A Trip To Japan: An "Anime Tour"

[jennaria]

So on our first full day in Japan, we had an anime tour scheduled. Which, to be honest, I expected to be something like this.

…it was not. Which made sense, as soon as I thought about it: even if a given location (Sensoji Temple! Shibuya Crossing!) has been used in multiple anime, it doesn't follow that the tourists have seen those anime, or care. Instead, the 'anime tour' went the more mercantile route. We did go to Sensoji Temple first (which has indeed been used in multiple anime) because it was five minutes from our hotel and you gotta pick the low-hanging fruit.

Coming in the side way, not via the famous Kaminarimon Gate, which is the thing you're more likely to recognize from said anime.

Then we went to Game Taito Station in Akihabara, and took gloriously implausible photos at a PuriPuri booth -

This bears very little resemblance to what I actually look like.
- and lost the equivalent of $10 on claw games -

But the cat plushies were so cute!

Next to Animate, where we spent more money than we should on SPY X FAMILY merchandise simply because we'd spent three floors staring blankly at the shelves, trying to figure out what the hell series anything was from, and FINALLY A SHOW WE RECOGNIZED, and then Mandrake, which sells rare collectibles -

I don't recognize most of these either. Except the Star Wars. Those I recognize.
- and also doujins!...which were all sorted and labeled in Japanese, naturally, and I lacked the courage to ask for help. So much for my intentions to bring back my weight in old Yuri On Ice!!! doujins.

We finished off that day at Tokyo Skytree, where we discovered that no really, the Japanese will slap anime on anything.

No seriously, Detective Conan curry?!?
Also I have lots of photos looking out over cloudy, rainy Tokyo, which is very appropriately moody but also blends together and not in a panorama sort of way.

This is as colorful as my Skytree photos get.
It's possible I have photos of cool places! Unfortunately, any convenient from this window, you can see X, Y, and Z! labels were in Japanese, with no English alternates.

Next up: This Is Not My Fandom, But I Don't Care Any More, or a series of small fannish pilgrimages in Japan!

Comments

[rebeccama]

That looks like a lot of fun. I had a trip planned to Japan years ago, but it had to be canceled due to a family crisis (the crisis didn't involve me directly other than wanting my family to be ok). The crisis resolved itself, but I still haven't been to Japan.

[jennaria]

It's worth it! But I do suggest working with a tour company, ideally one that remembers to alert your local guides to things like food allergies and mobility issues. :wry: