(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT1

So there was a little hiatus from me due to the fact I was travelling to Tokyo for my third time! I hadn't told many people due to personal reasons. So I apologise now to those who were unaware. Anyway I left home on the 7th March and arrived in Tokyo on the 8th. Travelling alone is actually rather peaceful and enjoyable since I was able to do things at my own pace. (☆´ω｀)ﾉ
Arriving at Narita, I accidentally returned my suica card and got "lost" - the only reason lost is in quotations is because I was never lost, I just never seemed to trust my first judgement and swore I was on the wrong train at least a dozen times. Haha, but Japanese residence are Friendly enough to help - despite the fact I was getting; 'sorry' and 'excuse me' all mixed up.

☆ Of course I stayed in Asakusa, it's the only place I know well enough to travel to alone. I stayed in the original hostel I stayed in during my first trip, here the Staff are very Friendly, and when I checked in for my first night, the Guy was asking if I had stayed before since I looked familiar. Totally wasn't sure how to respond. For the first night it was spent alone - my flight would have been £250 more if I was to fly with my Friend, Juu, so I agreed to meet her on the blue bridge. (ﾉ￣Д￣)ﾉ~ミ☆ Though the weather in Tokyo was terrible and raining, though Japan has an amazing 'umbrella system' so you always have an umbrella close by!

(*´･ω･人･ω･`*) When my Friend finally arrived - after at least four hours of walking too and from the hostel and bridge, in the rain which resulted in completely soaked socks, we got our room and freshened up before heading on straight out towards Shibuya. If I remember correctly, we went to meet Juu's Friend in order to receive some concert tickets, and then we all went for food! I was really hungry. (ノд・｀)

 

Afterwards we returned to the hostel, expecting my Friends would have serious jetlag and needed to sleep, but we didn't sleep until almost 2am and we had a - sort of - early rise the next day for a concert. ヽ(´◇｀)ﾉ

These blogs will be pretty choppy - I never manage to blog fully about my trips, well - it's always started but never continued to complete them! Please look forward to them, since the trip was shorter than my previous I am hoping to fit one or two days into one blog post! Right now I am pretty jet lagged and sleeping at the wrong hours. I woke at 5am so I am ALMOST sleeping correctly, just got to stop sleeping at 4pm till midnight UK time. (4pm GMT = 1am JPT) Enjoy my future posts, please!

(*´ω｀*) Places: #4 Asakusa

Asakusa

浅草

Asakusa was probably the last of all places that you expected to be reading about here, right? "What is this 'Asakusa'?" (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ So, for those interested in History, Japanese Shrines and Temples, then Asakusa is definitely a spot to put on your map! I will admit, the first time I travelled to Tokyo, the only reason I stayed in Asakusa was due to it being cheapest at the time. (The second cheapest Hostel was in Akihabara, but saving money would have been disastrous then. ) Asakusa is home to the Senso-ji temple/金龍山浅草寺, and is Tokyo's oldest temple. Close to the temple is Asakusa shrine also, it is known as "Sanja-sama" - Shrine of the Three Gods, so you can see how popular this place is to tourism. (Please visit the supplied link for further information!)  
So why do I keep returning to Asakusa? ヾ(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ Along with the cheapness of Hostels, I am now familiar with the city and feel at most ease with such a quiet and peaceful place, and I always find something new to see!

Inside the temple area you will find yourself suddenly within a market known as 'Nakamise' it is over 200 meters and you are more than likely bound to get lost in awe with the traditional souvenirs, food and sweets! (◎ω◎*)~ The shopping street alone has history of over several centuries, and it is still running strong today! So Nakamise is definitely the place to go and buy all your souvenirs and gifts! If ever you plan to visit Tokyo during the New Year, I really recommend coming to the temple for it's lively bustling vibe, great street food and such an amazing aura to be around! (σ・ω・)σ Of course yes, like most places in Tokyo, there is also an arcade or five dotted around variously! Fun for all the Family!

☆ Asakusa has a lot of famous landmarks. In the above picture there are two already - or possibly three!? The bridges itself are rather well known - it's a good guide to where you are in Asakusa, if you are finding difficulty in locating a place, just make note of which bridge it is closer to, then the locals will exclaim rather loudly, 'Ah! Blue bridge!' and point you in direction, trust me, it is not hard to miss these four lane bridges for transport. The river you see is called Sumida river where available boat trips are ready for anyone! ヾ(ﾟ∇ﾟ*)≡=3

Another very popular landmark in the above photo is the Asahi Beer Hall building - can you guess which one it is? The 'Asahi flame' is often referred to as "golden turd" kin no unko/ 金のうんこ due to it's strange shape, and that isn't just the tourist giving it the unique name, actually the locals refer to it as the golden turd too! ♪ (〃∇〃)ﾉ The second landmark is possibly hard to spot in the above photo, on my two trips to Tokyo, the building was still incomplete and only now - to  my knowledge - it is fully complete!

That building is, the Tokyo Sky Tree/東京スカイツリー! Can you notice the difference? (despite my awful photography skills) (⊃ω⊂) The Tokyo Sky Tree is of course criticised for it becoming the 'New Tokyo Tower' and despite all it's criticism, it is now the tallest tower in the world! You can find the Sky Tree's progress in photos here @ Wikipedia and other information on the tower and the features.
So as you may have guessed already, Asakusa is a wonderful place to visit, either to stay or as a very long day trip. The city itself has a lot of traditional gift shops, restaurants and it is really a beautiful place. (つД｀) For budget travellers I would definitely and strongly recommend this place too, for days you want to save money but see amazing sights.

(*´ω｀*) Places: #3 Shibuya

Shibuya

渋谷

Of course, we all knew Shibuya was expected to crop up sooner or later! Shibuya is quite possibly known for it's Fashion - alongside with Harajuku - and lets not forget Shibuya night life! So.. what do people first think of when they hear the name 'Shibuya'? ♪  With my 'miniature survey', the most obvious and common answer was the 109 building, closely followed by 109 Men's and Forever 21, which formerly was HMV.  ★ The top picks were all Fashion related, therefore giving Shibuya a Fashionable reputation. Next picks were the former HMV building, Tower Records and Like an Edison, which is located on the ground floor of Laforet. Shibuya is a hotspot for the younger minded people.

During my travels to Tokyo, I usually find myself in Shibuya before walking my way to Harajuku, it's a pleasant walk and I'd rather see things than sit on a train. As always Shibuya is a large city and it is easy to get lost in, so always be aware of buildings around you in case you ever need to backtrack. ☆ Center Gai / センター街 is a narrow street, either side there you will find many more fashion shops, music stores and yet again - arcades. Shibuya is always up to date with the up coming trends, and streets are littered with beautiful young aspiring fashionistas. Popular things to do while in Shibuya - other than shop, would be purikura. 'eggnam' is a popular purikura centre, and as the name suggests it is popular with many egg models. ヽ(゜▽、゜）ノ

Shibuya Night Life varies widely between the age groups, but you will never be too bored, you can do everything from Karaoke, ヾ(≧ー≦)ゞ clubbing and generally chilling out at a bar, Shibuya is also home to many live houses, or concert halls. ☆ Surprisingly some are difficult to locate for first time explorers, even with a map it can be considered a task alone. C.C.Lemon is one of Shibuya's largest live house which can seat over 2,000 people. A popular live house commonly known to people who do not live in Japan is known as 'Shibuya O-West/East' (there are other in this 'O-Group).

I felt that this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning a certain famous Shibuya name that is, Hachiko / ハチ公 for now I will not go into his great history so I will forward you to his wikipedia page instead. However, if you are ever in Shibuya and arrange to meet up with a Friend there, Hachiko is a popular meeting point. (っ´∀｀)っ Though it is often crowded with like minded folks and tourists, but Hachiko is a well known name and meeting point so it is to be expected! Overall, Shibuya is a very lively place to be. If you love the hustle and bustle of a busy city, you are bound to love Shibuya.

(*´ω｀*) Places: #2 Harajuku

 Harajuku

原宿

Next stop, Harajuku! During my trips to Tokyo I will always visit Harajuku more than once! It's just a short walk or train ride from Shibuya, conveniently placed between Shibuya and Shinjuku it's an easy place to locate. Harajuku is well known for it's street fashion and vibrant, visual style worldwide! It is a popular destination for young tourists who want to grab themselves some bargains. I tend to find Japan is ahead of the current fashion trends. While in Japan 2010/2011 the 'Norwegian print' was very hot, only to find a couple months later that shops in the UK were selling very similar. I also noticed the trend in furry boot covers too! Which were popular in Japan with Gyaru.

Takeshita Dori / 竹下通り is a very busy and lively pedestrian only street. Either side of the street you will see a variety of Japanese fashion shops. Amongst the fashion shops there is a variety of restaurants, cafes and even a wide selection of crepe stalls. Your trip along Takeshita Dori would not be complete without a delicious crepe! Takeshita Dori has such a variety of fashion stores that I would not be able to name just a couple without feeling like I had missed out other great names, so please browse the pictures here @Tokyo Fashion to get an idea of the wide selection Harajuku has to offer! There's also a cute little pet boutique hidden between various stalls. A popular chain I like to visit is called 'Closet Child' they sell a lot of second hand and new goods. There is always a big selection of well known Japanese brands for sale, everything from SEX POT ReVeNGe to Baby The Stars Shine Bright (a bad comparison). Located neatly in a corner of Takeshita Dori, Closet Child also owns a second hand store for Vivienne Westwood items, of course don't expect to find huge discounts on these second hand goods, it is Vivienne Westwood after all!

Closet Child, Harajuku also owns a store that sells Music Memorabilia! Which is popular amongst the Visual Kei lovers or those who enjoy JRock in general. You can pretty much find everything and any merchandise that is sold from past shows, or online shops which are no longer available. Closet Child is very much my guilty pleasure where I end up spending hundreds of pounds at a time on items such as cheki, tour goods and lots of CDs. Closet Child also sell rare FC goods, magazines both new and old and will even help unsigned bands get noticed by giving away free demo CD to customers. It's a very small but unlimited shop, the stock is always amazing and never fails to amaze!

Finally, I would like to add, Takeshita Dori is definitely not for those who dislike close spaces and a mass of people! Expect to be bumped into! Here the term, 'go with the flow' applies very well. However don't worry, usually people are not rude, so if you want to cross from one side to another, there will always be a chance to wade through the moving crowd.

Harajuku is a very fun and lively fashionable place, it's young culture is always refreshing the fashion scene with new trends, there is always something amazing no matter what kind of day it is, Harajuku will always breathe a breath of fresh air into the fashion world.

(*´ω｀*) Places: #1 Akihabara

Akihabara Denki Gai

 秋葉原電気街

Whenever I make a trip to Tokyo, I always try to visit Akihabara at least once! I recommend anyone with a young heart and mind to visit Akihabara. As the name suggests 'denki gai' meaning 'electric city', Akiba is well known for it's electrical goods and computers. (＞＜*) Commonly however Akihabara is known mostly for the Anime - an Otaku's heaven. オタク - known as 'nerd' or a person with an obsessive interest to a certain theme and/or character. It's not a word to be thrown around lightly in Japan, however in Western cultures the phrase is very over used. ( ￣ー￣)ﾉ

Akiba, like Tokyo is known for it's bright lights, loud music and bustling streets. The streets are often crowded with a variety of people, tourists, workers and general people who are shopping. Amongst the tourists you will often spot one or two groups of Maids. Between arcades and shopping malls there are a variety of Maid Cafe / メイドカフェ well hidden in the high rise buildings. Maid Cafe have been popular for over a decade now, and are very popular amongst the male population in Japan. It's considered a 'fetish' to some, as most Maid Cafe have a theme and sometimes embracing an Anime theme, in which your favourite 2D character suddenly becomes 3D! (〃＾-＾) Each Maid Cafe will have it's own theme to avoid a harsh competition, alas there are so many now in Akihabara that competition to get new customers is a heated battle of handing out fliers and tissue packs. As mentioned before, some Maid Cafe can be considered more of a 'fetish' place to be, increasingly a lot will now offer certain 'services' such as massages (as long as their guest remains clothed!). ( ･_･) Of course this is an extra charge on top of your already allotted paid time.

 

There are also many Arcades in Akihabara, and you don't have to be a kid to enjoy this lively and wonderful atmosphere! Arcades in Akihabara are again always located in a high rise building, with multiple levels of fun and entertainment. Usually the lower floor consists of UFOキャッチャー which is similar to the Western version of crane grabbers! UFOキャッチャー are commonly filled with a variety of things! _〆(･･　) Everything from plush toys, hand towels, pillows, keycharms, keitai strap, household items and even food! As Akiba is known for it's 'Otaku' fame, many UFOキャッチャー will also host the latest figma to add to your collection! Each floor in the Arcades will host different games, usually the first two will consist of UFOキャッチャー and steadily moves on to your button smashing fighting games, DDR and even Guitar Hero. ☆ Sometimes on the basement level you will find popular Purikura machines and usually these areas are Female only - unless you are a couple! No Men allowed! ( -ω-)

UFOキャッチャー always looked full to burst! Holding a variety of cute prizes! Many of the Staff will celebrate your win too! They're enthusiastic and always willing to help you (spend your money) and win!! Usually the whole floor Staff will cheer, blow horns and whistles - which of course will draw a lot of attention to you for a couple seconds. ♪(⌒▽⌒) ノ☆・゜:*:゜

Around Akiba you will find a variety of Cosplay shops. Personally after walking into a couple while in awe, I will always end up in the AV and adult fetish section and rather awkwardly will shuffle my way out after reading the word 'bukkake' (σ´□｀) ... (Please don't google that!)
Akihabara will and always will be in my number one recommendations for fun places to visit while Tokyo!  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!ヾ(*′エ`*)ノ