Category Archives: Japan

That one summer in 2012 when I went to Japan.

F#ck yeah Engrish

For those who are interested, there are more photos from my trip on my tumblr! I haven’t been able to blog about everything I’ve done, so it shows several places I visited but haven’t mentioned.

This country is the best, especially at English. I’d just like to take a moment to share these wonderful gems I happened to encounter during my time here…

Extra Dope Wear Select Shop:

RIDE YOUR SEXY BODY: the night surfers

SPANK ME!

Actually, that’s probably exactly what it sounds like.

Plane-flavored ice cream:

No drunk:

The Real American Underwear:

Wait…what?

Baby Shoop:

It’s kind of hard to see here, but here’s just an example of the ridiculous fashions we saw in the 109 Building, Shibuya. The entire mannequin was dressed with bling reading “BABY SHOOP.” Pardon?

Titty & Co:

UP YOURS TO SWINDLER:

Limited Express Romancecar:

This is an actual… thing on the Odakyu line in Tokyo.

Candy Stripper:

Why wouldn’t you name your company that?

Miracle Battle CArddAss:

Let’s quench insensibility and indifference to fire!

BOSS COFFEE is the boss of them all:

Boss Coffee is actually a huge brand over here.

for Female, Fetus, Family & Future:

No scribbling here:

While I’m at it, I’d also like to share this series of signs explaining the rules of the Tsukiji fish market. While the English isn’t that bad, it’s amusing nonetheless.

That’s all for now. Until next time!

Makudonarudo (McDonald’s, Japan-style)

For those who are interested, there are more photos from my trip on my tumblr! I haven’t been able to blog about everything I’ve done, so it shows several places I visited but haven’t mentioned.

After going to a McDonald’s in Germany, and being shocked at how good it was, I was super determined to go to a McDonald’s in Japan.

Call me weird for wanting to eat American fast food while in Japan, but I wanted to know! One day, on my own, then, I visited a マクドナルド (McDonald’s, pronounced Makudonarudo—or Makudo for short) and ordered some food.

The first thing I noticed was the familiar plastic chairs and tables. It lacked the class of German McDonald’s.

But I ordered food anyway. First was a teriyaki burger…

And then I got, of course, some fries.

It was saddening. But, 大丈夫だよ！Here in Japan, there are plenty of other foods to keep me occupied. During this trip, we get a 1500 yen allowance (about $12) a day to buy food. Mostly (as cheap college students) we’ve been going to cheap restaurants and convenience stores in order to keep within budget (though I’ve definitely been overspending, as I am perpetually hungry.) It may sound bad to you—but to me, I find it delicious:

Chankonabe, a hotpot dish traditionally eaten after watching a sumo match. (Which we did!)

Ramen shops were abundant and cheap in Tokyo.

Fresh sushi at a restaurant near the Tsukiji fish market.

A 280 yen beef bowl at Yoshinoya, a very cheap restaurant.

A bento purchased at a 7-11, which happens to be a very common convenience store around here.

So, yeah. Many exchange students who go to Japan report losing weight during the trip—probably because of the healthier Asian diet and all the walking—but me? Not gonna happen. Not when I have all this food to consume!

On being Asian-American in Japan

Now that I have internet, there’s going to be more photos coming up on my tumblr! Feel free to check it out. 

Japan is a very homogeneous place. It’s historically been isolated. It’s very difficult for foreigners to obtain Japanese citizenship. As a result, the large majority of people here are, naturally, Japanese.

As a result, Japanese people have an odd fascination with non-Japanese people, known as 外人(gaijin, literally “foreign person.”) We’re rare, after all. Groups like mine—with 18 college gaijin—get lots of attention. Little kids and middle schoolers in particular enjoy staring at us.

People have even taken photos of us.

Japanese people, as I’ve experienced, don’t expect gaijin to know any Japanese. Like, at all. So, unlike America, where we expect everyone to know English, saying any Japanese to a Japanese person them induces shock.

If you’re white in Japan, then, any effort is appreciated. But what if you’re not white? What if you’re Asian, like me, who at first glance could pass as a Japanese girl? I’ve been told that Asians that are in Asian countries, but cannot speak the native language, are totally rejected. I expressed my worries to a friend of mine:

Which, for the most part, has proven to be true. Except I mentioned before that I had a really bad cold, the worst I’ve had in years. I was coughing and sneezing and hacking and sniffing, hoping to god I wouldn’t get any of my fellow students sick. And in fact, there was a way I could prevent it. A very common thing in Japan, when one is sick, is to wear a hospital mask:

This way, the afflicted does not spread their germs. So I decided: Why not? When in Rome…

I wore the mask for a couple days, throwing the people around me into confusion.

Cashiers assumed I was Japanese, and didn’t hesitate to speak their language rapid-fire at me:

The best was when my group went to watch a sumo wrestling tournament, however. The guy at the ticket booth was handing out programs in both Japanese and English. To the rest of the kids, he automatically handed them an English flyer. But when I came up, he paused:

Otherwise, though, I haven’t experienced much trouble. Thank goodness! And now I’m better, so the mask is off. Besides, as soon as I open my mouth, people can pretty much tell I’m a foreigner.

My goal by the end of this trip is to be able to pass as a Japanese girl for 30 seconds. Think I can pull it off?

There is a whole street of maid girls beckoning me to enter their café.

I changed my mind. Harajuku can have someone else.

I was born to live in Akihabara.

Akihabara is an area of Tokyo known for selling electronics. More specifically, it’s known as a center of “otaku” culture—you know, anime, manga, video games—all the stuff I know and love.

So this place.

Is my paradise.

The main street in Akihabara, or “Akiba” for short, is jammed with multi-story shops selling all sorts of goodies from the latest, trendiest anime series. Figurines, manga, DVDs, CDs…

As if that wasn’t good enough, the street is also filled with arcades. Except these aren’t American arcades, with those old, clunky games of skee-ball and whack-a-mole. No, these games are the latest and greatest. And people get hardcore about them.

I, for one, tried out this awesome taiko drumming game…

…and also my all-time favorite, Dance Dance Revolution.

One thing that surprised me, though—crane games are actually a huge thing here! We have them in America too—those rigged machines where you try to scoop a stuffed animal with an incompetent mechanical claw. Arcades here had floors full of these crane games. And they introduced all sorts of new gimmicks, such as

I thought they were impossible—but then I remembered that this is Japan, where level = Asian. And I saw a girl walk by with her bag of crane game prizes:

Not all of Akiba is shiny shiny fun time, though. Sometimes the stores would delve into… more mature culture.

Sometimes, you don’t even see it coming.

What really got me the most about this place, though, were the maid cafes. These (extremely expensive) restaurants feature little Japanese girls dressed in cutesy maid outfits, speaking in very high-pitched voices and acting as “kawaii” as possible. The entire street was full of maids, handing out flyers for their café. These themed cafes weren’t restricted to only maids, however. I saw schoolgirl cafes, catgirl cafes, even a schoolgirl-themed massage parlor. I’d like to not think too much about that one.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go to a maid café, which is extremely disappointing. Perhaps one day. But for now, I got to go to Akihabara—a place I’ve been dreaming of going to for ages! It was a beautiful thing.

Though now I’m down about ten million dollars. Hey, it’s not every day I get to go to Tokyo. It was worth it.

 

If I could live in Harajuku, I totally would

For more pictures, check out my tumblr!

After visiting the Meiji Jingu, my group headed over to Harajuku. After all, Meiji is located very close to Harajuku. Thank goodness, because at the time, the train station looked like this:

So while we had to brave the crowds to get to Meiji, we did not have to venture back in again. Instead, we walked over to the main street in Harajuku, Takeshita Street:

Harajuku is, essentially, a fashion district for young people. It’s known for its wild, trendy styles, dozens of subgenres of clothes (including: goth, punk, Lolita, visual kei, and many, many more) and, on occasion, even cosplay. Takeshita Street is totally packed during the day, full of trendy Asians out for a day of shopping, crazily dressed teens strutting their stuff, and nutty shops blasting electro remixes of Disney songs.

If there’s something I love, it’s absurdity. Harajuku was full of it. Please observe these wonderfully enticing mannequins.

While people often emphasize the crazy fashions worn in Harajuku, however, the people there actually wore some pretty toned-down clothes. It was fashionable and trendy, sure, but nothing was totally over the top. Well, except for this guy who I asked to take a photo of:

And anyway, who am I to talk? I’ve cosplayed before. I love this stuff. I’d buy a frilly dress in an instant if I could. Though, on that day, we didn’t have much time to actually browse the shops in Harajuku—I definitely saw enough to totally fall in love with the whole place.

SO I may or may not be down an undisclosed amount of money after my first day in Tokyo. Everything is so cute. EVERYTHING IS SO CUTE! And Asian. And HILARIOUS! The amount of ridiculous English around here is unbelievable. Just take this one girl I saw on Takeshita Street…

I ended up returning to Harajuku in our free time. I didn’t buy anything—but I did get to try on this crazy Lolita dress:

Super G, yo.

The only problem with Asian clothes, though—they’re built to fit a certain… body shape. A body shape that I do not have. So as I shopped around in search of a frilly dress, I encountered the same problem over and over again…

So I didn’t end up buying a frilly dress. But still— Harajuku and I—we were meant to be.

Honey, we’re not in Tokyo anymore… oh wait, yes we are. (The Meiji Shrine)

For more pictures, check out my tumblr, which will be periodically updated with photos!

I can already tell. Our days are gonna be packed.

So many places. So many things. I’ve been experiencing a sensory overload.

Here is my first full day in Tokyo, in summary:

It’s exhausting to be sure, but my god. I’m in Tokyo! And as you can see: So many things! I don’t even know where to start writing about it. It’s been puzzling me for hours.

But I believe a good post should tell a story, so I’ll start with the story of the Meiji Jingu.

Anyone who has learned a bit about Japanese history knows about the Meiji Restoration, a period where Japan adopted Western culture while still maintaining Japanese traditions. Emperor Meiji tried to turn Western technology to Japan’s advantage, adopting what would be beneficial and ignoring that which was not. During this period Japan saw a lot of growth and innovation. This Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken, are enshrined at the Meiji Jingu. The original shrine was actually destroyed in World War II, but was restored in 1958.

When I saw the entrance to the shrine, it surprised me. What was this peaceful, enclosed forest doing in the middle of urban Tokyo? I walked in and felt like I was out in the woods, not the middle of one of the largest cities in the world.

There was a long gravel path leading to the Meiji Jingu, with three large wooden gates coming before the shrine itself. Before I could enter the actual shrine, I had to purify myself: at a fountain, I had to scoop water into each hand and touch them to my mouth.

The shrine itself contains several buildings, each with a different function. At the main shrine, people were donating money and making wishes.

And for 500¥, you could write a wish on a wooden charm for the deities to fulfill.

We were there on a Sunday, when traditional Japanese weddings often take place. My group was lucky enough to see the procession!

And finally, all of the girls decided to get an omikuji, or a poem-drawing. Each omijuki consisted of a poem written by the late Emperor Meiji or Empress Shotoku, and what message that poem held for you. Here’s mine!

And did I mention that that was only the afternoon? It gets better in Harajuku.

In which I spend 13 hours more or less playing Tetris

NOTE:

While I’m in Tokyo, I will have no free internet. Therefore: Me posting this means that either I am mooching internet off one of the other kids, or paying 100 yen per fifteen minutes of wi-fi. Yikes.

Also, be sure to check my tumblr, where I’ll be posting photos!

I wasn’t expecting to write a post about going on an airplane. After all, I already did that last summer. I thought it was just going to be another plane ride. Cramped, long…you know, standard.

As it turns out, it was quite a different plane ride, for two reasons:

  1. I was (am) completely sick the whole time.

About three days before departure, I came down with the worst fever I’ve had in years: runny nose, the chills, fatigue, headaches– the real deal. Luckily, I was blessed with something called “ibuprofen” that can alleviate the symptoms somewhat…

But I was still delirious the whole time.

I’m pretty sure I used up all the tissues on that plane. At one point I filled a barf bag with tissues so I could take it back to my seat.

But that’s irrelevant. More importantly, this plane was…

This plane was recently launched by Japan Airlines, hoping to provide a better experience for those traveling for Japan. A typical plane ride has, you know, movies, TV shows, and music to entertain its passengers. But this one also had…


As you can imagine, I did not get much sleep on that plane ride. Did I mention that I’m addicted to Tetris?

And the food they served us was a step above ordinary freeze-dried, notoriously gross airplane fare. I was served seafood curry for dinner that night.

They fed us so much food. So much. By the end of the ride, I looked a little like this:

But in the end, after a 7-hour bus ride to Boston, a 13-hour plane ride to the Tokyo/Narita airport, and a 1-hour drive into Tokyo itself, I reached the youth hostel safely. And that’s all that matters, right?

And besides, I think the whole experience helped fix my sleep schedule.

But at that point, I had received an inordinate amount of sleep and was charged to go for the day. Coming next!