Blogs from Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 3

In which I learn the difference between a katana and a tachi. You wouldn’t expect to find a museum devoted to Samurai in the Kabukicho section of Shinjuku, but there it is. Kabukicho is a loud, brash area of narrow streets, with lots of bars, gaming arcades, and, um, “hostess clubs.” Music videos play at top volume on immense LED screens, and the noise from the speakers blaring promos for the latest boy band can be a bit overwhelming. When I found myself standing under a statue of a giant gorilla, I certainly figured I was in the wrong place, but a helpful security guard pointed me in the right direction, and the museum turned out to be just a few steps away. I’ve always had a kind of vague, romanticized vision of samurai as heroic, ... read more

Happy Birthday Milla! What a way to celebrate a birthday. She thinks we booked the trip for her birthday and why spoil it? Maybe it's a coincidence that it's school holidays and cherry blossom season. Anyway, it's her day. We are going cherry blossom hunting and then off to kiddy land. I thought they said kitty land - as in Hello Kitty Land. I googled it and it is an hour train ride from Tokyo. We only have one full day in Tokyo before we hit the tracks to Kanazawa and Kyoto - maybe we can go to Hello Kitty World next week? Our fears of missing the Cherry Blossom bloom were misplaced. They are at almost full bloom. We walk to Shinjuku Gyeon through the "redlight" district and it's even more sterile in the light ... read more

Arrived in Tokyo and it is a huge difference from the little town of Fujisan every building looks a million foot high. I got off the bus and i think i stood in one spot for about 30 minutes trying to figure out which route to take out of the bus station alone god help me eh. Finally i gave up and went to the tourist information centre and got some directions to my hostel and off i went. Checked in and tried some takoyaki balls in the restaurant must admit not my favourite thing that ive tried here but they were ok. I then decided to go for a walk on to find that it was pouring down with rain i walked and walked only to find that i had gotten myself completely lost and ... read more

Biggest, largest and craziest....in Tokyo....where else! Let's start with jazz though. You know, that soulless, pointless, endless nod to mutual onanism that goes on for hours, contains only one 'song' and involves lots of nodding to each other? Well, if you're going to import anything into this wonderful country, put that wayyyyy down the list. I had to put up with it in a Japanese restaurant yesterday, there was a band setting and warming up today in a square while behind me I could hear....jazz. Stop it please dear Japanese, you're better than that. Usually the Japanese carry on in their own sweet way and, at the cinema, most of the films are homemade. The food is mostly Japanese too although disappointingly trash like McDonalds and those garish doughnut places have arrived. But mostly it's healthy ... read more

Konichiwa!!! For the past year, we have been given the privilege to explore the land of the rising sun... So after getting our multiple entry visa, we were off to Japan. First on the list was Nagoya to which we found out that it is the lighter side of the country. Everyone was moving at slow pace... Next is Tokyo, where the tide has changed......Here, people are like robots moving at a fast steady pace and has seem to lost their emotions.... Last one was Osaka wherein it was a mixture of both. People tends to move fast, but there are areas that are slow and easy... Overall, Japan is one of those countries that is both vibrant, and sophisticated. The Japanese are very friendly and helpful. They will get out of their way to help ... read more