Robot Claw

I woke with the crows and shuffled off to Maccas for breakfast. There’s a story there but it’ll wait, since the important news of today is where I went next: Gotokuji temple.

The temple was about an hour from my hotel on three different trains. I had read the temple has in recent years seen a surge of popularity, but compared to many other sites around Tokyo it’s still relatively unknown to tourists. Which is a shame since it’s a special place if you like cats of the ‘lucky’ type!

The above is the famous Manekineko or ‘beckoning cat’ which is often called (by westerners) the ‘lucky cat’. The statues are said to bring luck (right paw aloft) or customers (left paw, common at store entrances) and are very, very common sights here in Japan. As you no doubt know they’ve even spread throughout Asia, and many incorrectly think they’re of Chinese origin due to how popular they are in China now as well.

There’s a few stories of how they originated, and one of them claims Gotokuji temple was the location of the first Manekineko. Apparently a friendly cat saved an important person from a storm hundreds of years ago and in appreciation the temple built a statue, which looked a bit like this:

The cat is present on some of the carvings on the temple buildings as well, but what makes the shrine truly internet-famous these days is the extraordinary display of cat figurines surrounding a buildings which has a Manekineko enshrined:

There are surely thousands of them, in seven sizes:

They’re all so white and clean, surprising since they’re outdoors and in most places unprotected from the elements. Some have messages written on them and have obviously been left by tourists despite signs saying to take them home to bring luck to your house! Looking closely the names written on many cats seem like typical cat names, so I’m guessing people like to ‘enshrine’ their beloved pets as part of the horde.

I wanted to buy a few figurines for some of you, however due to a surge in popularity the temple shop had a strict limit of one cat per person and only the three smallest sizes were available. They also had a limit of one ‘ema‘ plaque per person. I bought one cat and one plaque.

These plaques have an image on one side, and you write a message or request (to Shinto gods) on the other. They are hung at the temple for a while, then ritually burned to signify the wish being heard by the gods. While Manekineko isn’t strictly divine, I dedicated my request to him:

All seven cats I know are now being watched by the lucky cat himself 🙂

I had arrived early and was able to get good photographs without other people in them, but as I was leaving I saw many others heading toward the shrine from the station. I’m sure they sold out of figurines and ema again today!

The day was young and I had to go through Shinjuku to return so I got off the train and explored my favourite shops and game centers and also had my first – but not last – sushi lunch:

Is it really sushi if I only eat shrimp tempura nigiri?

I felt like a walk (I know, I know…) and decided once I’d seen what I was interested in at Shinjuku to walk to Shibuya! My phone said 58 minutes but I did it in 34 which I’m sure is residual fruit energy from the flight two days ago.

Shibuya was bonkers busy and it was very hot by now so while I didn’t stay too long, you can be assured it was long enough to make a couple of ‘essential’ purchases at Mandarake. Alas, still no Wizardry artbooks.

There was more today – much more actually – and once again I was out and about for probably too long (from 6:30 am to about 5 pm) and felt like I fit about three days activities into one. On the train I overheard an Australian girl about half my age say to her partner “It’s too much. Holidays are supposed to be relaxing.”

She’s correct of course, which is why tomorrow will bring a change of location and a welcome diversion into the ‘restful’ part of this vacation. A new place, new sites and new experiences! I’m looking forward to it 🙂

I was up before the crows – indeed I barely slept – and I was itching to begin. Unfortunately nothing was open, so I repacked (since I’ll be shipping luggage soon), did my laundry and walked around the local area for a while. I’m at Asakusa, just a hop and a skip from the famous Senso-Ji Temple. In my early morning wanderings I thought to buy a fortune like I had many times before. Here’s what I got:

If the text is too difficult to read it says “The clear moon is covered by thick clouds. The sky got dark and doesn’t get fine. A red flower decayed to a half, the bad fortune is found among the happiness. Though you want and try to make a thing perfect, it hurt your mind with trouble some matters. They warn you that never think of excessive desire, impossible like to sail so far by boat.”

This is a bad fortune, and it goes on to say that the worst will come true. Requests will not be granted, lost items will remain lost, don’t built a house, don’t go on vacation, don’t marry etcetera. I did the traditional thing of tying the bad fortune to the supplied metal rack so my bad luck was transferred away. Poor metal rack!

Senso-Ji has changed for the better since we first visited it 22 years ago and it rightly deserves its place as one of Tokyo’s foremost tourist destinations. Today I saw more tourists here than I ever have, including from parts of the world (such as the Middle East) that I have traditionally not seen tourists from in Japan. Asakusa is ground central in Japan’s overtourism problem, and it was easy to see why today. I dodged them all as best I could and hopped on a train to Ikebukuro, a part of Tokyo that few tourists add to their schedules until they’ve been here a few times.

After an early and quick lunch, I spent the day (and I mean this literally – I was there almost 7 hours) exploring all my favourite shops and Game Centers in Ikebukuro. This has become a tradition-of-sorts with me – coming here the first day of every Japan trip – and while I had initially chosen it since rain had been forecast the weather brightened and became hot and sunny. It looks like I chased the rain away.

Ikebukuro is a bit of an almost Akihabara, and I think it would one day like to seize the crown of otaku paradise. But I doubt that will happen since Akihabara is always improving as well. Not to worry Ikebukuro: being the second best place for otaku shopping is still a grand achievement considering the heights of Akihabara!

Of course I played some crane games and bought gachas and ‘had a go’ at a few retro games at Mikado – and I’ve written of such things before and will eventually get to them this trip. Considering how little sleep I’d had I’m surprised I didn’t collapse at some point. I’ll chalk it up to excitement 🙂

But my reserves only last so long. Tomorrow is a new day and I’ve got a new and (hopefully) special place to visit. I hope it’s worth the trip! Find out tomorrow…

The flight was just as you’d expect, made bearable by the amazing customer service and the unusually comfy seat (for premium economy). Since I talked it up to anyone who’d listen, here’s a photo of my delicious fruit platter dinner:

I count eight types of fruit! It was all incredibly fresh and delicious too (especially the strawberries). But it didn’t stop there, since my second ‘snack’ meal was a special fruit version too:

The flight attendant probably thought I was a monkey since she randomly offered me (and it seems just me) a banana at one point as well 🙂

Anyway we arrived, and just in time since the currency/SIM card booths were closing as I reached them! The rain was also torrential and the taxi ride was quite an experience since the driver thought he was a formula one racer and cared not for the poor visibility! He even did a U-turn when he missed a street!

Dinner has been et, some important supplies bought, a bath had and it’s long past time for bed. At least it should be, but I just turned on the TV and this is starting:

Maybe I’ll stay up for a bit longer to see what it is 🙂

I’m at the airport waiting to board. The above is not my flight, but I can’t get a photo of my plane since it’s well hidden by a jet bridge.

I’m extremely tired and have very sore eyes, but I’m excited about the second half of this trip. I hope I can regenerate some energy on the flight!

Over eighteen days in Australia I did and saw a lot, and importantly spent a wonderful time with mum. I averaged just under 14k steps a day, which probably explains my exhaustion! It’s a good thing I’m immediately going on a second holiday to recover 🙂

The last Chomp has been eaten (except for the 8 in my suitcase), the last frozen coke drunk and the last postcard – from Oz – sent. Now it’s time for Japan!

I’m in Sydney for my last full day in Oz. Sue was nice enough to drive me down this morning, and I finished my packing and relaxed in my room through the afternoon until nightfall, at which it was time to go and see:

This is my third year of Vivid and I was looking forward to seeing some lights. The weather was mild and it was a very pleasant walk down to Circular Quay to see the bridge and Opera House. The crowds were busy but not as great as previous years.

As scheduled the lights came on as scheduled exactly at 6pm. I had arrived early and as you can see had a great spot, and as with the last two years I found the bridge the most impressive.

The projection on the Opera House seemed to be an animated story rather than the a series of varied images as previous years. I found this less interesting, but I liked the spotlights that shone up from behind the structure.

There were more building projections than ever, and the resolution of the projectors has become incredible. I watched the above building for about ten minutes and the images never repeated. They were so fluid and varied I wouldn’t be surprised if they were randomized in real-time. It was extremely impressive!

Other buildings nearby had equally impressive projections, and next to the above was a gigantic rectangular structure made of lights. I got closer and found it was a walk-thru installation (by Samsung) that looked dazzling but had a 1 one hour wait time! I didn’t wait 🙂

I spent about 90 minutes exploring all the lights in and near Circular Quay, and had so much fun I seriously considered heading to Darling Harbour to see what they had. However I’m very tired and had walked enough already, and it was time to return and relax since I have a big trip ahead of me tomorrow. It was a nice end to the Australia holiday.