--> BL Japan 2017 pt.2 Tokyo - Akihabara blog/33258
So, I finally made it to the promise land Japan XDXDXDXD
Some of you may remember, I wrote a blog a couple of months ago asking for advice on how to get around in Japan for my impending trip, and as promised, I'm back to tell you guys all about it~
The goal of this blog is to share my experiences in Japan, and hopefully provide some tips/pointers for MFCers who are looking for travel info for their own trip.
Overview:
So I spent 4 days in Tokyo and 2 days in Kyoto, for a total of 6 days in Japan.
I ordered a pocket wifi and a 7-day JR Pass before my trip, thanks to advice from the wonderful people here on MFC:
It's a paper-based pass ($250) that you order before arriving in Japan (though now you can buy it after arriving in Japan from the JR Tokyo station for a 3000jpy price bump), you will receive a voucher in the mail, which can be exchanged for the real pass at Narita or Haneda airport, or a major JR station in Tokyo. The JR Yamanote line covered all the areas within Tokyo that I wanted to visit (Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Oeno), as well as round trip between Tokyo and Kyoto (normally $120 one way, per person), so I think it was well worth the price. The only downside: because it's paper-based, you have to show it to a JR staff member (live person) every time you go in or out of the gates, instead of swiping through automated gates like everybody else. The gates are mostly staffed as long as the trains are running, but I did run into a problem once trying to go out of an exit that was unstaffed, but there was a button for help and I was let out remotely.
I stayed at a hotel in Shinjuku, which was a 15-20min walk to the JR Shinjuku station.
(night view of Shinjuku)
The hotel had a free shuttle to/from Shinjuku station that runs every 20min till 9:50pm, so that was very convenient. Occasionally, if I got back to Shinjuku station too late for the shuttle or was in a time crunch, I took a taxi back, which was 580jpy. So for short distances, taxis are pretty affordable~
Day 1: Shinjuku
Shinjuku is an excellent area for eating and shopping (especially for skin care and cosmetics :D). Lumine I, Lumine II, and Lumine EST (department stores) are all attached to the JR Shinjuku station, and there are tons of restaurants and cafes in the basement level.
(White strawberries from Kumamoto, super delicious at 100jpy a piece T^T)
(matcha and pecan ice cream from an Arabian Nights themed shop inside of Lumine I, matcha flavor was super heavy XD)
(real ichigo daifuku! I've only ever seen these in animes >0<)
Although Shinjuku doesn't offer a whole lot of anime shopping, there is a Book-Off, a Kunibukiya, and multiple Taito Stations.
(Taito Station in Shinjuku)
Day 2: Ikebukuro
Recommended as a fushoji must-stop, Ikebukuro is a short ~15min ride from Shinjuku on the JR Yamanote line. I navigated via Google map (pocket wifi was a life-saver!), but the interesting thing about Tokyo was that smaller streets don't have names, so a lot of times my direction was something like, "walk 200ft, turn slight right", so there was a lot of pointing my phone compass around until it was pointing at the right direction =.=
(Unagi Juu from Shinjuku station to fuel my yaoi tour XD)
I went for the Animate store first, which was a 10min walk from the JR Ikebukuro station.
4F - Otome goods, mostly straps, but does have some figures:
(figure display, glad I got to see Dazai figures in person since I'm pondering whether to buy~)
(the new Sephiroth figure *drool* He was my first figure, the rabbit that led me down the bottomless money hole that is figure collecting XD)
(recently released Bungo Stray Dogs straps)
Lots of otome anime/game trading straps/badges/stickers:
(some studio Ghibli goods, very detailed~)
4F - BL comics and goods. Arriving on this floor felt like going to heaven XD I've never seen this much BL stuff in my life XDXDXDXD
(Hana wa Saku Ka by Hidaka Shoko sensei, my favorite mangaka XD)
Goods from Dakaretai Otoko No.1 ni Odosareteimasu:
I'm a die-hard fushoji, in case you haven't noticed XD
From Animate, I headed for the nearest K-Books. It happened to be the first in line, Chara-Kan, which sold One Piece, Haikyu!! and Kuroko's Basketball goods:
From this store, I obtained a store map of all the K-Books in Ikebukuro (thanks to google translate XD). Every K-Books store has these maps for free, so make sure you ask for one!
On the way from Chara-Kan to Otome-Kan, I happened upon the Ikebukuro Mandarake store, which had a large selection of BL mangas, novels, doujins (lots of doujin), CDs, and goods, but in my excitement at seeing a real, live(?) mandarake, I forgot to take pics =.= TT^TT
So, back to K-Books Otome-Kan, lots of Otome game/anime straps and figures:
(I've actually never seen these square-faced trading figures in person, so that was interesting~)
From Otome-Kan, I went for the jack-pot - Comic&Soft-Kan, which housed BL comics, novels, and goods XDXD
(ultra-limited secret type Togainu no Chi Akira One Coin figures)
(regular edition secret type Togainu no Chi Akira One Coin figure)
(Nitro+Chiral Lamento goods~)
N+C DMmd goods~
(full set of kuji plushies, was sooooooo tempted to buy them...but I seriously need to limit my collection type, so I successfully exercised self-control T^T)
(more Hidaka Shoko - Yuutsu na Asa)
(Junjo Romantica GSC nendo petits. So sad that I think that price is reasonable =.=)
I did end up visiting most of the other K-Books, except for the 2 Doujin-Kans and the Cosplay-Kan. But it was essentially more straps and badges (I don't collect those), which got old pretty quickly, especially after a whole floor of them at Animate. But depending on the series you are following, they are worth checking out~
Somehow, while wondering around trying to find a place to grab a matcha latte, I happened upon a store called Stella Worth Girl's Game Shop:
They have an extremely decent BL goods collection~ I actually ended up scoring one of my goal items for this trip, the Taisho Mebiusline Official Visual Fanbook, at this place XDXDXD
The only downside is they don't do tax refund.
(Ichiban kuji DMmd Koujaku wall scroll~ K-Books actually had all 4, but I didn't grab them since I'm working on concentrating my buying power on figures)
(that Taisho Mebiusline pillow for retail price...was sooooo tempted!)
(more N+C goods~)
I didn't go crazy buying things in Ikebukuro, because that splurge could very quickly get into the thousands if I let it go at K-Books Comic&Soft-Kan, since they also had the TnC naked Akira cushion and the R-18 Aoba figure XD. So here's everything I got from my 6hr Ikebukuro excursion:
(sorry for the glare!)
**Akihabara covered in a separate post, since this blog is already massively long:
--> BL Japan 2017 pt.2 Tokyo - Akihabara blog/33258
Advice for future travelers:
- Get a pocket-wifi!! I can't stress this enough, it will save you a lot of time and walking, and time is of the essence during your Japan trip. Also helps with no panicking when you are lost, which may happen frequently.
- Get a JR Pass, if you plan on visiting more than 1 city. It's basically the same cost as a round trip bullet train ticket. If you plan on staying in Tokyo only, just get a Suica, the JR Pass is not worth it.
- Order your JR Pass >2wks ahead, if you decide you want one, because it takes time to process your order and ship the voucher to you.
- Google translate is your friend (hence why pocket wifi is a must). I don't know how accurate it is, but it got me what I was looking for 100% of the time.
- Wear comfortable shoes, you are going to be doing a massive amount of walking.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
Thanks for reading~!
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