Hey all,
Wah, seems like I just got back yesterday from vacation. Actually I didn't come to school on Monday since I was sick/tired from too much vacation. The days following I have also been sick/tired from another cold, apparently. I just can't get a break here. Anyways, let's do some wrap up of my awesome spring break!
I didn't have time to add pics and videos to this post, but I will do so on Monday. They take a long time to upload.
I realize now that I missed a day when I made my posts last week, that day being Thursday, the day we went to see Mt. Fuji. So, let me summarize that day:
We all woke up late and ended up running to the station to get to where the tour was meeting. It seemed that we were always running to make deadlines! It turned out that we needn't run at all because we ended up sitting on the bus for a half hour before it left. Checking in for the tour was no problem, went without a hitch. Boy am I a good trip planner!
It took about an hour and a half to reach Mt. Fuji from Tokyo. It was amazing how quickly highways and suburbs turn into winding roads and mountains. We were excited but tired. I was worried we wouldn't see the mountain at all...but we did! All the sudden it appeared out of nowhere ahead of us. It was clear as day, with quite alot of snow on the top. We definitely went closer to it then I remember coming in 2004. Our first stop was at the Mt. Fuji visitors center, which was mainly to take pictures. They didn't really give us alot of time at any one place in order to keep to schedule. Sam and Jake had a hard time with that, though!
Our next stop was on Mt. Fuji itself - we were able to reach the 5th station, which hadn't been open since December due to snow. We were lucky that that day it had finally cleared up enough that we could drive all the way up! It took us about a half hour to ascend, during which our tour guide with his barely understandable English regaled us with anecdotes of Japanese culture. Do you know that Japanese people rarely say "I love you" to each other? Even husband and wife will settle for just a "I like you". Apparently, it's too embarrassing to say "I love you" for a Japanese person. Hmmm, well I think in America we say it too much. Meh.
We reached the fifth station and got off into the freezing cold. There must have been snowdrifts five feet high there. Great, spectacular view though. The summit looked deceptively close, although it was stil a good 6-7 hour ascent away. We went into the tourist/souvenir store there and they were really selling some ridiculous stuff there, like canned air from Mt. Fuji?? Also some mushroom tea, whihc was suprisingly good - I tried a sample. Tasted like mushroom soup. Yummy. I went out back and saw a shinto shrine - there is also supposedly one at the summit. Then I made it back to the bus, but went on the wrong one! Then I realized my error and quickly rectified it. After that, we descended back off the mountain and ate lunch at a nearby hotel. Sam found a cake shop with her 'cake'-dar and we went there for dessert. Then, back on the bus!
We made a big circle around Mt. Fuji. Apparently it visible from its north side, but the South side is notoriously difficult to see. The tour stopped to go on a tour boat on Lake Ashi, one of the five famous lakes in Hakone. Actually the name means "foot" so it's Lake Foot, which is weird. Very cold and windy on the boat. The lake was pretty and surrounded by hills on all side, but no Mt.Fuji. We had apparently seen the last of it after the hotel.
After the boat, we got on the bus and they brought us to a cable car, from which you could also supposedly see Mt.Fuji but you couldn't. But it was still really cool because the cable car was suspended between two mountains and there was sulfur rising from the mountains! I had never seen such a thing - supposedly Hakone is famous for it because it makes their hot springs very good. There were also these famous black eggs, but I didn't understand why exactly they were special at the time. Wikipedia says:
"Try the black jewel eggs (黒玉子) at Owakudani. Boiled on site, their shells are a mottled black due to a chemical reaction with the sulphurous water, but the inside is quite tasty. According to Japanese legend, every one you eat will add seven years to your life."
-Wikipedia
I ate two.
So after that we began the long busride home, on which I almost fell asleep. The tour ended by dropping us off at Shinjuku station. From there, Haley and I were determined to visit the famous Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro. So we found our way to Ikebukuro, which is like Times Square - so many lights, so many shops, very intense. But then again, half of Tokyo is like that. We managed to find this Sunshine 60 building, which the guide says is famous just because its a shopping mecca. Haley and I were more interested in Gyoza-town and Ice-cream town inside it for where we could eat dinner. But Sam and Jake were so hungry that they didn't bother trying to find it - instead they just ate at McDonalds. Haley and I at least at at a gyoza place (dumplings). We then parted ways with Sam and Jake, and Haley and I continued to explore Sunshine 60 while Sam and Jake hit up some bars.
There was this place called Namjatown inside of Sunshine 60 that was like an amusement park unto itself. It had rides, experiences, and the gyoza-town inside of it, as well as its' own souvenir-shop. Pretty weird...
And after that, we went to Shinjuku proper in order to have a good look at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. We were able to go inside it, even though it was late at night (they have an observation floor). I have never had my bag more politely searched, I tell you. They apologize for looking inside your purse before they do it. After that we distanced ourselves from the building a bit to get a good look at it. Its got two towers and is quite distinctive, haiving appeared in many anime. That's why I wanted to see it, you see. We backed into the nearby park in order to get a good look. There were some hobos sleeping there though...not safe.
Then we made our way back to the hotel to get some meager rest for another big day.
Fast forward to Saturday!
So, Saturday we went to TAF, the Tokyo International Anime Fair. We woke up and checked out of our capsule hotel, and said a tearful goodbye. Goodbye, hotel! Goodbye, Akiba!
We followed a slightly different route back to Odaiba where Tokyo Big Sight, the convention was held. The train ride in Odaiba is very scenic because it is outside and winds through all the buildings. I swear, someone decided to make Odaiba the "futuristic-looking building spot" of Tokyo. Got a weird looking building plan? Let's put in in Odaiba. The distinctive Fuji TV station was there, as well as the Panasonic bulding, and a bunch of other stuff. Tokyo Big Sight itself is, well, a sight to see. It's like a upside down pyramid supported by columns. We managed to get off and walk over there, only to find that there was already a line out the door. And by "out the door" I mean out the door, across the courtyard, through the walkway, down the steps and pretty much halfway across Odaiba already. And this was 15 mins before opening time, and everyone in that line already had tickets. Haley and I were like ,"forget that" and insted we got some breakfast at the covenience store inside the convention center. Finally the line started to move, and it moved fast. But still, there was no end in sight. So we walked all the way to the back of the line and got in, after putting our backpacks in a coin-operated locker. We walked through the door, up and down escalators, around corners, and finally we reached the entrance of the convention hall. So exciting!
At this point I should stop calling it a convention, because it was not. That fact disappointed Haley while confirming my own private suspicions - this was an advertising fair. That is not to say that it wasn't exciting, spectacular and worth every moment I spent there. It was just not what we fans expect when we say "convention", which is namely: fans gathering together to share the enthusiasm they feel for a particular activity/subject. Conventions usually have fan-run trivia contests, costume contests, informational panels, and of course a dealer's room where you can buy goods. While all conventions are put on by fans, this Anime Fair was put on by professionals. You might say that it was THE professionals - this is the one place and the one time that all the companies that make anime get together and show off their latest wares. It was essentially an anime bazaar, but very well done. The big names had really spectacular booths and spent lots of money bringing in the heavy electronics, setting up stages, etc., to show off their stuff. They also had girls (always girls) dressed up as various characters handing out pamphlets. You couldn't take pictures of these girls, for some reason. I tried and got yelled at. Hmph.
They also invited some of the people who sing theme songs for anime to come and perform. This was very interesting, but it was so crowded that I couldn't stand and watch any one performance, just glimpses here and there. Oh, it was so crowded, you wouldnt' believe. I checked the website later and it tallied the total number of attendees at 107,000 - that's alot of people! And the whole thing was only around 7 hours long. Therefore, they had to have excellent crowd control, and they did. If there was someone performing, unless you had lined up an hour before you couldn't get NEAR the stage. Thankfully for the big stage in the back they had set up a huge TV screen so you could see the performer. I didn't know any of the performers or their songs so it wasn't vital that I see them; it was more about the experience of being in a crowd with fellow otaku. And there were otaku there, as well as normal people. I saw kids, I saw grandparents, I saw middle-aged adults - very normal looking people. But you could always tell the otakus because they'd be thin, unkempt middle-aged men with lots of bags, and they definitely had organized cheering, I kid you not. Because I was interested in watching the otaku, I attended the first part of an interview with a seiyuu (voice actor) from the current anime Hidamari Sketch. Those otaku all cheered for her, clapped in time together, waved light wands in sync - it was amazing.
I look through the mirror at these otaku, and can't really find myself in them. Yes, I understand all about being enthused about something you enjoy. Maybe if I knew that performer or seiyuu I'd be all excited too. Maybe if someone taught me how I'd cheer in unison with everyone else. But the thing is, here is a bunch of middle aged men drooling over a show targeted at young girls, starring young girls. There's something wrong with that. And in Japan in general - this country has a large problem with perverts and pedophiles. So much so that it has to have a women's only car on the train every morning. I think it has to do with the moral codes being so strict and stuff. If there's any movie that's both sexually explicit and contains graphic violence, the Japanese will censor the sex while the Americans will censor the violence. Go figure.
Anyways, off on a tangent there. At the anime fair, we basically wandered around, looked at all the booths and took pictures. We were handed a dozen flyers and paper bags to put them all in. A highlight was when Haley and I saw a small booth in the back dedicated to one of our favorite animes, Kyou Kara Maou. We saw that it was advertising an OVA (like a mini sequel) and that was the first time I had heard of it. It was then it hit me: this is probably the first time anyone is going to hear of it! This is the center of it all, where people make the big annoucements, and we're here to see it! We jumped up and down with excitement as we grabbed the free paper bags with the characters on them; later I found out that these bags were made exclusively for the Anime Fair and that they were a limited edition of 5000 - and I have one! Wow!
We at least got to sit down and attend one presentaition - in the schedule, which was all in Japanese, it was called "How to Make Anime" so it sounded good. But in actuality it was pretty much an interview with the director and two voice actors from an anime I had never watched before and was thus kind of pointless to Haley and I. Though I tried my best to pay attention, and was surprised at how much I understood. I guess I'll have to start watching this show, Kekkaishi, now. The voice actors were even dressed up as their characters, which was fun.
Soon after that, we left the fair because we had seen everything there was to see. We left around 3 PM, much much earlier than we thought we'd leave. I pretty much hadn't planned anything else for Saturday - just Anime Fair, then get the bus to go home. But now we had an unprecedented amount of time, so we wandered around Odaiba a bit, holding big anime bags. We hit up the Panasonic building because it was just across the way. That building was just as, possibly more, awesome as the Sony building. Immediately when you come in they had a section dedicated to Nintendo because they have some kind of partnership with Nintendo. We saw the Wii and a bunch of DS stuff and there were alot of kids playing. Haley got excited because she saw a list of games coming out for the Wii and there was stuff she likes on the list. Away from the Nintendo section was the normal Panasonic stuff: TVs, VCR/DVD players, and cameras.
(Warning: Techie/geek rant ahead)
Oh man, they are pulling out all the stops with the new DVD/HD/Tivo recorders. They are really favoring Blu-ray DVDs, and I saw a bunch of new models that are Blu-ray DL (Dual Layer) recorders/burners. I took a pic of one and the lady came over to scold me, something like, "I'm so sorry but we don't allow pictures". Then I went over to their "future" section to read about technologies they're working on. Get this: they are working on a way to send internet signals through power lines! So if you plug your computer into a wall, you're already on the internet. This would elminate the need for ethernet cables, as well as a bunch of other stuff. They diagrammed the whole "smart house" with this in mind, and it was awesome. I got really excited about it and this lady came over and tried to talk to us in English about it. Heh. But yes, I was astonished that such a technology exists and has already been implemented (you can get it on the market on a small scale, I think). Then we walked over to the last section to see The Biggest Plasma TV in Existence (I think it was almost as big as Uncle Ronny's TV, hehe, inside joke). It was an incredible 103 inches diagonal. Amazing clarity and all that - just like you were there. I dont' know what signal they were using but it would have to be some super high-def signal. Finally, we went to the kids' room and tried to use a computer program about space. It was amazing how much I understood of it, but then again I know alot about space. Then we made our exit and found the train station again.
(Normal program resumes)
Even after the detour to the Panasonic building, we had loads and loads of time left. So we decided to go back to Ikebukuro in hopes of seeing the Keroro Gunsou movie that I have been wanting to see ever since it came out on 3/17. It took a good hour to use the trains to get back to Ikebukuro, and then we found Sunshine Cinemas just before the movie started. Would you believe that the last movie of the day is at 6:20? I didn't either. And, guess how much a movie ticket costs? Just guess! It's 1800 yen, which is an even $15. Yes in the states I've seen $10, maybe even $12, but $15 is so much. My dinner costs less than that! But, there was nothing to do but grin and bear it. We bought our tickets and somehow managed to find our way to the ninth floor, which was where the movie was.
When you consider that "going to the movies" is akin to a religious experience for me, you may be able to understand how painful "going to the movies" in Japan is. This is one area where the US is DEFINITELY SUPERIOR to Japan. Let's make a list: 1. The price - too high. Yes I know everything is more expensive in Japan but 1800 yen!! Too much. 2. The times - Why must everything in Japan shut down so early! The only things open after 7 are restaurants/bars and clubs. Seriously. You can't even do "dinner and a movie", it has to be "movie and a dinner" because the movies show so darn early. 3. THE SMALLNESS OF THE SCREEN. I kid you not, the Largest Plasma TV in Existence that I saw a few hours before dwarfed that cinema screen. It was small, it was far away because we had ASSIGNED SEATS in the back of the auditorium, and it never even got bigger like when the draw back the curtains sometimes in the US. Never happened. I guess I am spoiled by having huge, sprawling movie theaters in the US that cover half of a mall. This is because Japan just has no space for such a thing. They have to have their movie theaters on the ninth floor in pre-existing buildings with small floor space. Such a SHAME. 4. NO hot, buttered popcorn: A HERESY! Here's what they did have - a small, prepackaged popcorn box worth 400 yen that probably had been shipped there weeks ago. Nothing fresh about it. But! There were four different flavors: Salt, Caramel, Black Pepper, and....Apple?! So, so strange...For the sake of sampling popcorn of different cultures, I tried the Black Pepper and Haley had the Apple. Both unique in their own ways but...give me hot, fresh popcorn any day. Plus, there was no candy/drinks either. There was a vending machine but....there's always a vending machine in Japan. Everywhere. Yes.
Moving on from bad movie watching experiences....the movie itself was pretty decent, if predictable. Plus, we all got a free Keroro Gunsou toy! I picked Giroro because he's my favorite. If anyone is wondering what it's all about, I will sum up - it's an anime about some aliens who look a lot like frogs who come to Earth and try to invade it, but they miserably fail. In fact, that pretty much sums up each episode - they come up with a plan to invade Earth, and it comically fails by the end of the episode. The movie was no different, and it was amazing how much I understood. Even Haley, who has never seen Keroro Gunsou before, was able to understand most of it. Keep in mind though, that this movie was targeted at children and therefore the Japanese in it is such that children will understand. This is probably why we were able to understand it. But still, it felt like an accomplishment.
After the movie, we wandered around Ikebukuro for a while, eventually finding an anime store (as if we didn't see enough of those in Akiba!). It was mostly the same stuff over and over again, but it had a good CD section and I spent a long time browsing. I was really tempted to buy something but i had already bought enough for this trip and was having trouble carrying it all. Keep in mind that I still had my big anime bag from the Anime Fair as well has a huge backpack with all my clothes and the plastic ramen in it. We found someplace cheap to eat that had curry (for some reason we were both craving it) and then we found a crepe place. Not like they're hard to find - for some reason, the Japanese people love crepes. Especially in Ikebukuro, they were all over the place. Guess what else they love to put in them - strawberries. Now, I like strawberries just as much as the next girl, but not in every dessert and certainly not instead of CHOCOLATE. In fact, I think I'm the only person in Japan who prefers chocolate instead of fruits for dessert. Every cake, every sweet thing will have fruit, usually strawberries, and I'm getting sick of it. (Incidentally, Haley loves the fact that there's strawberries everywhere and won't stop teasing me about it).
Eating our crepes, we walked back to the station. We stopped a few minutes to watch a street performer who was doing some pretty cool stuff. He did the robot dance, he juggled glass balls and some stuff like that. Then at the end of his act the police walked in and told him to break it up. I couldn't figure out if the police were actually part of the act or not. Hmm. But it seemed that he was a college student like us, just looking for a way to make some extra money. We clapped for him, and then continued on to the station.
The night bus was due to pick us up at Tokyo Station at 11:30 PM. We found the place, we checked in, and we sat and waited. 11:30 - no bus. 12 AM - No bus. Hmm...The lady came and announced, using very formal and polite language that was hard to understand, that something had happened to the bus and it was going to be unavoidably delayed. I think it had something to do with the lights in the bus not working. But anyways, it was awful. The station itself closed at 12 AM (on a Saturday night, yes I know) so there was no warm inside place to go to. It was cold, the wind was howling, and we were huddled in a concrete stairway for two hours waiting for the stupid bus to arrive. Not fun, not fun at all. But it was kind of funny the way the people kept apologizing in very formal language and bowing with deep bows. From somewhere they got some cracker-like snacks to give to us in apology, as if eating a cracker makes up for freezing my butt outside for two hours. But oh well, the bus finally came and we were all glad when it did.
It is absolutely impossible to get some sleep on those buses, but I did try. However, when Haley wanted to get out for a minute it woke me up and I was not able to get back into anything resembling sleep. The seats are too small and too hard so you couldn't get comfortable. We reached Kyoto station at around 8:30 because of the bus being late. This was a problem for me because I intended to go on the field trip to the doujinshi convention that day and the time to meet up with the class was at 9:15. So Haley and I ran inside, quickly bought tickets and took expresses to Hirakata station. I made it with about 5 minutes to spare, but this was without even visiting to bathroom so I felt absolutely disguesting. Haley and I parted ways here and she went home to sleep. Lucky...
Getting to the doujin convention was a long and tedious process, needing to visit the bathroom the entire time. We had to transfer trains at least three times in order to get to Intex Osaka, the convention center it was being held at. I separated from the class in order to use the restroom in the convenience store, and I hoped that I wouldn't be left behind. I knew I could still get in without them, but if I entered with the class, the school would be able to give me a partial refund on the ticket price/transportation costs. I caught up with them just before they entered. I decided to stick with my new friend Sing from class - she's from China, a really nice girl. We went in together, then I went to the bathroom to change into new clothes. I put on this Bleach bandana that I bought at the Anime Fair (one of my two purchases, the other being a Naruto tea mug). Finally, I felt ready to tackle Comic City!
Being there was a complete deja vu of what I experienced the day before. The same lines, the same crowdedness, the same convention-center atmosphere. But there were a few significant differences. The first one was, the attendees were 99% girls, which was not at all surprising considering the nature of the event. Secondly, there was merchandise to buy, this being the point of the whole thing. Thirdly, there was nothing pretty, no huge setups, no AV equipment - this was put on by fans, for fans. So the atmosphere was alot more relaxed, well except for the hustle and bustle.
Some of you are probably wondering, "what is this all about? What are 'doujinshi'?" Let me try my best to explain. Put simply, doujinshi is fan-made manga. Amateur artists band together in groups called "circles" and create these short, amateur manga which are usually based on professional or real manga and anime. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that's what these girls are doing - showing their respect and love for their favorite manga/anime by drawing their own imitations of it, with their own plots and ideas mixed in. Why it is mostly girls, I don't know - certainly boys draw too, and I think that the boys have their own separate event. But this one was certainly girl-oriented - by girls, for girls. I was actually very excited, since I have read doujinshi before online, and I have a good idea of what to expect and what i wanted.
I was shocked when I saw two of the circles I really liked there! I know them through reading their work online, and to actually be able to buy their newest volumes was an honor. Although I didn't say much, mostly, "I'll take this" it was still really cool. One woman asked where I was from, and I said, "America" and that was pretty much it. There were so many tables with so many circles, and the event only lasted about four hours with the most popular groups selling out quickly, packing and leaving. As I like to do comparison shopping, I missed out on some of the groups that left early when I tried to come back and buy something from them. Oh well, I learned my lesson. In the end, I came away with some beautiful doujins, so I'm happy. My friend, Sing, however, was disappointed, as she didn't really understand what doujins were and she doesn't watch any anime so it didn't mean anything to her. We got separated right at the end of the convention and I couldn't see her anywhere, so I just went home with the teachers. On the way home we talked about doujins, anime and manga, so it was a very good conversation. Although my teacher is currently teaching us about anime in my Mass Communications class, he is surprisingly unknowledgable about anime, only being familiar with the classics. It was then my clear duty to try to bring him up to date. But by then I was just soo tired...
I managed to make my way back home and greeted my host family before going upstairs and collapsing. I showed them everything I bought later, and they ooohed and aahed over the plastic ramen. It was easily the best purchase I made. Heeeheee...and then I went to bed and couldn't wake up in the morning, just like the song. I ended up sleeping until 2...so much for school! Plus I was feeling the effects of an oncoming cold, with which i am still grappling. Bleeeehhhhh
Well folks, that was my vacation! What do you think of it?
Please leave tags/comments as always. Thanks!
