Another stop to keep you from being productive during the workday!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CollectionDX/184958426929

Next week we're running a skeleton staff at CDX. I'll be on Vacation, with no internet, and Dan, Adam and Jeremy will be at San Diego Comic-Con. Look for a special announcement regarding that soon.

Speaking of Jeremy, I guest-hosted on Destroy All Podcasts DX. We talked about Takeshi Kitano's film "Getting Any". It was a lot of fun, so please check it out.

Thats about all.. Talk to you soon..

Josh

Tokyo. Japan. 1983. The Glen Miller Orchestra. With time to kill, band members Larry O'Brien, Mike Ruth and others Explore the streets of Japan.

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.

We stopped for lunch at a small shop - everyone got ramen but I got two plates of Gyoza. I kind of had buyers remorse here, but the Gyoza was great, so I didn't mind. The Ramen looked good though.

From here, most of the gang had to go to meetings and such, so Jordi and I decided to go do some sightseeing.

First place we hit up was the Bandai Corporate headquarters in Asakusa.

We thought we were going to get a tour, but actual work needed to be done, so we just hung out in the lobby. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but mostly its just displays of currently released Bandai product. There was one case with nostalgic items, in it was a MIB BLACK DALTANIOUS. Those of you who care know what a big deal this toy is.

Outside Bandai has the "Parade of Characters" so we took some pictures there, and I took advantage of Ultraman.

We walk down the road a bit, and end up at arguably Tokyo's biggest tourist destination/trap - Asakusa Kannon. It's a series of gates, shrines and temples that have a ton of shops connecting them. Tourists are all over the place, taking pictures, buying knick-knacks and generally being touristy. I was guilty as charged. Jordi and I walked a bit, the smells of all the food vendors filling our noses. Too bad they were all too crowded to actually stop at.

The first gate is called Kaminarimon Gate. The gate has statues of the gods Raijin (god of thunder) and Fujin (god of wind) on either side.

Nakamise Dori is the long shopping arcade that connects you to the next gate. Along the way are all kinds of stalls, even toy stores, but are overpriced and have poor selection. The people there HATE having their shops photographed, which is an odd thing considering where they are located. I take their pictures anyway.

The next gate is Hōzōmon Gate

Look, I'm a tourist!

There were some Sakura after the gate, in full bloom. The picture doesnt really capture how beautiful they were against the lanterns.

In front of the main hall is a big iron bowl full of burning incense. Bathing in the smoke is customary.

Inside Kannondō is noisy and crowded. People throwing coins into the offertory box, then a clap to announce their presence (I think).

Inside the hall is the shrine, behind a chicken wire screen. There were people in there, so there must be a way to get in. Maybe you have to be a member.

After we saw the shrine we headed out on foot to another adventure. I wanted to find this old toy store in Asakusa called Kusou. So we went out behind the hall, and I took this picture

Note the giant fuzzy spot in the front. This becomes an issue, but more on that later.

This here is a pretty typical festival stall. You've got food on one side, in this case its Hello Kitty chocolate covered banana snacks, and then you've got a couple of kids games to the side.

Behind the shrine grounds is an old Amusement park called Hanayashiki. We came out from a side street and stumbled upon a Ninja Show. How random!

I love vintage Japanese signs.

Danger Steak! I wonder what makes steak dangerous?

Finally, we make it to Kusou, which you can view here

On the way back, we passed a Love Hotel that was lit up pretty awesome.

It was getting dark now, so we decided to head home. Nakamise Dori was all lit up now and looking beautiful.

I couldn't NOT take a picture of this.

This is Me and Jordi

I am Gigantor!

Possibly my favorite shot from the whole trip

And I think that was the end of my day. I got dinner near the hotel, and dragged my ass back to the hotel.

Looking back at my photos though, it was pretty clear that there was something wrong with my camera. Closer inspection revealed that there was some kind of dust INSIDE the lens. I bought a box cutter at the am/pm and brought it back to the hotel. I pried off the outer lens with the flat of the blade, but realized that there's no way I could get inside the camera right now. So I knew that tomorrow I had a mission. Getting a new camera.

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.