I wanted to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Buildings because of their free observation decks on the 45th floor. You really get a great view of Tokyo from up here and it's all free. While I was up there I was playing with the super zoom on the camera, closing in on things that were otherwise unseen.

Wait, a second, is that a... Flea Market?

I made a mental note of the location, and scurried out of the building. Sure enough, I found it. Technically, it was a recycle fair, but what was odd was it was right in the middle of the high-rise district. Thats like finding a flea market on Wall Street.

Luck would have it, one lady had a bunch of old popy and bullmark vinyls out on a blanket. I got 20 of them for 1,000 yen. Sure, they were mini's, but man, what a score. I was psyched.

On that high note I took the train over to Harajuku and walked over to Yoyogi park. Sure enough, the park was jammed with partygoers, moreso than Omiya was. As I was walking in the park, I saw a white sheet with the word YOUTUBE spray-painted on it. I went over and saw a guy I subscribe to, Tokyo Cooney, so I decided to talk to the people there.

Come to find out it was a gathering of Gaijin Youtubers, hanging out, drinking beer. I made fast friends, but it was early and I wanted to explore. I said I would be back, and I left.

From there I went over to Takeshita Dori, the main street in Harajuku. It was packed, moreso than I have ever seen it before. I stopped and got a crepe from one of the stalls there, it was bananna and chocolate with whipped cream and ice cream. Awesome.

I decided that I would take out my copy of Tokyo Underground, the book I co-wrote, and try to find the designer vinyl shops in the area, like Erostika and Secret Base. Well, Come to find out they all moved! But I did find interesting graffiti.

So back up to the bridge to Meiji shrine I notice that the cosplayers and gothic lolitas are out, but there are not as many as last time I was there. Maybe the fad is wearing off? I snap some pics and begin the long walk to Meiji.

Meiji is the most popular shrine in Tokyo, and the walk from the entrance to the shrine feels like forever. The crushed stone beneath your feet gives away just enough to make you work a little harder than you normally would. The shrine is busy, and I even get to witness a wedding between a Japanese woman and a Gaijin!

I pay my respects at Meiji and decide its time to rejoin the YouTube party. At the entrance to Yoyogi park the greasers have set up and are dancing to rockabilly music. I score some beers from a cart vendor and re-crash the party, and I swiftly get drunk and eat KFC that someone brought. It all becomes a bit hazy after that...

I remember being dragged over to another tarp full of Japanese people and them feeding me cheese. I remember this girl holding a little dog, and she would make the barking noises for it.

When darkness came, we all went as a group to a bar in Shibuya called "The Hub" and we continued to drink and be merry. However, Reality was setting in and I realized that I had to be up early tomorrow to get my ass and all my belongings to the airport in the morning. Like an old man, I banged out at 9pm, and made the drunken treck back to the hotel.

The next day, I got up on time, lugged my two suitcases and two bags onto three trains out to the airport, and settled into my flight home. This time I had a row to myself again, and this time the seat armrests folded up.

I was kind of glad to be going home. I was tired and lonely, I missed my family, and I had this sadness about me. Not that I didn't have a good time - I had a great time. but it was too short. On Sunday it felt as if I was just getting going, and I had to leave. I made all these great friends, and then I had to say goodbye...

Till next time. Maybe in another 3 years.

45 minutes outside of Tokyo it still looks like Tokyo. Crowded, congested, but its an organized chaos. The train ride is smooth, clean and quiet.

I find my destination with ease, a vintage toy store called Senshutei. You can read all about it here.

From there I grab lunch in a crowded McD's and then i'm back on the train to go up two stops to Omiya Koen.

Omiya Koen is a nice, large rural park, with lots of paths and ponds. As I enter the park I see a gaggle of girls huddled around a fence. Of course, I go see what the fuss is about, all the while trying not to look like a creepy foreigner. Luck would have it that there is a traditional Japanese Archery school here, and they were in the middle of some kind of competition. It was so graceful, and oddly enough, all girls.

I venture deeper into the park and it is not long till I am approached by a group of people in old garb playing music and singing. They pass me a flyer and in their best broken english explain that there is also a museum of history and folklore in the park. I take the flyer, but never get to visit.

My path takes me around to a pond, and then the path begins to be lined with festival food stalls. Octopus Balls, Meat on sticks, noodles, candy, skill games etc..

I can see the Sakura up ahead but I am tired already, so I go over and sit on a bench near a bunch of old ladies painting the scenery.

My feet are killing me, this trip is taking its toll already. The Sakura blossoms over my head smell sweet.

A Father and his sons come over to the edge of the pond and begin throwing bread into it. The water churns with activity and I think I see... fish? There are giant Koi in this pond, and the Koi are fighting over the food. Its pretty crazy, and it is at this point I really wish my family was here with me. It is here that I miss home.

I regain my strength and began to walk through the main fair grounds. People have gathered under the trees on blue tarps and are having parties. These Hanami parties are a big deal in Tokyo, and they are held pretty much wherever Sakura blossoms bloom. They stake out their place with the tarp the night before, and then show up in the morning with coolers full of beer and food, and then drink and eat all day.

I walked through the park, watching all the parties, but I felt like I was watching TV. I wanted to be at one of those parties, but I was too chicken to approach anyone and just sit down.

On the other side of the park I visit Hikawa Jinja, a really beautiful shrine. Very red, with a very picturesque bridge overlooking a koi pond. The shrine supposedly has a 2400 year history.

So, from the shrine I decide I'd better be getting back to Tokyo. I stop off at Akihabara, hit a few more stores, and head back. For dinner I eat at a place called Freshness Burger, and its not bad. Worth nothing is that the tomato slices are like an inch thick.

Yodobashi camera is like 7 floors of store. Just imagine 7 Target stores placed on top of each other, each devoted to one single thing. Its immense.

I get to the camera floor, and there are so many cameras here it boggles the mind. Normally when I go camera shopping I take my time and research whats the best camera for me. But this time I am flying blind, not only in a foreign country, but a whole different language.

I decided to play it safe and went with the just released Olympus SP-590UZ. I've owned two other olympus cameras, and they were awesome, and the 26x optical zoom was killer. So The salesman, who spoke little English hooked me up. Have you ever tried to ask a Japanese salesman that you want a Micro SD card instead of the SD card the camera comes with? I don't recommend it.

As I walk around I get snagged and talked into signing up for a yodobashi points card. Basically, if you buy stuff, you get points, which then you can redeem on other stuff. So I get the card, the salesman steers me to the duty free checkout (no tax) but when he sees that i have a point card he brings me to the regular Japanese checkout. Apparently tourists dont get point cards. SO I end up paying tax. Whatever.

Outside I take a few shots, and then move on to my next destination: Nakano Broadway.

Nakano Broadway is toy mecca. Second only to Akihabara and even then some would argue it. Its basically an indoor mall with several floors, most of the Mandarake stores. Every time I have been here before I have gone with other people, and I never spent the amount of time I would have liked in there, so today I decided that I was going to dedicate the rest of the day towards it.

I get off at the Nakano station and make my way down the long Sunshine City mall promenade.

I spend hours in Nakano Broadway, but I take only one picture. I think I just wanted to have the experience without having to document everything. Taking photos can be a burden sometimes. I don't think I even brought out the video camera this day. But I had a good time, and I bought some toys.

On my way out I stop at a place called Lotteria, which I had known as a chicken joint, kind of like Chick Fil-a (as opposed to KFC). But this one apparently specializes in beef, as in evidence by the sign stating "Straight Burger" Lotteria.

What, no Gay Burgers?

Anyway, I went for the Bacon Cheeseburger, which was unlike any bacon cheeseburger I have ever had.

Yeah, that's bacon.

From there I got back on the train, went to Shibuya and went to the Mandarake there, and finally saw the Hachicko statue.

Went back to the hotel and unloaded my stuff. I was meeting my friend Boris from Anime-Export for dinner.

We ended up going to all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu in one of the restaurants above Yodobashi Camera. It was awesome.

From there we went to a bar until they closed... and then Back to the hotel I went.

Tomorrow, I get out of the city a bit.

This was Thursday.

At the end of Preview Night at Tamashii Nations, we agreed to meet the next day and take a trip out to the burbs again to visit SIC Sculptor Takeuki Takeya. I set off in the morning along my usual route, it's a beautiful day. I stop and take some shots along the way...

The only gas station I saw in metro Tokyo. Notice how the fuel is dispensed from above.

Lucky Cat (Maneki Neko)

Decora Truck. Like people who customize cars here, people in Japan customize their delivery trucks.

Stamps

For breakfast this morning I stop at the McDonalds on the far side of Akiba and I decide to get the Mega Muffin

Two sausage patties, Egg, Bacon, Cheese and a muffin. Why are the Japanese thin again?

Unfortunately it wasn't as good as it looks, as it was smothered in Ketchup. The Japanese use TONS of Ketchup and Mayonaise, all in the wrong places.

Oh yeah, also on the breakfast menu, the McHotDog.

Apparently, Hot Dogs are seen like a breakfast sausage in Japan. No idea why. But here it is - hot dog, hash browns and coffee. Yay.

We meet up at the UDX building again, and gawk at the line outside. Mostly these people are here buying the exclusives.

We left Akiba and took a train to Koenji, and promptly got lost:

I saw this inventive parking space;

I like the towel on the rope. Prevents scratching on the car.

Here's an odd thing, and nobody in my crew batted an eye at this. In a window in what I presume is a shop, is a display of figurines with giant penises. Aah... Japan.

How could I not take pictures of these?

Its not just dick all the time either:

Monk sitting on Giant wooden Tanuki Balls. That should get some interesting hits in google.

From there we finally found his workshop, which you can view here. More of the day later...

I slept in a bit, took my time getting ready, and headed out mid morning. I got a pastry for breakfast from an AM/PM convenience store. Outside this store I see my first, real blooming Sakura. They smelled sweet.

I know that if I take the train to Akihabara, its only one stop, but according to my map I can walk there just as easily. So I take a left instead of going straight and begin to wander the side streets of Ochanomizu.

Not but a few minutes into my walk do i discover a shrine, sandwiched between large construction sites. It's the Kanda Shrine, site of one of the three biggest Matsuri in Japan. Unfortunately, there was no festival that day, but I got to take a lot of pictures and enjoy the calm oasis within the city.

The shrine, being close to Akiba, has lots of otaku wishes scribed on the Ema boards:

As you keep walking you eventually reach the far end of the main drag in Akihabara. I was there a little early that day, so I got a bite to eat at Mr. Donut.

It's an overwhelming feeling, being in Akihabara for the day with no specific plan. I had an appointment to go to the Tamashii Nations event that evening, but the day was free. I started out just walking around and most things were not open yet. Akiba doesn't really start opening until 11 or 12.

As I walked down towards the train station people were lining up outside buildings. These were the true Otaku. Fans lining up waiting for the stores to open to be the first in line to get the latest cd/dvd/game.

To kill some time, I went into Yodobashi Camera and walked through the toy section. So many toys, so few I wanted to buy. In the past I had a tendency to pick up things just because they were on sale and I was "There" but I really had no interest in buying new things, especially because I had gotten 90% of the new stuff I had wanted while at HLJ the day prior. I walked out of Yodobashi empty handed.

Although, I did get a picture of this awesome light up toilet seat:

From there, I walked the back alleys. Food vendors, maid cafes, electronics hawkers. It was beginning to rain a little.

Out of my eye I spy a doorway leading downstairs with a hand written sign that said "2ch" on it.

2channel, or 2chan, is an Japanese bulletin board that is insanely popular, not just with otaku, but with many Japanese. It has inspired books, manga and even movies. I had to go into the 2ch store.

It was awesome. There was all kinds of merchandise representing the various meme's on 2ch, like safetybear, the ascii cats and more. I bought a few things, just to say I did, but now what am I going to do with Safety Bear stickers? Those of you who browse 4chan know that Safety Bear has a whole 'nother persona there.

Now that things were opening, I started hitting stores. I hit all the liberty stores and got some things there, but I got the most stuff at the Hobby Figure shop on the ground floor of the Radio Kaikan building. All the Liberty shops were having sales on select items and I scored some great deals.

The really great place was the new multi-floor Mandarake Akibahara.

The top two floors are what interest me the most, new and used goods. Here again I get lots of goodies, my bags are now becoming unwieldy. Unfortunately, no photos in Mandarake, but that's par for the course. Its a really fantastic shop, and a must-see if you are in Akihabara.

As the afternoon progresses I decide I better get over to the UDX Akihabara to meet with Matt Alt and Patrick Macias, who are covering the event for Otaku USA. Being the only Gaijin at the event, we find each other quickly.

We're hustled into the event and we all sit together in folding chairs. Apparently we're all going to see a presentation. First up is the President of Bandai, and of course, he's speaking Japanese, so I understand nothing. I get the key words.. chogokin.. mazinger... and then they wheel out the insane Urban Material Chogokin. After that there is a presentation of the new Mazinger series, with Go Nagai, voice actors and the mechanical designer. We were supposed to meet Go Nagai for an interview, but alas, he left as soon as he was done.

From there we wandered around the showroom, snapping pictures and taking video, lugging my bags with me along the way. I met some cool people from all over the world, and most of the staff at Bandai collectors division.

On a random note, I got interviewed for a magazine by some guy. Its for the JAL (Japan Airlines) Magazine. So who knows, I may be in that. He sent some pictures though.

The group of us gathered around the UMC Mazinger for a nice shot.

From left to right: Daisuke (Toynami), George (Toynami), Jordi (SD Distribuciones), Adam (Bandai), Matt (Otaku USA), Josh (CollectionDX), Patrick (Otaku USA)

From there, we went out to dinner to discuss plans for the future with CDX, Toynami and Bandai. Stay tuned for developments in that area.

Dinner was great, we had Yakitori in a restaurant inside the UDX building. It was a great time, and I could have stayed all night, but people were getting tired.

Akiba at night is deserted.

So, from there I walked home, up to the hotel, and went to bed. Tomorrow brings another grand adventure.

I got up around 6am, to the sound of my alarm from my cell phone. I had set up international calling on my phone, so it wasn't useless, but I didn't have all the features I was used to. In the daylight I was able to survey the room and my surroundings.

The room is small, but serviceable. My window overlooks the intersection below, and it's a bit overcast.

I put on the TV and listen to Japanese local news as I gather my stuff and get dressed. The shower is hot, and strong enough to to the job, although the shower head is a bit low.

Yes, there is a mythical Japanese toilet with Bidet in here.

Shortly after 7 I am out on my adventure.

I walk outside, and I notice that the front steps of the hotel is covered with flowers, a detail I had missed in my late night exhaustion.

Today the plan is to go visit a company that I have dealt with for many years, both as a customer, and as an advertising partner. They have a warehouse 90 minutes out of the city in a place called Sano. Sano is somewhat of a destination due to their outlet malls.

I walk down to the train station and this is the first time I really take in my surroundings. The area is pretty nice.

Ochanomizu is filled with medical schools and universities, and the street near the station is full of bars, restaurants and shops. The plan is to get breakfast at the McDonald's near there, but although I can see the sign, I can't find the restaurant.

So onto the Train I go. From there I go to Tokyo Station, which is under massive construction, and I have to find my way to the buses. Thankfully the signs are still intact and in English, so I find them easily.

The buses are all lined up in a row. waiting to take passengers to their destinations all over the countryside. These buses are run by JR, so if you have a suica or passmo card, they should work fine.

Alas, but I am early, and my particular bus is not here for a while. So I am off in search of coffee...

The only thing I found near the exit is a place called Doutour, its a big chain in Japan.

You can see the location here in street view (yeah, just because I could).

The thing is, I couldn't just get an iced coffee. They had all this weird crap. I ended up being adventurous and got an ided vanilla soy latte, which wasnt bad, and some kind of pastry. Want to know what else was there for breakfast? HOT DOGS. More on that later.

On my way back to the train I spied this sign:

DVD and VIDEO Relaxation Club? 60 minutes for 1,000 yen? I wonder what kind of relaxation they are talking about....

eeew I think its a wank room.

Moving on..

On the way back to the station I saw an old man tending to a garden planted on one of the traffic islands between major streets.

From then on I got on the bus. The bus was half full of middle aged women, presumably on board to go shopping at Sano. The bus ride is quiet, too quiet. Nobody said a word. How Japanese.

City fades to suburban sprawl and finally I see countryside. We get off of an on-ramp and aside from the Japanese lettering, we could be in any New England suburb. The Sano Premium Outlets pays host to such high end brands as GAP, Nike, Diesel and Brooks Brothers.

I get off at the Sano New City Bus Station and I know now my next task is to get a cab from here to the warehouse.

From here, if you haven't already, you can read about my trip to HobbyLink Japan

During the day they took me out to lunch at a Tonkatsu place, and we talked about all kinds of things, me a bit delirious, when a revelation hits me. This is real Japan. This is the equivalent of going out to lunch at Chili's. The streets look a lot like my streets, with gas stations, convenience stores, and fast food joints. Im sure that doesn't sound that exciting, but where I have only been in Tokyo, it was a big deal.

I spent all day at HLJ, had a great time, but now I had to trek back. But now, I had a huge box with hundreds of dollars worth of toys in it that I had to take back on a bus and two trains.

I get back to the station via cab, get my tickets, and then step outside to wait for the bus. It is here that I spy some great engrish on the back of one of the buses:

By the time I get back to Tokyo, I am sore, jet-lagged, and near delirious. The station looks beautiful at night.

That's Akihabara lit up there at night. Everything is so beautiful.

I make my way back to the hotel, too tired to do anything else. I hit a cobini on the way and get soda and snacks, but otherwise, I am done. Another big day tomorrow...

I got the opportunity to go to Tokyo from a meeting with Bandai at the 2009 NYTF. They invited me to attend the Tamashii Expo, but of course I had to pay my own way. But money was not the only obstacle. My wife had said after my last Tokyo trip "You are not going to Tokyo again without me".

At the end of Toy Fair, I was waiting in the hotel lobby for our ride out to the airport, when my phone rang. My wife was out keeping busy with the kids, and they ended up at a pet store, looking at a puppy.

An idea sprung into my head. I said to her, you can get the puppy if I can go to Tokyo. Surprisingly she agreed, and I began to make my plans for a trip to the motherland.

The first thing in order was the flight. From the east coast, Tokyo is a LONG way away. Total air flight time is around 16 hours, so you want to make damn sure you pick a good seat. I always go with this travel agency out of California called Gateway LAX. They buy tickets to Japan wholesale, and they have blocks of them, so not only do you get the best price, but you also get to pick your seat. Now normally I fly on American Airlines, because being a fat American, I need the extra inch of seat room in economy. I highly recommend finding out what kind of plane you are flying in and visiting seatguru.com to figure out what kind of space you have. While flying AA to Tokyo is cheap, it is not fun. The planes are old, the flight attendants tired and jaded, the entertainment stupid. I heard that flying a Japanese airway was the way to go, so I took a chance and booked a flight on Japan Airlines. You have to be careful when booking a JAL flight, because often even though they say JAL, they are actually AA flights. The good thing though is that the two airlines share miles. After confirming the flight with the agency, the next stop was hotel.

On my last two trips to Tokyo, I had the fortune of staying with someone I knew, so I didn't need to get a hotel. This time though, i was on my own. There are of course a lot of hotels in and around Tokyo, but they can vary wildly in price and location. Cheaper hotels tend to be out of the city or away from train stations. Hotel booking sites like priceline and hotels.com only have a limited amount of affordable hotels available in the Tokyo area. Where location was so critical, I didn't want to take a chance with priceline and get a hotel in the middle of nowhere. What I ended up doing was researching the areas around my destination and then searching that name with hotel. So, for example, I searched "Akihabara+hotel" on google. A little research found out what I was looking for was a bare-bones business hotel, so I searched for a business hotel and found one called Ochanomizu St. Hills Hotel. Actually, I found a bunch, but this one had an English web page and great prices. At 7,980 yen a night, it seemed like a steal. So I went ahead and booked that online, and I was set to go.

Of course the weeks in-between are filled with google searching about all kinds of things relating to my trip. I know I needed to put aside time to see Tamashii Nations, and also to do some Sakura Blossom viewing, but other than that, my schedule was pretty open.

The time came and I had to get up at the crack of dawn. Why did I book my flight so early? Checking in was quiet and easy, although I had an issue with my baggage. See, in order to get around easily, and to be able to bring back lots of stuff, I packed my regular suitcase inside of another larger empty suitcase. While convienent to carry around, it was over the airlines weight limit, and subject to a charge! ack. So I had to separate the bags at check-in, and each on its own was under the allowed weight. Go figure.

The first leg of the flight is from Boston to Chicago, and takes about 2 hours. This is of course on a smaller, AA plane. Once in Chicago, I then transfer to a JAL flight to Tokyo.

This is one of those big international planes that has the two level seating, and because I was able to pick my seat, I got the coach section in the bubble at the top front of the plane. This is awesome for many reasons. For one, you are far away from the engines, so it is quiet. Second, there are less people up here, so you get better service.

I had picked an aisle seat on-line, and as I approached my row I could see the look of horror in the face of the Japanese woman and her young daughter as this big hairy Gaijin goes to sit next to them.

Awkward.

But the seat was ok, it was an aisle seat, so I would live. It was noticeably smaller than an AA flight though. Not but a few minutes into the flight, the attendant comes over to me and says that the front row in this section is completely empty, and I can have it all to myself if I want. HELL YEAH I wanted to. So I mosey up to the front seat and sit down. It is then that I realize I have made a mistake.

When seated in a normal row, you have room under the seat in front of you for your feet to stretch out a little. Not so in the front row - there's a wall in front of you. So then I thought at least I can kind of scoot sideways and put up the arm wrests and spread out a little. Nope. See, on a normal seat, the TV for your seat is in the seat back of the row in front of you. With no row in front of me, the TV monitors were stored in the armrests between the seats, making them immobile. To add insult to injury, the armrests were actually larger to accommodate the monitors, reducing the width even more.

I decided to stay in the seat, because i could spread all my stuff on the other seats and not have to fight for elbow space with a 10 year old Japanese girl. I took advantage of the free booze (another perk of JAL) and got a glass of wine, downed some Tylenol PM and I was out cold.

The flight from Chicago to Tokyo is about 13 hours long, and I slept about 8 of them. Not too bad. I watched a few movies, played some games, and as I passed the time the map showed our flight inching closer and closer to Japan.

As we pass over Hokkaido, the captain comes on and says a message in Japanese, and I miss the English part. But I look at the monitor and my plane begins to turn away from Tokyo and head back up north!

A flight attendant explains to me that a FedEX plane has just crashed at Narita Airport right ahead of us, closing down the entire main runway. We are being diverted to Saporro.

Resigned to my fate, I look out the window and watch the snowy landscape pass by. We arrive at Sapporo airport and are unloaded from buses, which brings us to customs and immigration. I have no idea what I am doing right now. Am I getting another flight? Nobody is telling me.

Apparently Sapporo isn't used to getting multiple international flights diverted in at once because there are only two people in immigration and it takes forever. We have to get our baggage, have it inspected, and then go upstairs and wait in line at the JAL terminal to get another flight. Finally, they book us on a flight to Haneda airport, so I get my ticket, check my bags again, and then wait to get through the terminal. This whole ordeal takes HOURS. I am dying.

From Sapporo to Haneda is quick, maybe an hour? I can't really tell what time it is, but it is dark out, so it must be late. I arrive at Haneda, which is closer to Tokyo than Narita, and quickly claim my bags.

It's 9pm at night. I have no Japanese money, because usually I get the currency exchanged at the international terminal at Narita, and then hop on the Narita Express into Tokyo. But now I am at a domestic terminal, so all the currency exchanges are closed.

The stress of a long day is settling in. I just want to stop. But I get on a shuttle bus with my luggage and find the one currency exchange open in the small International terminal. After exchanging currency I make my way to the subway station which ends up bring me to Tokyo Station. From there I take the subway to Ochanomizu Station.

I get off the train and pull out my map. It says that I need to go straight across the bridge outside the station, up a few blocks and I am there. Well, I take an elevator out of the station and come out on the wrong side of the river. I ask a cab driver if he can drive me, and he's trying to tell me in his best broken English that the hotel is only a few blocks over. I am so tired, I don't care, I ask how much. 900 yen he quotes me, but then, he says to forget about it and tells me where to walk.

I'm too tired to argue anymore. Its around 10pm. I was supposed to arrive around 3. I drag my luggage all the way around the station, find the bridge, cross it, and from there I can look over and see the neon lights of Akihabara. It is here that it finally hits me, I am in Tokyo.

I make my way up a giant hill (I guess the hotel is called St. Hills for a reason) and finally check in. I get my card, go up to the seventh floor, collapse and die.

Tomorrow, I visit HobbyLink Japan.