The Great Japan Trip 2022-3: 日本によこそうへ!

© 2022 Asha Bardon

Inari Jinja, Nihombashi.

I am in Japan! This is day three of my trip and I am happily reconnecting with Tokyo.

I got in late Tuesday night and dragged my carcass to my hotel (no issues getting from Haneda to Tokyo Station but I then got lost, like, fie times in Kyobashi.) I literally passed out and woke up bright and early Wednesday morning with no jetlag. Honestly I set aside Tuesday to today to jet lag and gentle acclimitisation but thanks to the Timeshift app, I’ve had zero issues except for a single slightly earlier morning.

So, after accidentally calling my friend Andrew, we went to a 9:15am showing of Suzume (review coming soon!) at Toho Nihombashi. Then we ended up exploring Tokyo for the afternoon and getting utterly lost in Tokyo Station. My situational Japanese has kicked in and people keep using ‘jōzu’ (上手 , じょうず), which is totally not the case. I just apparently know more Japanese than the people I’ve associated with…

I’ve been learning new words as I go alone, the metro has taught me ‘up’ and ‘down’, for example as well as ‘left’ and ‘right’, which I knew but my brain gets confused by…

Yesterday I decided I wanted to go to Harajuku (Note to self, in Meijijingumae ‘Harajuku’ Station, do NOT take Exit 1, take Exit 4; it’s an Everest of steps which nearly killed me). I wanted to go to Meiji Jingu and the Sailor Moon Store… Only one of these things happened.

© 2022 Asha Bardon

Priorities, right?

While I was in there (spending a WHOPPING 27,000 yen…; I regret nothing and everything… Short store review: I was disappointed, it’s a tiny concession stand with very little of the good merch, even though there are restocks…) I heard someone speaking English, a nice chap asking someone what they wanted for the store and saying “They don’t have the lesbians…” I burst out laughing and eventually got talking to @rabinforever, best described as a ‘millennial with the soul of a fifty-year-old man’, he’s fine with this description and we bonded over his love of film 35mm cameras…

© 2022 Asha Bardon

December in Japan feels like early September…

One thing I noticed coming from Narnia (it’s -6 in the UK and we came through the Snowpocalypse to get to Heathrow; I even brought my winter coat) is it is seasonally warm. As a result, we found coffee at a rooftop Starbucks and enjoyed The Outside™ chatting, then I mentioned Akihabara and Rabin asked if I wanted to try and win a Sailor Mars figure at a Crane Game. Which we what we spent the afternoon attempting (it’s REALLY HARD, we won nothing.)

I’ve been to Akihabara before but it really helped to be able to wander. It’s very retro now with markets selling Old Tech like Walkmans and bits to fix your retro console. The rest of it really is an anime playground with cosplaying maids, massive adverts for new games and tax-free shops by the firstful. Oh and I finally found the mystical vending machines which sell hot Ippudo ramen broth! Even better you can get them in NewDays konbini stores and it’s delicious :D I am totally in love…

Also I need to start planning my Big Trip (which will probably be after I submit my dissertation as September seems like a nice time and I will definitely need a break…)

I got to have my first bowl of ramen in a nice little place somewhere in Akihabara; my only complaint is every store in Akihabara has weird over-sized steps or 45 degree angle micro-ramps which are a nightmare for the visually impaired like me. But I got to see merch, I even got to go to Animate and leer at the gacha machines. To say my feet hurt is being very polite but I have learned the process is ‘walk, get coffee and sit down, pee, repeat’.

I walked a LOT!

The awesome thing is that everywhere has toilets (this was a concern as my bladder is the size of a pea and I am older now which means I’m obsessed with not being too far from a toilet). At the same time, konbini are fantastic (it’s currently a tie between FamilyMart, for the Baumkucken, 7-11 for the tech and availability of EVERYTHING and NewDays, for the ramen broth in a can). They’re clean and stock all the things, like plugs and powebanks. Oh and I am in love (like: 🥰🥰🥰) with my Suica card, I love being able to use it on the metro but also in shops and at vending machines. I do carry cash but I love that I can buy a coffee in Starbucks and then reload the card at a station on the way home.

My hotel isn’t the cheaper but it is comfortable, the staff are lovely and I’ll be returning there next week. Tomorrow I’m moving to Onsen Ryokan Yuen in Shinjuku, which will give me a new area to explore before I return and head to Tokyo. Sunday, I’m heading to Yokohama to meet some friends and Tuesday I’ve booked a ticket for the Sailor Moon Museum in Roppongi (see precious merch expenses and cringe in fear!!!!!)

For more updates, do please check out my Instagram as I’m updating it with all the quirky pictures as I go! More updates will follow but that’s the easiest place to find me!