anyone planning to travel there .. pack light as you can ;-)
You get to see the android from the Laputa: Castle in the Sky!!!! *jealous*
Did you get to see the giant Gundam?
Yeah the android was pretty cool, it was in a garden on the roof which made it even cooler.
Totally forgot about the giant Gundam, I will pay that a visit next time around :D
Oh! You are a lucky person going on a trip to Japan. I wish i can go there one day. It's great that you visited the robot from Laputa, which is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli films.
I might be doing a student exchange in 2012 for a whole year in Tokyo! xD im soo excited and i'm studying Japanese so hard
I love Japan, everything about that country rocks (except the whaling). I love going there time and time again. I have been all over the world but Japan still rings home to me.
Che I reckon you should hit South China it is pretty freaking EPIC! Don't go north; it is more polluted than "Fallout 3". I reckon if you LOVED Japan you’ll like South China.
Cool, thanks for the suggestion Floyd, I'll keep that in mind :)
Great blog! :)
I've been to Japan twice now and had a great time during each visit! Tokyo blew my mind! I especially loved the transport system there. Getting anywhere is SO easy!
Anyway, I'm definitely going to the Ghibli Museum the next time I go to Japan! I wasn't aware of Ghibli when I went to Tokyo but now that I'm a fan, it's a place that I HAVE to get myself to.
Yeah, there public transport is amazing. When I was in Akihabara my girlfriend and I decided on the spur of the moment to go to Tokyo Disney Sea (which is a bit of a distance from central Tokyo). We hopped a couple of trains and were there in no time, we had our shopping bags with us too which we stashed in the coin lockers. So convenient.
If you are planning to go to Ghibli make sure to book your tickets before you leave. They are only about $20 but they have a limited number of tickets available per day. Hit up your "travel agent or JTB":http://www.jtboi.co.nz/city_pak/optional/admission_ticket.htm#ghibli to do that :)
I've never actually been out of New Zealand. I might get to go to Australia next year. However, I too have always been fascinated by Japan, and I really, REALLY want to go there one day. I even hope to live and work there for a few years. Japan just seems so awesome.
I'm always getting into more Japanese stuff, whether it be accepting more anime and expanding my tastes, or buying Japanese action figures and Gundpla kits.
So I think Japan would be awesome to visit.
Che, I envy you!
I love japan!!!