Land of the Rising Sun
I consider myself a relatively well travelled kind of guy. The thing is though with the exception of America last year and this year my travels have been limited to Europe and the Middle East. The furthest east I’ve ever travelled is probably Syria, if I’m not mistaken. On Friday we booked our tickets to visit Naoto (or Hatori-san) in Japan for the first two weeks of October. To say I’m excited is a small and completely inaccurate understatement. I’ve been interested in Japanese culture since I was about 8 when I first Robotech as a kid on Saturday mornings. This was then further augmented with being a complete electronics GEEK. What you thought I became an Electrical Engineer by chance. Oh no no no, it was more than that. At some point in my life I’ll be sure to write a bit further about it.
Then you start adding the sheer amount of Manga and Anime I consume on a regular basis and you might start seeing the trappings of a bit of a fetish. Naoto has already assured me that we’re definitely going to be visiting the Studio Ghibli museum while we’re there (I think he loves it more than me).
I would love to visit Japan so be sure to enjoy it. My girlfriend is in love with the architecture (and art styles) of the Japanese culture and if all goes well, we will visit Japan within the next 5 years.
↓ Quote | 19/8/2007
I’ve been living in Japan now for half a decade and even though I am not the biggest anime / manga fan, I heartily recommend you visit Nakano Broadway. It’s a small shopping “mall” (if you want to call it that) packed to the gills with tons of toys and other merchandise related to the types of things you like. Given that I have a few years on you (age-wise) my appreciation for some slightly older robots (Getter, Mazinger, Combattler) means I go there more than Akiba because they have a much better “signal-to-noise” ratio for good stuff. And it it is also a hell of a lot less packed with tourists and nowhere near as smelly as Akiba.
Also, if you don’t visit Fuji-Q highlands while you are here, you will be doing yourself an immense disservice.
You’ve got my email (obviously) so feel free to shoot me a mail if you have any questions that would be better served from a gaijin perspective than your Japanese friend might be able to give. Let’s face it, foreigners living in a country tend to notice some things that the locals overlook.
Have a nice trip.
↓ Quote | 20/8/2007
That’s awesome, thanks Endekks, I’ll definitely drop you an email once we’ve kind of worked out where we’re going to go. I think we’re going down to Kyoto for a little while as well.
↓ Quote | 20/8/2007
Kyoto is great for the temples, no question at all. While I typically find most bus tours to be lame, a bus tour which hits up all the temples in that area is a pretty good idea, as it will be much cheaper and easier to see the good ones via that method, rather than going by taxi or walking. Nanzenji was a particular fave of mine because of the stunning rock gardens, but it also have a lot of nice “real” gardens through which you can walk and explore and find centuries old statues and whatnot hidden amongst the trees.
↓ Quote | 23/8/2007
I visited Japan about ten years ago (college exchange program one summer) and fell in love with the country! I so want to go back!
It’s certainly a different world there. Lots to do and see.
↓ Quote | 26/8/2007
Well done - do have fun over there!
Now I really must get round to visiting Japan (and other countries too!) Lots to do and see ;)
↓ Quote | 27/8/2007
Its a great place, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
↓ Quote | 1/9/2007