Tokyo

Mt Fuji From A Distance (Free Wallpaper)

I was coming home from work yesterday when I saw a man with a weighty professional camera leaning over the railing on the overpass, his camera aimed off into the distance. Looking in that direction, I saw the evening sun was just about to disappear behind Mt. Fuji. I got out my own tiny camera and started taking pictures myself.

We both stared straight ahead at Fuji, neither of us looking in each others’ direction and definitely not comparing cameras. That would have somehow been a breach of etiquette.

Click on the images to see them at 1024 x 768 size.

Spam From Japan: Winter Comiket 2009

I bought only one doujinshi at Comiket (also known as Comic Market, Comike, etc…) this year, which is in sharp contrast to when I first visited Japan when I couldn’t pull them off the shelves fast enough. In fact, the very first time I went into a store, I didn’t notice the big laminated sign on the front that said ’sample’ and rushed the comic to the check-out. The person at the register had to read out the doujinshi’s pornographic title over the intercom so a member of staff could bring me a proper copy from the rack.

The five stages of doujinshi fandom.

What you buy:
(1) All doujinshi featuring your favourite series.
(2) All doujinshi with your favourite characters from your favourite series.
(3) A few nice-looking doujinshi where your two favourite characters make out.
(4) A few nice-looking R-18 doujinshi where your two (or more) favourite characters are going at it.
(5) The one with the alternate universe where they’re all dinosaurs or something

Comiket is an event dedicated to doujinshi (fan-made comics) and is held twice a year, in summer and winter. My advice is pretty much the same no matter which one you’re attending.

Eat a good breakfast and accept you’re probably not going to stop for lunch.

If there’s something you really want to buy, go as early as you can and expect queues of more than an hour to get in. By mid-day you can pretty much just walk in. I like to go around 10.45am, when there’s a queue, but not much of one and it’s still early.

Entry is free and you don’t need to buy a catalogue. If you don’t have anything specific in mind, walk around until you see something you like. If there’s a particular circle or group you want to buy from, consult their webpage and then one of the maps pinned to the wall.

Pay attention to the halls that you’ve visited and which halls are joined together.

Make sure you don’t miss the official booth room, where anime/game companies will give you free stuff like over-sized bags, flyers and clear files.

If you want to buy something, check the surrounding area to make sure that a queue hasn’t formed elsewhere. It’s really easy to jump queues by accident and annoy people.

Do not take photos outside of the cosplay area.

In the cosplay area, you can take a picture if the cosplayer is posing and has lots of people taking photographs surrounding him or her. Any other time, ask permission.

If you want to cosplay, it’s forbidden to arrive or leave while in costume. You’ll have to pay 800 yen, which will get you a cosplay pass. More detailed information below.

Winter Comiket: Bring a coat that’s warm, but light enough to carry once inside.

Summer Comiket: Bring water. When I went last year, all the bottled water was sold out and I ended up queuing for half an hour only to have to buy Pepsi Nex, the only thing that was left.

I’ve cosplayed once at Comiket and, knowing the basics already (i.e. you have to pay and you can’t arrive or leave in costume), it was pretty easy. I used to laugh at them, but I now recommend those mini-suitcases on wheels, particularly if you’re wearing an uncomfortable costume.

First off, go to the changing rooms. The place that used to be the cosplay area is now being used to contain the queues that result from the official booth room. The cosplay area is in a small garden area, which is better for photos. The changing rooms are close by.

Line up, pay your money (800 yen) and you’ll receive a small pamphlet. It looks like it’s just useless information, but it’s a record of your payment and gives you permission to cosplay. You’ll be asked to show it on your way out of the changing room and when you enter the cosplay area. Don’t lose it.

I don’t know what I was expecting from the changing room, but it was chaos. It was just a big room with barriers marking a loose path. Everywhere you looked, there were people changing and there wasn’t much space left. There’s also a big sign that said in English, “Do not use color spray or moose.”

Japanese cosplay seems different from Western cosplay in that there’s a bias towards brand new shows and characters. There are a few cosplayers doing characters from classic anime (Evangelion, older Gundam series), but mostly are cosplaying characters from shows recently aired. Having said that, I saw two people cosplaying Ronald McDonald this year, so if you want to dress up as Sanzou from Saiyuuki, go for it. One more thing — if you are female, pretty and wearing a maid outfit or something similarly girly, be prepared for a lot of excessive attention once in the cosplay area. Some of those photographers creep me out and I’m not even their target!

Which day? (Summer 2010 (Comiket 78))

Each day of Comiket has a certain general theme and only doujinshi that fall under certain genres will be sold on that day.

First, search for the magazine your favourite series appeared in (you do know it, right?) and then double-check to see if there’s a specific listing for the creator or series. For example, Inu Yasha was serialised in Weekly Shonen Sunday, and Takahashi Rumiko has her own listing. So, if you wanted to buy Inu Yasha doujinshi, you’d go on day two. (Note: Information is correct as of writing for Summer Comiket 2010 only. All data taken from Comiket Official Site.)

Day 1 (“Anime and Yaoi Day”)

General: Seiyuu, anime songs, anime and game-based news, overseas anime, magical girl anime, original BL games, one-girl-many-boys dating sims, Neoromance, American comics, and anime for young children. Games covering the genres of action, simulation, adventure, puzzle, sound novels, arcade games and pachinko. Also includes board games, tabletop RPGs, card games, collectible card games, play-by-mail RPGs, play-by-web games and online gaming. This is the day for sports, martial arts, gambling, RPS, pop idols (w-inds, WaT), Takarazuka, Tenimyu and other stage productions and musicals.

Specific series: .hack (including games), Akatsuki Denkou Senki, Arcana Heart, Atelier, Bikkuriman, Biohazard, Black Matrix, Circadia, Code Geass, Dead or Alive, Devil May Cry, Digi Charat, Digimon, Dragon Quest, Evangelion, Final Fantasy Online, Final Fantasy series, Fire Emblem, Front Mission, Gakuen Heaven, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Gensou Suikoden, Grow Lanser, Guilty Gear, Gundam, Gunparade March, Gyakuten Saiban, Gurren Lagann, Heart no Kuni no Alice, Hetalia, Inazuma Eleven, King of Fighters, Kuuron Youma Gakuenki, Lamento, Langrisser, Lord of Vermillion, Lucky Dog, Majin Gakuen, Megami Tensei, Monster Hunter, Musou OROCHI, Nintama Rantarou, Ogre Battle, Ore no Shikabane wo Koete yuke, Persona, Quiz Magic Academy, Phantasy Star Online, Pokemon, Pop’n Music, Ragnarok Online, SaGa, Saihai no Yukue, Sakura Taisen, Samuraidamashi, Sangokushi Taisen, Seiken Densetsu, Sengoku BASARA, Sengoku Musou, Senjou no Valkyria, Senkou no Ronde, Shining Force, Shinra Banshou, Shin Sangoku Musou, Smash Brothers, Spectral Force, Street Fighter, Summer Wars, Summon Night, Super Robot Wars, Tales of Phantasia (etc), Tekken, Terra e…, Togainu no Chi, Tokimeki GS, Valkyrie Profile, Virtua Fighter, Virtual-On, With Her, Xenogears, Xenosaga, Yuukyuu and Zelda.

Specific studios: Gainax and Sunrise.

Game developers: Atlas, Nippon Ichi Software and Square Enix.

Day 2 (“Manga and Yaoi Day”)

General and Miscellaneous: Home recordings and movies, cosplay goods, music CDs, Vocaloid, drama CDs, internet, blogs, mascots, desktop mascot software, 2ch, Futaba, Niconico Douga, Sound Horizon, Mukashinagara no Seinyuu Shitate, doujin games, independent software developers, retro games, works based on doujin games and commentary and news. If something doesn’t fit into a recognisable genre listed here, it’s probably on this day.

Specific series: Death Note, D.Grey-man, Eyeshield 21, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost In The Shell, Gintama, Hikaru no Go, Houkago Play, Higurashi no Naku Goro ni, Initial D, Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn!, Koukoku no Shugosha, Kuroko no Basket, Kuroshitsuji, Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Mr. Fullswing, Natsume Yuujinchou, Naruto, One Piece, Ookiku Furikabutte, Rozen Maiden, Slayers, Suzumiya Haruhi series, Tennis no Oujisama, Toriko, Umineko no Naku Goro ni and Yu-Gi-Oh

Specific magazines: Afternoon, Bonbon, Birz, Business Jump, Champion RED, Comic Blade, Comic Gum, Comic Punch, Comic REX, Comic Rush, Comic ZeroSum, Corocoro, Dengeki Daioh, Dragon Age, Evening, Gao!, Jump Square, Morning, Shonen Ace, Shonen Champion, Shonen Magazine, Shonen Rival, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Sirius, Super Jump, Ultra Jump, V Jump, Weekly Jump, Young Animal, Young Gangan, Young Jump, Young King, Young Magazine and Young Sunday,

Specific creators: Amano Kozue, Araki Hirohiko, Azuma Kiyohiko, CLAMP, Fujisaki Ryuu, Fukumoto Nobuyuki, Higuchi Daisuke, Ishinomori Shoutarou, Kawaguchi Kaiji, Kubo Tite, Kurumada Masami, Nakamura Hikaru, Minekura Kazuya, Yasuhiro Nightow, Shibata Ami, Takahashi Youichi, Takei Hiroyuki, Tezuka Osamu, Touhou Project, Togashi Yoshihiro, Yude-Tamago and Takahashi Rumiko.

(Note: I’ve romanised all names in accordance with the kana with the exception of ones with well-known Anglicised variants.)

Day 3 (“Hentai Day”)

General: Original works for boys, original works for girls, original june (BL/yaoi) works, manga clubs, original literature and poetry, commentary and news, original works ‘for men’, anime ‘for men’, games ‘for men’, R-18 hentai games, strip mahjong games, love sims, daughter-rearing sims and historical works on topics such as the Three Kingdoms Era or kabuki. You can find reading material for a wide range of ‘otaku’ hobbies on this day — garage kits, trains, bikes, buses, anime figures, dolls, accessories and cameras.

Game developers: Alice Soft, AQUAPLUS, August, age, Circus, Leaf & Key, Nitro Plus, PULLTOP, TYPE-MOON, UNiSONSHIFT and Windmill.

Specific creators: Nasu Kinoko

Games titles: AIR, Akai Ito, Amagami, Aoi Shiro, Baby Princess, CLANNAD, Comic Party, Dousei, DREAM C CLUB, Fate/Stay Night series, THE iDOLM@STER, Kanon, Koihime Musou, Little Busters, Love Plus, Lyrical Nanoha, Melty Blood, Miracle*Train, MOON, ONE, Sister Princess, Tokimeki Memorial, Triangle Heart, Tsukihime, Utawareru Mono and White Album.

The photo was taken by Jasohill, who made it available via Creative Commons.

The Berry Cafe

Berry Cafe Blueberry Tart

The Berry Cafe in Ginza is almost not as expensive as it looks. The cafe is furnished in black and the lights are low; one of the first things you see is a row of cakes lit up in a showcase as in an expensive jewellery boutique. They have jewellery off to the side too, costing tens of thousands of yen.

Looking around, clientele are almost exclusively female, plus boyfriends. This is common in Japan, though I hesitate to say ‘normal’ — what kind of man sacrifices cake in exchange for manliness?

It’s okay to order a single slice of tart and my friends do just that. One slice is around 650 to 950 yen, so it’s not like the staff will mind. They communicated with us in Japanese, but I’d be surprised if you had any problems if you didn’t speak it. You have an entire showcase of tarts piled high with berries and a menu that works more like a picture book. It’ll be easy.

The slices come beautifully presented, although you’re paying for that privilege, of course. My personal recommendation is the hot lemon ginger drink and a slice of blueberry tart (pictured). Tasted as good as it looks.

We went to the branch in Ginza, but the flagship cafe is in Aoyama (Tokyo), with other branches in Nagoya (Aichi), Chiba City, Funabashi (Chiba), Hiroshima City, Nishinomiya (Hyogo), Kyoto City and Osaka City.

Berry Cafe Official Website

Spam From Japan: Losing My Maid Cafe Virginity in Akihabara

It’s considered to be a gaijin rite of passage to visit a maid cafe, equivalent to climbing Mount Fuji or visiting Kinkakuji in Kyoto. As I had yet to do so, I decided to visit one while on a trip to Akihabara.

The area around Akihabara was crowded that Saturday. Close to Halloween, there were women standing on street corners in outfits that paired maid dresses with witches’ hats. Most clothing was colourful variations on a traditional French maid uniform, but there were a few schoolgirls. When someone wears a uniform supposed to telegraph that they can’t be any older than eighteen in order to entice me to have a cup of coffee with them…? I am squicked. Please, no more schoolgirls.

The women handing out leaflets for Mononopu (もののぷ) were wearing purple kimono/maid uniform hybrids. If that wasn’t perfect enough, they were equipped with plastic pink samurai armour. The leaflet described the place as a Sengoku era maid cafe and, suddenly, my choice wasn’t so difficult.

Mononopu opened in early May of this year (2009, my time-travelling friends!) and can be found down a deserted-looking alleyway behind an AM-PM convenience store on Chuo Doori. I stood staring at the sign outside for a while before a maid ushered me into the entrance hall and towards the lift. She was accompanying another man and it seems quite common for maids to lead you to their workplace if you have trouble with directions.

I was surprised how normal and cafe-like the interior was. Sure, there were flags depicting the family emblems of different generals of the warring states period. Yes, the decor was black, purple and pink. But the open-plan atmosphere suggested it could have been any cheaper cafe.

They asked me if I would mind sitting at the bar as all other seats were taken and I agreed to this. This might have been a mistake, as I believe it carried an extra charge even though it was a choice between sitting there or leaving. They handed me a menu which included machine-translated English (no human translates ‘Saturday’ as ’soil’) and one of the maids spoke a little English.

I decided to order a coffee and chose the one that had ‘oekaki’ written next to it. When it arrived, the maid asked what I would like her to draw. This baffled me. Surely this was some kind of combined psychology and personality test. Would I be judged on my answer? I said she could choose and she asked me what animals I liked. See the photograph for the result. Thank goodness she gave me a suggestion of what was acceptable, or else I would have asked for a clown eating a banana.

Finally, she blessed it with a purple plastic samurai sword, demanding that it be delicious or else and I was pretty much left to my own devices. Overall, it was definitely an experience worth having once, albeit an expensive one. In total, it was 1000 yen to be seated, plus 700 yen for the coffee.

Spam From Japan: Paris Coffee

Paris Coffee is a cafe just off Dougenzaka in Shibuya, not far from the Hachiko crossing. It’s fairly cheap, considering it serves fancy-looking coffee from actual, named countries. A coffee will set you back around 450 to 550 yen, while a scone is less than 300 yen. A good choice suitable for those who appreciate a pleasant atmosphere, but can’t be bothered to make reservations for a butler cafe.

The above photo doesn’t show my drink, by the way. I got a “Rose Marry” and when it arrived, cream rose swirl on the top, pink brandy glistening on the petals, HUNDREDS-AND-THOUSANDS, I got excited and… *splodge* The drink suddenly wasn’t so photogenic. That sound effect was my hand squashing the rose just as I caught the glass when it fell off the coaster, by the way. Pervert.

You can find a map in English here. There are photos of the shop front below.

Spam From Japan: Tokyo Figure Show

The Tokyo Figure Show started today (August 4th 2009) and so I headed to Harajuku. It was to be held in the H&M building, so I ignored the shoppers inside and bravely headed to the stairs. After searching several floors for the elevator I’d read about online that went straight to the top floors, I still couldn’t find it.

I’m not someone who doesn’t ask for directions, but I hate looking lost. And I draw the line at asking staff in a store for (mostly) women’s clothing if they’ve seen the secret elevator that leads to a stash of anime figurines.

I found an elevator on the fourth floor, which was as high as I could go using the stairs and pushed ‘up’. A woman pushed past and pressed ‘down’ and looked at me as if I was so stupid. It was like the time I accidentally pulled the tag off a teabag while making tea in the drink bar of an internet cafe and a nearby gamer decided to educate me on the correct use of teabags.

Was it really H&M? That really didn’t seem right. The post on DannyChoo.com had been talking all about bringing plastic anime figures to people who didn’t usually see them, but it was hard to believe the people surrounding me would care at all as they ploughed through the brand-name goods in search of a bargain. No, something was amiss.

I called it a day and headed to a cafe I’d heard did crumpets. Along the way, I ran into a friend and we did a tour of Takeshita Doori, ending up outside H&M once more. Outside, a queue was forming for an elevator hidden between the two main doors and a man was touting free drink samples of Vitamin Water. I’d finally found the place.

Inside, were several stands of Good Smile Company figurines (including the Suenaga Mirai figure). There were also figures for Haruhi, Death Note and other anime keywords that will hopefully bring traffic to this blog.

We descended a spiral stair and came out in a room draped in white cloth, padded areas to sit down on, and tons of bottles of Vitamin Water, a drink they were promoting alongside everything else. You spun a wheel and they gave you a drink based on what it selected for you. I landed on the ‘lucky!’ segment, so got to choose. I choose dragonfruit, because it’s got the word ‘dragon’ in it. It

Below are more photos of the event. If you liked this article, you’ll also want to read my write-up of the Tokyo Toy Show.

Spam From Japan: Top Eight Most Memorable Toys From The Tokyo Toy Show 2009

While nothing could hope to replace the simple brilliance of last year’s Teacup Poodle, it seemed that a lot of products at the Tokyo Toy Show 2009 (東京おもちゃショー２００９) took a more traditional approach and favoured updates of older toys or figures based on licensed properties. I never saw anything amazingly high-tech, although I admit I must have walked past the dog-speak translator at some point without it registering.

This is not the collection of the coolest toys, or the toys I would most like to own. It’s what left a lasting impression on me, for better or worse.

Necktie Llama (pictured)

Meet Necktie Llama. Actually called “Mirabakesso”, which is an abbreviated Japanese phrase meaning ‘products to transform the future’, you can play games, watch commercials and anime shorts by Studio 4°c on the official Mirabakesso homepage. Some of these creatures can talk, by the way, just in case you didn’t find your nightmares sufficiently fuelled already.

Hot Toys Booth

The first thing I noticed was a large T-600 figure, standing slightly taller than myself. Having drawn me in, there were a number of anime figures and figures based on Hollywood properties like X-Men and Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, a surprising amount of Edward Scissorhands merchandise, including cute SD figures. There were also a number of Michael Jackson figures prominently displayed, which made me wonder how long they had been in development.

Mickey Mouse Transformer

One of the runners up in the “High Target Category” at the Toy Show. See below for a picture.

Yakiniku-Ou

Yakiniku is often translated as ‘Korean barbecue’ and many ex-pats living in Japan love showing these restaurants to visiting friends and family. You have an open grill in front of you and the meat and vegetables arrive to order, which you then cook yourself. All the fun of eating burnt meat and fighting over the cooking tongs is now brought into your home in the form of a new game. It consists of vibrating board and plastic meat and vegetables (of various values) which you have to pick up with plastic tongs. As fun as it sounds.

Canaan Model Gun

You too can own a model gun or airgun based on the ones seen in the anime Canaan.

Unko-san

Children in Japan love poo and adults are only too willing to indulge them. Naturally, this is in direct opposition to Western countries where children love poo and adults keep Mr Hankey to themselves. From what I could figure out, there are many different types of collectible poo that live happily together in a village on a poo-shaped island.

Dancing Gachapin

Like Domo-kun, Gachapin is an iconic mascot in Japan. This time, he appears as a cuddly dancing toy, along with hundreds of other properties (mostly Disney-owned). The overall effect was terrifying.

Pogo Sticks

Pogo sticks are back! Okay, probably not. These are powered-up versions that had the crowd watching in awe as the demonstrator did backflips while several metres in the air. At no point were they thinking that they could do that themselves and they wanted to buy one.