Hi all.

Sorry about the delay in this last post. This afternoon has been my first crack at internet since Sunday morning the 22nd, when I bid adieu again to Tokyo and Japan. But lets go back to the start…

As mentioned, Sunday morning was the start of my last day in Japan. Sadly, I checked out of the Guesthouse Shinagawa and said goodbye to my favourite host Taka. I headed to Tokyo station with my gear to dump in it a locker to spend my last day in my favourite place in Tokyo… the Ghibli Museum.

I probably won’t go on too much about how magical the Ghibli Museum is… I waxed lyrical in the blog post from the first time I went, so feel free to go back and read that one. But it is worth revisiting a little of the magic.

I made sure to get there nice and early to maximise my time. So by 10am I had joined the queue to get in. Thankfully Ghibli limits the amount of people that can go each day so it is not like I was fighting Disney-like crowds.

On arrival I was greeted by Totoro himself. I was quite giddy wandering the streets of Mitaka to get there, but to see Totoro in the ticket window… well… it really just is quite magical.

And he has so many things hidden in every nook and cranny. Some are outside where they are not part of the usual museum space… just designed for someone like myself to chance upon.

As many of you know, taking photos inside the museum is a no-no (outside is OK), and I completely respect those wishes. It is the type of place that Miyazaki wants people to soak up and not have to have cameras obstructing views. So all credit to him. But it did mean I couldn’t get the one photo I would have killed for during my whole trip…

Yep… I went on Cat-Bus. Not the same Cat-Bus that is for the kids, but another one set up especially for the exhibition there. I said I was giddy when i saw Totoro? Well, strike that. If I was giddy then I was beside myself to see the smiling face of Cat-Bus as I approached the exhibition room. And I won’t lie. I sat in Cat-Bus for a LONG time.

The rest of the exhibition was cool… physical scenes set up from many of the Ghibli movies. So for example you got to sit and eat at one of the stands from the start of Spirited Away and the like. Certainly cool, but it was always going to be worth it just to go on Cat-Bus.

So after that up to the rooftop I went to greet the robot from Laputa. This guy certainly is one of the iconic things for me and my trips to Japan. He stands there looking out over Tokyo and lets me get my picture taken with him. Man, I love that guy.

In the end I spent about 4 hours just soaking it all up. During that time I saw the Ghibli short, a different one to last time. This was called “A Sumo Wrestler’s Tail” and couldn’t have been more appropriate. It was about a bunch of mice taking part in a sumo tournament. While it was all in Japanese, with no English subtitles, I could follow everything that was going on… in part because of the beautiful images and storytelling, but also because of my sumo experience just a few days prior. Seriously, the parallels were fantastic so that I could understand it all.

Sadly, I said goodbye to the robot and the museum and headed back to Tokyo Station to collect my things and head to the airport. I made sure I had time and some yen left to grab some final kit kats. I need to check the tally but I think I got 19 different types in the end. Yep. Don’t worry… many of you will get a chance to sample them.

So now I am back home, typing this from the comfort of my lounge room. Man I am tired, but staying up a little to get extra sleepy for a good night of shuteye. But Japan did tease me with one final image to make me want to go back… “Beginning of February on Sale!!”.

Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

It’s funny how things play out sometimes. A week ago if you had told me I would have gone to Disney not once but twice whilst in Tokyo I would have said “yeah, right”. Well, seems as though my inner child has been in charge in these days here.

Anyway, today was always planned to be a bit of a whatever happens day. I wanted to visit some record stores and also Harajuku to try my luck to see some cosplayers, but that was about it. So being up at a decent time again, I started visiting my favourite record stores in Shinjuku.

Whilst waiting for one (Disc Union, the king of second hand vinyl in Tokyo) to open I popped my head into a bookstore just up the street. Now believe it or not the whole trip I have actually been on the lookout for the last 2 Haruki Murakami books I needed for my collection, his two first novels. For some strange reason the only place they have been published in English is in Japan. Strange huh? Now I knew I could get them on eBay for a semi-decent price if I needed to but I was determined to find them while here. And I tell ya, I had been into the biggest bookstores I could find in every city I have been to and without success. Well, that was until fate guided me to them today. Yep, amongst 7 floors of books I sniffed them out. No mean feat when everything, including the store guide, is in Japanese. So success! I was a happy camper.

The record shopping was a little less fruitful. Saw some interesting stuff but nothing I was compelled to buy. Oh well, still fun browsing.

So from Shinjuku it was a couple of stops to Harajuku. Were the crazy cosplay kids going to be out on the bridge?!?! Um, nope. Two things probably worked against me… firstly the busier day on the weekend is apparently Sunday, and secondly, by this stage the rain was pretty steady and cold. Bummer.

So given it was about lunchtime and I didn’t have anything really on my agenda, what would I do? Well, I know you know the answer to that. Since I had seen Disney Sea, I really had to see if it was indeed the better of the two and head to Disney Land! Given it was open until 10pm, I would have heaps of time to run amok.

And that I did. Getting in the gates all the memories of California Disneyland and Paris Disneyland came flooding back. Yep, they are pretty much the same. But that was OK. Space Mountain! Splash Mountain! Haunted Mansion! Also some newies that I hadn’t seen… especially keen for the Pixar themed rides.

In the main entrance there were a few characters floating around. Pooh definitely was the rockstar in the absence of a certain mouse.

I also had to make sure I got a photo with the statue of Walt and Mickey with the castle in the background… since I am sure I have two other versions of the photo from other lands.

It seemed I was just in time to catch the afternoon parade which was nice timing. Although the big one was slated for the evening (well, so I thought), this was kinda cool. Not sure I am a big one for the parades, but it is fun to see the kids go nuts.

Me, I go nuts for the rides. Oh, but I will admit that I do like harassing the characters for photos. I find it perversely amusing that a 30-something guy would do it. But it’s Disneyland!

So there was Jiminy Cricket…

Snow White (this was quite funny… she saw me loitering and grabbed me for the photo… not sure if she thought it was amusing I was getting photos with characters but we did start taking the mickey out of each other (ha, see what I did there)… her asking me if I had seen Dopey about at all, me telling her to enjoy hanging out with her dwarf friends in cold Tokyo)

Lightening McQueen (my nephew Jake will be going nuts right now at this photo)

But the characters were a bit sparse today. Well, I guess I got a photo with the mouse the other day.

Now, you all know my penchant for odd foods. Well, I had to try the Soy Sauce popcorn. How was it. OK. Not salty enough for mine.

So all full of popcorn it was really about hitting the rides, and as mentioned before they brought back the memories of the other Disneylands. Of the ones I hadn’t been on, the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster’s ride was addictive since you get to shoot things while you are being guided around in your cart and by the end you want to go back again to get a better score. And, yes this will be embarrassing, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt was actually cutely cool. I know, I know…

But no trip to Disneyland is complete without Splash Mountain. And there is my “I’m too cheap to buy the photo” photo of my splash down.

Well, night started to fall, and so did the rain. Relentlessly. It was getting to be more than light drizzle which meant the park was clearing out a little more quickly than I expected.

The other reason for the park getting empty early was that the main parade had been cancelled. Boo. By all accounts it is pretty spectacular. In its place was a lame 4 float token thing. I guess the kids have to get their Mickey fix.

And with that I decided to call it a night. I was cold and wet. But my inner child had been satisfied muchly yet again.

It also brings my trip to an end believe it or not! Tomorrow is my last day here in Japan before I fly home. I have my plans for the morning before I head to the airport. I’ve saved my favourite place in Tokyo for last.

My next post will most likely be from back home in a couple of days so sit tight people! See you all soon.

After I had booked my flights to Japan a few serendipitous things happened. My favourite Japanese band Boris announced a show in Tokyo, I read about a Totoro exhibition at Ghibli, and as it turned out, a Grand Sumo Tournament was being held in Tokyo at the time I would be on my way back. Holy cow. I mean how more lucky could I be?

So when tickets went on sale I eagerly snapped one up and it was all official… I was going to see Sumo! Well, today was the day.

It is a long day of sumo action… about 8 hours worth. Not exactly sure how it all worked, I decided to head along fairly early. I mean, I had a chance to see sumo wrestlers in action and that may never happen again so why not see as much as possible? So on the train I jumped to Ryogoku Kokugikan, or the Sumo Stadium. Jumping off the train I knew I was in the right place when I saw this…

So in I went. All was set up extremely well for a foreigner like myself… my ticket was waiting for me, I was given lots of guides in English so I could follow what was going on, and everyone was beyond helpful (like basically everyone is here).

On wandering in I was greeted with sumo action playing out to a fairly empty stadium. Was a little odd. But as I started to work out it was like turning up to watch an AFL match and watching the under 12’s playing beforehand. The action is a little haphazard, and the only ones there are the parents cheering them on. Still, it was goosebump inducing, seeing my first big sumos in action.

Now I should explain the tournament. It runs for 15 days, and today was day 13. It is split into divisions, with the main action between the ranked sumos happening late in the day. Each day each sumo does one match, and a match is just one wrestle that could last mere seconds. Kinda strange. Then basically the winner of the tournament is the one with the most wins at the end. Quite simple really.

But watching these early matches I was a little worried there was not that much to it. I mean a pair would get up on the main stage, a little formality, wrestle for what seemed like 5 seconds, then done and the next ones would get up. Would it keep me entertained?

By about 1pm it was time for a food break. I found in a cafe they were serving a soup/stew type meal that is actually prepared for the sumos but everyone can have. At only 250 yen for a bowl (about 3 bucks or so) I thought why not. Pretty tasty too.

On my wandering i also bumped into this yellow fella. Not sure who he was, but why not get a photo? Seems he is popular as I saw him later with a queue of about 50 people waiting for a photo.

About 2pm signalled time for more sumo. Things were just starting to heat up. the stadium was getting fuller, and I noticed the matches started to be a little longer (both in ceremony and the actually wrestle). The crowd was also starting to be a little more boisterous. Seemed like we were getting to the action.

A nice older lady sitting next to me actually spoke some english so explained a little of what was happening which was nice. She also took a photo for me too. Ah, when I get back people are going to seem so impolite.

The matches were starting to get really enthralling, with some being genuinely quite thrilling. Even though they still wouldn’t last too long, the quality was becoming consistently great and by this time I was right into it, cheering and clapping along.

About 4pm and the big boys were definitely in town. Quite a few ceremonial things happened throughout the day and this one involved the higher ranked sumos coming out and doing their thing. The crowd was going crazy and it was so awesome to see.

After this the current champ Hakuho got to show that he was the man with his own time to show off and stamp his feet just like a cliche sumo. To see it in the flesh was one of those “Ha! I’m in Japan watching Sumo!” moments.

The top contenders then went head to head and the crowd was hitting fever pitch. When the current leader of this tournament, Baruto, came on the place nearly exploded. And boy was he just amazing to watch. I mean I really don’t know much about it all, but seeing him in action you knew he was the man.

Last bout of the day involved Hakuho the champ, and surprisingly he got beaten. That was it… the crowd went nuts and because of that, or most likely because it was the last match of the day, all the folk sitting close on their pillows started throwing them on the arena.

And then with that, a last bit of ceremony closed what was a truly cool day.

From there I just decided to do a spot of record shopping on my way back to the guesthouse. Man I love these records stores. I picked up some used vinyl dirt cheap. Maybe I should just fill a bag full of records? Better leave some room for the presents for the niece and nephew though 🙂

About one and a half days left. The last half day is at Ghibli so tomorrow is the last full one planned. I better make the most of it…

So in the last 24 hours I made 2 main decisions. But I’ll get to those.

I didn’t post yesterday as, well, frankly, nothing much to say. As mentioned in the one before it was an epic travel day… about 10 hours of train action. Thanks to Japanese efficiency it went like clockwork. 3.5 hours of train from Sapporo to Hakodate, 11 minute change over, 2.5 hours from Hakodate to Shin-Amori, 13 minute changeover, then almost 4 hours from Shin-Amori to Tokyo. And it all went perfectly to the minute.

That put me back in Tokyo just after 6pm, and by the time I got back to my digs in Shinagawa it was about 7pm and I had nothing really to report. So well, I didn’t. Really strange though being back at Guesthouse Shinagawa. It simultaneously feels like both yesterday and forever ago I was here. In reality it was 3 weeks ago that I was here. Time flies yadda yadda.

Anyway, to decisions. The first was about what to do with my first day in Tokyo. Now I had had it planned all along. Since it was the last day of my rail pass, I was intent on visiting Nikko to see the famous shrines/temples there. Apparently some of the most spectacular, and important, ones in Japan. But then on one of my train legs the other day I had a thought. “More shrines? Really? Haven’t you seen enough? Why not go to Disneyland instead?!”. That planted the seed of doubt in my head. Maybe Disneyland would be cool. I mean what makes a shrine or temple more important than Disneyland?! Especially when I had done so much time in Kyoto, Nara, etc.

I had spoken to some people about this before I went (my sister mainly) and had expressed a bit of reservation about going to somewhere like Disneyland by myself. Strange… I mean I am happy to do virtually anything solo. But a theme park… well, they are way more fun when you are running amok with someone else.

But last night I made my decision. Forget Nikko. I’m going to Disneyland!

But that led to the second decision to be made. You see, Tokyo has not just Disney Land but also Disney Sea. Now which to go to?! Knowing folk that have been to both I had been informed that Disney Sea could possibly be the go. And I mean I have been to 2 other Disney Lands already, so why not something different? So second decision made… I’m going to Disney Sea!

So that’s where I headed this morning. By 10am I was in line with hundreds of people, most already in crazy hats with ears. This was going to be fun.

And it was. I gotta say by the end of the day I was very happy with my decision. I am sure Nikko is amazing. But what I actually really wanted today was not another temple or shrine. I wanted rides! And acting like a kid!

“So what is Disney Sea like?” I hear you ask? Well, a Disney-based theme park, obviously. But it doesn’t have any of the signature rides (Small World, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, etc) of all the other lands. Rather it is the Disney Universe transplanted into sea-themed lands, like Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Port Discovery, and so on. The rides were somewhat sea themed, but not really, but the shows definitely were (no parade, just an extravagant nighttime production on the main harbour).

A bummer that Indiana Jones was closed for the month, but there was enough to keep me busy. There were two clear winners of rides. The first was Raging Spirits, a kinda rollercoastery thing. Only one loop, but enough pace and turns to get the adrenaline pumping.

But the best easily was the Tower of Terror. And not like the one at Dreamworld back home, better. The rough plot had us in a somewhat haunted elevator. Instead of just taking us to the top and dropping us, you do all kinds of quickly up, whoops! back down, nope! back up, back down, etc etc. Way more fun. So much fun I went on it 3 times (the small crowd size helped). The photo above is my dodgy photo of the one it takes when on the ride… that’s me in the middle row, 3rd from the right (acting like a loon).

Oh, and yeah, the characters are cruising around too. The kid in me could not help but come out whenever I saw one.

Abu, the monkey from Aladdin…

Ariel, the little mermaid (not so little, and strangely VERY american)…

Chip, or Dale, whichever one it is…

A very misbehaving Pluto (he was pepped up on some kind of goofballs)…

And of course, I had to get a pic with the mouse himself…

So did I have fun? Oh yeah. I mean, I would still love to have been running around like a loon with a partner in crime, but good decisions made. And tomorrow is going to be awesome too…

Hi all! Well, here is my last post from Hokkaido. Today has been a pretty chilled out day wandering the streets of Sapporo before I head back south tomorrow.

As I have said, the trip to Sapporo was more because I could (and snowboarding) than anything. No real “sights” as it were to see, but I thought it would be good to experience somewhere different and a bit more extreme (weather wise) than I am used to. And I must say by today I am kinda used to it. Don’t get me wrong… bloody cold… but when you rug up it is fine.

Again small snow falls greeted my walk into the city centre. No real plan, although I thought I had better check out the TV Tower, famous for its views of the city. As you can tell, it is an Eiffel Tower looking thing that is kinda a bit odd, but kinda cool.

Actually what makes it endearing is the cartoon character they have to sell merchandise… this odd TV Tower dad. He is on all the stuff… I bought myself a badge of him drinking sake. Yep, it doesn’t really make sense at all, that’s why it is cool.

So up to the top I went. Its location is perfect, looking straight down Odori Park. Snow had stopped when I went up making for some sweet views from up there. A nice old guy offered to take my photo, but unfortunately it turned out pretty bad, so another self portrait had to do. I really need to stop doing the “V” sign… when in Rome I guess…

In the gift shop was also merch with this little guy above me. He is the Sapporo mascot apparently. My dirty mind cannot help but giggle each time I see him.

Anyway, down I went back to ground level and continued wandering, mainly just shops and what not. I found a Ramen Stadium in a department store, so I managed to point at something and have it for lunch. Some kind of Miso Ramen that was delicious (James-o, the egg was awesome). I can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of the ramen.

Wandering continued and next thing I knew I was by the clock tower again. Sure it is a quaint building and all, but still surprised why everyone is compelled to take photos in front.

I helped a lovely old couple by taking their photo so they would not let me go without taking mine too. So I guess I am fueling the myth of the clock tower.

And then not much else to report for the day really. Packing my things ready for a big day of travel tomorrow. The hostel has picked up with people… was talking to some young girls (stop your filthy minds gents) who are here for a Kendo tournament. Well, they were keen to talk to me and practice their English. I mentioned I was going to Ghibli which impressed them all (“you know Myazaki?!”) and then cameras came out and I was suddenly in a bunch of photos. One said kinda out of the blue “I like the Beatles and Queen”, to which I replied that the Beatles were my favourite. “Oh thank you, thank you!” she said all embarrassed. It is things like this that make this place so endearing. Sapporo on the whole has been quite cool, well worth the trip up here.

So travel tomorrow. Don’t expect a blog post probably since it really is just 9-10 hours on trains to get to Tokyo. But then it will be a full on 4 days in Tokyo before coming home. I have lots of shenanigans planned so there should be lots to write about. Woot!