Category: Miscellaneous

Acrosatan

June 3, 2009

The title is the name of a monster from an old Ultraman series, a tiny model kit of which we saw today in a retro toy store in Akihabara. I don’t remember the cost, although it was probably low (under $20). However the Mandarake in Akihabara sold a Y2,100,000, approximately 20cm tall vinyl toy of another Ultraman monster, still bagged and in great condition. That’s US$21,000 approximately. Even for an unopened toy from more than 30 years ago that seems a tad steep 🙂

Akihabara is where the otaku (maniac fans) go for all their manga, anime, games and toys. It’s also the best place in Tokyo to buy electronics, play video games, or eat at maid cafes 🙂

The ‘big’ franchises these days are Monster Hunter (both the games and the merchandise), which is massive and featured in every store; Neon Genesis Evangelion (yes, even after almost 20 years the franchise is as strong as ever, bolstered by the recent films) and Queens Blade (the series of ecchi gamebooks has spawned a mini merchandising empire).

We checked all the major shops yesterday, and most of the minors, paying particular attention to the figure stores and the game stores. I managed to find the latest volumes of Guyver and Bastard!!, and picked up a Monster Hunter artbook and a slew of TCG cards from such series as Duel Masters (the 52nd expansion just came out!?!), Monster Hunter & Queens Blade (yes every big franchise gets a TCG…)

No Railfan yet Jim, and you can bet we’re looking everywhere. We’ve even discovered there are three games in the series (Japan, Korea and amazingly Chicago!) but the PS3 sections in stores are tiny and the used PS3 sections are tinier still.

In fact game stores are mostly about DS and Wii these days (unsurprisingly), with the next biggest section being PSP. PS2 still has a healthy following, but 360 sections are small and, as I said, PS3 sections so tiny they are hard to find. This will all change in time though, as the system is picking up steam. Not to mention the 800 lb gorilla of FF13 about to be released.

Even so, in most game stores the section of shelves devoted to advertising the upcoming release of Monster Hunter 3 on Wii is typically bigger than the entire PS3 sections!

Above left is a maid, who was handing out fliers advertising the maid cafe you can see in the middle photo. On the right is a shot of a billboard used to advertise all the maid cafes just in the Akihabara region. What was a novelty when we were here in 2006 has become a local tourist attraction, and as you can see there are a great many cafes now. Basically they are (apparently) overpriced restaurants serving average quality food, the attraction of which is the waitresses all dress in maid outfits.

< In Animate

The above was taken (on the sly) on the 5th or 6th floor of Animate (one of the mega otaku shops) and shows just the maid outfits they sell for cosplay. The professionally made Bleach outfits ($100 and up) were much more impressive, but as they were next to the counter I couldn’t get a shot due to the no photography rule 🙂

A couple more random Akiba shots. Once again, I’m guessing AW is boggling at the fact that you can just find gashapon out on the streets here. Put it this way – there are so many in just the few blocks of Akihabara, they have to put some out on the street!

In Japan, ninja slice kebab meat.
In Japan, some drinks are bionic.
In Japan, well I’ll let you work out this photo 🙂

We actually walked to Akihabara via Ueno, and spent some time in the park before most people were up.

This next shot is of the two statues outside Ueno Zoo entrance, overgrown with vines. Can you identify the two animals?

< What are these?

When I review the days shots, especially the ones KLS loves to take of me eating, I’m always struck by how it seems as if I had posed or hammed it up for the camera. The rightmost shot (dinner) is an ‘American Dog’ (which was eaten cold, but was actually decent). The middle shot though is more interesting, since it was a piece of chicken at KFC. And it was great. Here’s proof:

< Mmmmmmmmm

I bet most of you will like this video though!

And what better way to end todays entry that this way?

< Lest you forget

With Our Thoughts We Shape The World

June 2, 2009

Before I start, some shots of the room in our ryokan…

And a shot of me eating beef bowl breakfast (again) in Yoshinoya:

Yesterday we went to the mountain! Mt Takao (pronounced ta-ka-oh) to be precise:

This had been a highlight of our last trip and we were looking forward to another visit. The 599 meter tall mountain is about an hour from Tokyo and is a very popular tourist attraction (and for good reason). Closely associated with a type of Japanese spirit called a Tengu, the mountain is home to many different shrines and many hiking trails wind up and around the peak.

On our last trip we thoroughly enjoyed the chairlift that takes hikers up the the starting point of the climb. We actually rode it twice it was so good, but alas yesterday it was closed and we were forced to take the cable car. Even though we were initially disappointed, as it turns out the cable car was no less thrilling!

In fact, rather than describe it, why don’t you ride it too! Here’s a video I shot of the trip so you can do just that!

The climb up Takao (assuming you take the most common route) is reasonably leisurely (excluding the several flights of torturous stairs) and passes a dozen or so temples and shrines. While the mountain views and nature appreciation level is high, this path is more about the shrines than the nature.

At one of the temples KLS enjoyed a delicious grape ice cream! I tried to steal some and ice-burned my tongue (and complained about it endlessly for 15 minutes or so)!

At one shrine we observed a monk performing his morning chant (yes, these are ‘working’ temples):

< Monk on Takao

Here is a video so you can hear what it sounds like.

The above is a tengu statue at one of the temples, and the right is a detail of what he is holding in his hand. So Japanese! This made me smile 🙂

We reached the peak in about 2 hours, and had a delicious lunch of chips and drink!

< Yum!

We were both tired-ish by now (you would be too, believe me!) but the Chip Stars and Mt Dew combined in my body and allowed me to activate Devil Satan Power, thus giving me unstoppable energy to begin the walk down!

Oh yes, a shot of Fuji from the top:

< Fuji from Takao

Can you see it? It’s really there! In the very middle of the picture, towering above all the other mountains! What, you can’t see it…?

And thus we began the walk down. Last time we took the path that followed a stream, this time we took the one that followed a ridge. And it was amazing! Here are some shots taken on the path on various points:

The path followed a ridge almost all the way down, and was frequently steep, or treacherous with tree roots, or narrow. Very rarely were there any railings at all, and the drop off was so steep at points that falling seemed like it would have been certain death. And yet the views were magnificent, as were the sounds of birds.

Here is a video to give you an idea what it was like.

KLS had some trouble with the walk because she was scared of slipping and hurting herself, but her ganbare spirit never faded and she made it all the way down safely!

In her own words...

Yesterday we tired ourselves more than any day so far this trip! We went to the mountain, and climbed the mountain, and we beat the mountain. But it was a narrow victory indeed! So today, well today you would imagine we’d have something restful planned wouldn’t you…?

Duffy

June 1, 2009

Just now I was watching a TV show that seemed to be about sending a cute girl to cake stores all over Tokyo and showing her response to eating delicious cakes. Such things are typical for Japanese TV 🙂

Also, my whack-a-bison video from the other day has already received 2 comments! Maybe I should post another UFO catching video and try to surpass the hits on my one from Australia?!

Anyway… here’s what we did yesterday:

As with other Disney parks, Disney Sea is one of the happiest places on earth, and you can be absolutely sure you won’t be rubbing shoulders with criminals here:

< Read that fine print!

Disney Sea is built around a large lagoon, and features a half dozen or so themed areas including ruined South American temple, a Jules-Verneish zone (inside a volcano), a Mexican zone and an early-twentieth century America. Architecturally, this is perhaps the most impressive of all the Disney parks, and it is a real treat to just walk around and admire the attention to detail Disney put into virtually everything.

That edifice on the right is the Tower Of Terror, a reimagined version of the ride of the same name at Hollywood park in Florida’s Disney World. It is a ‘drop ride’ where you sit in an elevator car that drops in the dark three times. It’s thrilling and a lot of fun, especially when 75% of the car are Japanese teenage girls screaming their brains out. It is clearly the most popular ride in the park, and only minutes after opening the ride looked like this:

< Tower Of Terror ride

The line is visible on both sides of the image, and curls around behind me. The actual end of the line is not visible (it’s beyond what you can see on the left side) and that’s just where it enters the building – there’s a good 30 minutes more wait inside. We joined this line! Why? Since the Fastpass line was almost as long! It took us maye 45 minutes (maybe more) to ride the first time 🙂

Disney Sea yesterday was very, very busy! I’d estimate attendance at about 30% families, 30% dating couples, 39.98% gaggles of Japanese teenage girls and 0.02% westerners. Happily Japanese people love the parades and the shops, so even a very very busy park doesn’t translate into absurd lines (above exception notwithstanding), so it wasn’t a problem for us!

We ended up riding Tower Of Terror 3 times during the day, and it got better every time. Here’s a couple of photos of photos of our rides:

Obviously, by the third time (rightmost photo) we had worked out when they actually take the shot. Note my Billy Mays impersonation!

We’d been to Disney Sea once before, way back in 2002. The park has changed a lot since then, mostly since it was very new before (for instance, all the trees have grown in now). There seem to be a few new rides (our memory of ’02 is dim). Tower Of Terror is one, and Raging Spirits, a rollercoaster, is another.

< Raging Spirits

This ride is notable for two reasons:
1) It has a loop, which makes it (to my knowledge) the only Disney ride in the world with one. You can see it in the left image if you look closely
2) It’s a half-man ride. During the actual ride (we waited about 45 minutes…) I was heard to yell out “This is a ride for babies!”. Given the excessive amount of warnings during the line I was expecting something thrilling, but had I been asleep upon boarding I’m not even sure it would have woken me 🙂

Aquatopia, by the way, is the worst ever Disney ride. I’ll provide images, but spare you the details of it’s horror:

Random Disney photo time!

From the left: KLS looking sweet in the Tower Of Terror Line, Goofy with the levitation buff, and a wedding parade through the park (yes, an actual wedding). Lord knows how much they spent for that!

< Wow

The above shows planters full of… orchids! It was amazing seeing so many in one place like that. The park as a whole is full of flowers that have been placed as part of the Spring festival that is ongoing.

< Tiny Burger!

< Nadeshiko

The above shows an attendant on the Tower Of Terror line. All the attractions at the Tokyo Disney parks have unique uniforms, but this was one of the best.

< Donald Duck

Although we didn’t stay for the fireworks, we ended up spending over 8 hours at Disney Sea yesterday, which (believe it or not) made for a relatively restful day compared to those so far! Dinner was Denny’s (KLS choice, not mine!) before collapsing into a dead sleep.

Those Denny’s fries tasted like the fries we used to get at the Oak factory in my youth. How’s that for a memory?

And JAF, you’re not keeping Emi!

Robot Claw