A few weeks ago I compiled some of my video clips from our last trip to Japan (December 2019) into a 30 minute video. It’s a chronological mashup of many of the sights and sounds that we experienced on our trip, which took place mainly in Tokyo this time.
I hope that you will enjoy this video, which features dancing, singing, a Pokemon cafe, some cute dogs, amazing food, Sailor Scouts, robots, cram-packed stores, shrines and temples, kawaii monster girls, karaoke, mochi-pounding, snakes, and much more.
And even after my second trip to Japan, I am again dreaming of my return. Someday! ❤
If you’d like to see the videos from our last trip to Japan (2017) in which we traveled more broadly, check out this post.
Or, if you would like to read the detailed day-by-day blogs from our trips, they start here (2017) and here (2019).
A month ago Dustin and I began our trip in Tokyo! So, as with our last trip, I’ve decided to copy out each day of my travel journal into my blog. Each day for the next 18 days I will share a post of what we did in Tokyo a month prior.
So, let’s get into it! (Or, start with day 1, here)
From Shauna’s Journal
Day 4, December 17th, 2019
Today Dusty and I wandered Akihabara together, stopping at Maach Ecute (fancy o.o), Mandarake, Animate, & Kotobukiya. I had some really tasty taiyaki (bacon & egg, and premium cream) from Kurikoan, and later on we went to Akiba Ichi’s UDX Resturaunt area where we had delicious conveyor- belt sushi at Aburi.
I had a reservation for the two of us for the Pokemon Cafe near Tokyo Station, but Dustin was walked-out, so I went on a solo journey to Pokemon Center DX.
Farewell Dustin my love! We could see eachother across the station platform XD
I bought some xmas gifts for Dustin and also the softest, fluffiest Pikachu stuffie! The cashier told me “please take care of Pikachu” in English.
Pika pika!
At 6, I entered the cafe, which is ADORABLE- cute Pokemon displays everywhere, themed food, and best of all a BIG PIKACHU WHO WALKS AROUND AND POSES AND DANCES AND SHAKES HANDS omg it was so cute when his ears wiggled!
Pikachu… what have I done? I’m so sorry T-T
When I shook Pikachu’s hand. Omg starstruck XD
As I was leaving the Pokemon cafe and waiting in line to pay, I noticed a cute little boy playing with my bag strap. He was looking at me and smiling. When I got back to the hotel I realized he had put his collectable Pokemon Cafe coaster in my bag! 😮
Each day I think my feet couldn’t hurt more, but then I crawl back to the hotel and night and prove myself wrong. Owwww… so much walking >.<
And so, I must now rest.
Check out day 5, Pigs and Kawaii Monster Girls, here!
A month ago Dustin and I began our trip in Tokyo! So, as with our last trip, I’ve decided to copy out each day of my travel journal into my blog. Each day for the next 18 days I will share a post of what we did in Tokyo a month prior.
So, let’s get into it! (Or, start with day 1 here)
From Shauna’s Journal
Day 3, December 16th, 2019
I’m freaking exhausted but I need to get this incredible day down on paper before I go to bed! Today was tattoo day at Studio Muscat, so I headed out to the train station early to find the place (amidst some major construction in Shibuya). The train ride from Ikebukuro to Shibuya (around 7:50-8:20ish?) was INTENSE. I now know what it’s like to be squeezed into the train. I had never experienced it before, not even during our entire trip in 2017, but this was legit cram-packed. I had strangers intimately squished against me from every angle, and we moved and swayed as one big wave of humans. Something about it was sort of beautiful- everyone just stayed still and quiet and carried on with their routine despite having their nose pressed against a stranger’s armpit. The pressure against me from all angles reminded me of how a mother swaddles her baby- I was swaddled with and by humanity today.
So finally I made it to Studio Muscat and had wonderful sessions with Haruka (my tattoo of a cat resting on a traditional ball bell toy w. ribbon) and Eiji (my tattoo of a nephilia clavata spider). Both were very kind and professional, and thanked me for the cards I wrote them and the maple candies I brought them from Canada. I also chatted with some American tourists who came in to inquire about tattoos. 🙂
Catching Pokemon inside the studio as I wait for my appointment…
At some points I was cursing myself WHO’S IDEA WAS IT TO GET TWO TATTOOS IN THE SAME DAY?! (mine) as it was painful at times getting all stages of both tattoos done in one day with no numbing (the highlights of Haruka’s tattoo hurt like a BIIITCH) but I’m glad I got them done!
After my tattoos I visited the next-door cafe “Reism Stand” because I had the tattoo-shakes and needed to eat something. I got a hot cafe latte and some amazing, thick French Toast with apple and cinnamon.
Next, I headed to Shibuya to meet up with Dustin. I brieflyperused Village Vanguard (a claustrophobic cavern of novelties and trinkets) and then checked out the Punyus in Shibuya 109 where I could actually find clothes that fit me!
Dusty and I headed to the brand new Parco building and had a lot of fun exploring the new Pokemon store– huge glass tank with MewTwo suspended inside! Poke-nostalgia! The store also features a new graffiti art theme.
The Capcom and Shonen Jump stores were pretty cool, too.
We waited in line for about 30 minutes (a line that extended down a winding stairwell!) so that we could browse the extremely popular new Nintendo Store! I went to the one in New York years ago (2007?ish?) on my choir trip for High School, but this one is apparently the first one in Japan! I spent a significant amount of money there o.o
Lastly, we explored the basement level which is full of unique and quirky resturaunts and cafes. We stopped at Tyffonium Cafe, a whimsical spot with a sort of steampunk-circus vibe. The cafe uses AR cards for augmented reality that can be displayed on your table using a tablet. Each parfait you order comes with a different AR card (which you get to keep!) that gives you a different visual show, each seeming to be based on/tie-ins to particular video games. I chose the “Tarot” parfait, and it was so strange and wonderful! It had a gummy ball, clear and round on top, and an umbrella of gelatin which draped over the parfait. I love textures, so it was FUN to eat!
My Tarot parfait
Dustin’s parfait
Check out day 4, Akiba Fun and Meeting Pikachu, here!
Similarly, anime is a format capable of telling any kind of story.
I’m heading out to Animethon tomorrow, and as such I’ve had several conversations with friends and coworkers recently about anime. One such friend was reminiscing with me today about favorites from childhood, and we discussed how sometimes anime surprised us with its content.
Anime: Building Solid Foundations For Childhood
And Beyond
When I was very young, before I even got into Sailor Moon or Pokemon, I was prone to watching and re-watching my favorite VHS tapes over and over and over again. I’d watch them so fervently that I could speak every word of dialogue along with the tape. One of my favorites was a particular version of Heidi which had beautiful music and charming style. Another was a lively and unique version of Snow White. Yet another was a tape of the first 3 episodes of the action-packed extra-terrestrial fantasy cartoon, Thundercats.
Little did I know that in the might of these three VHS tapes, probably plucked from the bargain bins of convenience stores by my family, anime would begin to sink its hooks into my impressionable young mind!
By scouring the internet some years later on a hunch, I confirmed that my Heidi movie (which was dubbed in English) had ties to one of the most well known and celebrated anime studios both in Japan and internationally, Studio Ghibli. My Heidi was a condensed version of a full Japanese anime series created by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, the two founding directors of Studio Ghibli.
This was back when Studio Ghibli was not yet established- Alps No Shoujo Heidi was released under Zuiyo Eizo which later became Nippon Animation. Nippon, I also learned with some digging, created the Grimms Fairy Tale Classics series, including my aforementioned favorite version of Snow White!
Oh, and Thundercats? It was animated by a Japanese studio called Pacific Animation Corporation.
Snyarf, Lion-O!
I Didn’t See That Coming (and Neither Did He)
I have a vivid memory from when I was quite young of sitting in the living-room with my Dad watching an anime that he randomly found while browsing tv channels. Two people are battling in some sort of combat ring, the sort of setting where a competition like martial arts would take place. The fighting is bloody and intense, and keeps amping up in its recklessness.
Suddenly one of the fighters takes the pointer and middle fingers of both of his hands and thrusts them into the temples of the competitor, making a calculated strike-and-pull. A close up is shown of the victim’s retinal arteries (?) being ripped open, and blood gushes out of both sides of his head.
Everything goes black. Now he can’t see and must continue the fight completely blind.
My Mom’s spidey sense must have tingled in worry about her pre-pubescent daughter because she walked into the room at the peak of the action, raised her eyebrows to the roof with a sidelong glance, and said something like:
“Doug, what in the hell are you two watching?!”
Dad was just as shocked as I was –
“Well, it’s a cartoon! I didn’t…”
We sat transfixed and watched the rest of the show. I have no idea what the name of it was, and to this day I can’t remember anything about it besides that scene, but this experience was my first big glimpse of anime’s capabilities beyond friendly magical girls and elemental monster battles, and certainly far beyond any western animation I’d ever laid eyes on.
Please Sir, I want Some More (Ghibli)
Outside of my heavily edited VHS version of Heidi, the first Ghibli movie I remember watching was Princess Mononoke. I was still quite young, and, once again, this was something my Dad stumbled upon while browsing channels. We both realized it was a bit more bloody than we were expecting (which is funny, because it’s to my knowledge the only Ghibli movie with that level of gory imagery- not that there’s anything wrong with that!) and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Dad… what is wrong with the boar, dad…?
Years later, Dad finally decided it was time to invest in a BluRay player and brought home a PS3, along with our first ever BluRay: a copy of Ghibli’s award winning Spirited Away.
While he seemed to have bought it mainly as a means of testing out the assuredly Beautifully Clear HD Quality Image and Unsurpassed Sound of a BluRay on his TV, I was immediately smitten with the intricate backdrops, the strange characters, and otherworldly happenings in the movie.
I waited until the newness of the BluRay fever had died off a bit and asked if I could keep the film and add it to my small but growing anime collection. Dad acquiesced with a fake sigh and a “should have known you’d like this one, kiddo”.
Ghibli movies have continued to blow me away with their devotion to truly understanding and amusing children and childlike minds, their attention to even the minutest and most seemingly insignificant details, and insightful depictions of the true good and bad faces of humanity. Their works are often fantastical, sometimes sentimental, occasionally tragic (don’t watch Grave of the Fireflies without some tissues handy) but always beautiful.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Last year I had the opportunity to fulfill a long-held dream of visiting the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka with my husband while on our trip to Japan. It was an experience I’ll never forget and will hold in my heart forever.
Again for the People in the Back: Anime is a Format,
Not A Genre
In my early teens, when I first began working part-time, I began to purchase anime of my own accord. There was no rhyme or reason to what I bought- usually it was whatever overpriced “Volume 2, Part 1” randomness my local CD Plus had in stock. Some were wonderful, and some were underwhelming, but as I learned more and more about anime and manga, I fell more and more in love with both.
Chibi Vampire Karin, one of the first anime I purchased with my meager grocery store earnings…
In time I began to understand the vastness of the possibilities of this uniquely Japanese format. To anyone who looks at an anime and immediately thinks “I’m not into that stuff”, I challenge you to do a little investigating online or talk to staff at your local library and see what’s out there that might be relevant to your interests.
Curiously, it seems that there aren’t many non-fiction anime produced from what I can tell- I’ve come across a few, but biographical and NF anime (and manga) seem to be rare. I’m not sure why that is, as it’s just as valid a format as any. If anyone has any insight on this I’d love a comment or DM!
Aside from an apparent dearth of non-fiction anime, here are just a few anime that pop into my head as some examples of the versatility of the format, but they are only a few drops in an ocean of worthwhile anime.
I was compiling a list of nerdy titles for a library display today and thought I should share some of them here!
They are listed alphabetically by last name of author. Enjoy!
Geek Mom: Projects, Tips, and Adventures for Moms and Their 21st Century Families by Natania Barron et al. (2012)
Geek Knits: Over 30 Projects for Fantasy Fanatics, Science Fiction Friends, and Knitting Nerds by Toni Carr (2015)
Fandom: Fic writers, Vidders, Gamers, Artists, and Cosplayers By Francesca Davis DiPiazza (2018)
Superfandom: How Our Obsessions are Changing What We Buy by Zoe Fraade-Blanar and Aaron Glazer (2017)
Epic Cosplay Costumes: a Step-By-Step Guide to Making and Sewing Your Own Costume Designs by Kristie Good (2016)
1000 Incredible Costume & Cosplay Ideas: a Showcase of Creative Characters from Anime, Manga, Video Games, Movies, Comics, and More! By Yaya Han et al. (2013)
The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley (2016)
I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing: Star Wars and the Triumph of Geek Culture by A.D. Jameson (2018)
Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World by Anne Jamison et al. (2013)
And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth by Carljoe Javier (2011)
100 First Words for Little Geeks by Kyle Kershner (2018)
The Geek’s Cookbook by Lecomte (2018)
The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: a Handbook for Geek Girls by Sam Maggs (2015)
Geek Tattoo: Pop Culture in the Flesh by Issa Maoihibou (2017)
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls edited by Hope Nicholson (Anthology, 2015)
Nerdy Nummies Cookbook: Sweet Treats for the Geek in All of Us by Rosanna Pansino (2015)
The Geeky Chef Cookbook: Real-Life Recipes for Your Favorite Fantasy Foods by Cassandra Reeder (2015)
Comic-con and the Business of Pop Culture: What the World’s Wildest Trade Show Can Tell Us About the Future of Entertainment… by Rob Salkowitz (2012)
Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family by Stephen H. Segal and Valya Dudyca Lypescu (2016)…- 649.1 SEG
Geek Wisdom: The Sacred Teachings of Nerd Culture by Stephen H. Segal et al. (2011)
Tokyo Geek’s Guide: Manga, Anime, Gaming, Cosplay, Toys, Idols More- The Ultimate Guide to Japan’s Otaku Culture by Gianni Simone (2017)
Cosplay Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to the Art of Costume Play by Yuki Takasou (2015)
A Geek in ___ series by Tuttle Publishing (Various Authors)
Getting a Life: The Social Worlds of Geek Culture by Benjamin Woo (2018)
HideNGoShauna 