and yet more Japan
Aug. 28th, 2012 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davemerrillSo where was we. Sunday we went to Space Kinds and Sonic 44. Monday we got up and hit Nakano Broadway again with some living-in-Japan pals from a message board I'm on; we gave the place another go-round and yes, found shops we didn't see the first time. Also wandered around the shopping district next door and marvelled at the restaurants, the outside of one decorated with old anime-character Sonorama jackets:
Afterwards we got back on the train and went one stop down to Koenji and Gojira-Ya, which is a vintage toy store full of vintage goodness. The proprietor also runs a bar downstairs that was full of regulars at 4pm. Gojira-ya is kinda pricey but we did get out of there with a few things:
Finally got a Queen Cosmos from STARZINGER. It's missing stuff, but whatever. I won't be flying through space with it.
Yup, it's the UNICO pilot film. I didn't even know this ever got a proper VHS release!
This is Riko, the mascot for a bank, and is herself a bank! Cunning, those Japanese. Anyway Gojira-ya was cool enough to give us a discount. I recommend giving 'em a visit!
Tuesday we were off on another expedition, this time to Suginami and their Animation Museum!
This is another Tokyo municipality taking advantage of "cool Japan" to create a tourist attraction where once there was merely two floors of a very nice town hall. Outside there's bas-relief sculpture of your favorite anime characters:
And inside you're greeted by a big Gundam;
And an even larger Hakushon Daimaō (or "Bob In A Bottle" as he was known on YTV). Don't touch! Because I really wanted to touch Hakushon Daimao!?
The central pillar of the main room was decorated with what looked like original sketches from manga and anime talent:
RIKISHIIIIIIIII!!!
There's an exhibit of what Yoshiyuki Tomino's desk looked like in the 80s:
Around the room there were different exhibits - a range of TV sets dating from the 1960s until today screening different TV anime from the different time periods, a wall chronology of notable anime films and TV series, a booth where you can practice voice-acting an Astro Boy episode, and a room with crayons and coloring pages for the kids and digital coloring stations for the older kids. Upstairs there was an exhibit of original artwork from Studio Gonzo productions - but we weren't allowed to take photos there, sorry. A side room contained a manga and anime library. Apart from us, the museum's other patrons were kids and parents; kids were certainly using the manga library.
It was kind of a hike from the train station, and we wound up having to ask directions in the post office in our halting, foreign otaku cluelessness, but it was a pleasant day for a hike and afterwards we had cold soba for lunch and did some shopping in the local Book Off, and then it was back to Ikebukuro and air conditioning.
Afterwards we got back on the train and went one stop down to Koenji and Gojira-Ya, which is a vintage toy store full of vintage goodness. The proprietor also runs a bar downstairs that was full of regulars at 4pm. Gojira-ya is kinda pricey but we did get out of there with a few things:
Finally got a Queen Cosmos from STARZINGER. It's missing stuff, but whatever. I won't be flying through space with it.
Yup, it's the UNICO pilot film. I didn't even know this ever got a proper VHS release!
This is Riko, the mascot for a bank, and is herself a bank! Cunning, those Japanese. Anyway Gojira-ya was cool enough to give us a discount. I recommend giving 'em a visit!
Tuesday we were off on another expedition, this time to Suginami and their Animation Museum!
This is another Tokyo municipality taking advantage of "cool Japan" to create a tourist attraction where once there was merely two floors of a very nice town hall. Outside there's bas-relief sculpture of your favorite anime characters:
And inside you're greeted by a big Gundam;
And an even larger Hakushon Daimaō (or "Bob In A Bottle" as he was known on YTV). Don't touch! Because I really wanted to touch Hakushon Daimao!?
The central pillar of the main room was decorated with what looked like original sketches from manga and anime talent:
RIKISHIIIIIIIII!!!
There's an exhibit of what Yoshiyuki Tomino's desk looked like in the 80s:
Around the room there were different exhibits - a range of TV sets dating from the 1960s until today screening different TV anime from the different time periods, a wall chronology of notable anime films and TV series, a booth where you can practice voice-acting an Astro Boy episode, and a room with crayons and coloring pages for the kids and digital coloring stations for the older kids. Upstairs there was an exhibit of original artwork from Studio Gonzo productions - but we weren't allowed to take photos there, sorry. A side room contained a manga and anime library. Apart from us, the museum's other patrons were kids and parents; kids were certainly using the manga library.
It was kind of a hike from the train station, and we wound up having to ask directions in the post office in our halting, foreign otaku cluelessness, but it was a pleasant day for a hike and afterwards we had cold soba for lunch and did some shopping in the local Book Off, and then it was back to Ikebukuro and air conditioning.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-08-30 09:53 pm (UTC)(That UNICO VHS thing. Wow.)
no subject
Date: 2012-08-30 10:17 pm (UTC)We've been lucky in friends in Tokyo who know of cool places to visit and things to do, but there have been times when we've just set out from the hotel on our own with only the vaguest idea of what we were doing and where we were going, and we've still had interesting experiences.
Tokyo is very welcoming to tourists. Few cities can match it. A lot of the signage is in English and they're used to clueless Westerners wandering around looking lost. I understand the rest of the country isn't as English-friendly, but I imagine the people are just as friendly.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-31 02:59 am (UTC)The English we encountered in Kyoto was tough. We managed to make meals and such by a lot of pointing and such, but I think I learned my lesson. Next time I go I'll try to at least be more conversant in restaurant Japanese Dx.
One of hte problems I encountered was that my friend and I look ethnically Asian, so everyone just talked to us in Japanese. It was kind of odd. Thankfully the Japanese do not scold like Koreans do. I got earfuls of Korean all the time in Korea xD.