Etsy shop now open!

The Etsy shop is open! Authentic, cute and engrishy apparel from Harajuku! どうぞよろしくお願いします。

Alright, so eBay was a bust. However, MetroCon was not! Thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth! It was nice meeting you all! It's wonderful to meet so many people with an interest in Japanese culture and travel.

To supplement anime conventions, I now have an Etsy account! Please check it out. I'll be listing more stuff tomorrow and the rest of the week. It's 12:38 am here now, so I'm done for the night...

Zzz…(*´〜｀*)｡O○

Day 7: Asakusa & Akihabara

Ah, Asakusa's sensō-ji - Tōkyō's oldest Buddhist temple, complete with an impressive five-story pagoda. Being the last stop on the Metro's Ginza line, it's hard to miss. This was the first site I visited when I came to Japan, so it holds a special place in my heart.

On my previous visit to the sensō-ji, the actual temple was completely covered up and under renovation. So, 6 months later, I was excited to return to see it in all its glory... too bad it was still under construction!

Oh, well. Even if you find yourself in Japan tomorrow, the sensō-ji is still well worth a visit. The "thunder gate" with its ceremonious giant lanterns are quite a site along with the all the little shops that line Nakamise-dori. During the oppressively hot summers, Nakamise-dori is mercifully covered providing much-needed shade. However, in the early spring, it's open-air and adorned with cherry blossom decorations.

Like most temples and shrines, you'll find a おみくじ ("omikuji"), which literally means "sacred lottery". For a donation of a mere 100 yen you can participate in the fun with all the high school kids whom you'll see giggling and laughing at the results of their fortunes. Here's how it works:

Pop your 100 yen into the coin slot and grab that metallic cylinder. Tilt and shake it until a numbered stick falls out of the the hole and match up that number to the corresponding drawer and therein lies your fortune.

The numbers will more than likely be in Japanese, so it helps you find your fortune quicker if you can read them, but if you're not familiar with the kanji, you'll just have to spend an extra minute or two matching up the symbols.

Your fortune will be headed with a prediction of your overall luck in general as follows:

• Great blessing (dai-kichi, 大吉)
• Middle blessing (chū-kichi, 中吉)
• Small blessing (shō-kichi, 小吉)
• Blessing (kichi, 吉)
• Half-blessing (han-kichi, 半吉)
• Near-blessing (sue-kichi, 末吉)
• Near-small-blessing (sue-shō-kichi, 末小吉)
• Curse (kyō, 凶)
• Small curse (shō-kyō, 小凶)
• Half-curse (han-kyō, 半凶)
• Near-curse (sue-kyō, 末凶)
• Great curse (dai-kyō, 大凶)

Then you'll get a more specific prognostication. Usually something along the lines of:

• 願事 (negaigoto) – one's wish or desire
• 待人 (machibito) – a person being waited for
• 失せ物 (usemono) – lost article(s)
• 旅立ち (tabitachi) – travel
• 商い (akinai) – business dealings
• 學問 (gakumon) – studies or learning
• 相場 (souba) – market speculation
• 爭事 (arasoigoto) – disputes
• 戀愛 (renai) – romantic relationships
• 転居 (tenkyo) – moving or changing residence
• 出產 (shussan) – childbirth or pregnancy
• 病気 (byōki) – illness
• 縁談 (endan) – marriage proposal or engagement

If your fortune is good, keep it with you. Otherwise, fold it up lengthwise and tie it to the wrack with metal wires nearby so you can leave your misfortune there.

Here's what got!


There's an English translation on the back, but mine says: "The Best Fortune #99 The sun is shining so brightly that you will get the blessing of the heaven. The moon is shining clearly again after a cloud passes. You may have rare treasure. Gaining fame, you meet all your wishes. Your wish will be realized. The sick person will get well. The lost article will be found. The person you are waiting for will come. It is a good to make a trip. Marriage and employment are both good."

Needless to say, I tucked this into my purse!

After taking a rest in the afternoon at my hotel and watching a grand sumo tournament, it was getting dark and therefore time to head out to Akihabara - the electric town! It's fun during the day, but comes alive at night.

If you're not into anime, or don't plan patronizing one of the many maid cafes there, it's still worth a visit and here's why: ドンキ ("donki") also known as Don Quijote, the greatest store ever. While there are many locations throughout Japan, Akihabara's is the most epic. The first floor is a pachinko parlor and the next 5 or so floors is packed to the rafters with, well... EVERYTHING. There is no order to this store. Nail polish is next to light bulbs which are next to clocks which are next to hair dyes which are next to vacuums which are next too... well, you get the idea. Unless you're a frequent shopper, you'll just have to brave each aisle not knowing what you'll find next!


I'd like to go on record saying that this is the best store I've ever been in. If you're claustrophobic, stay away, but if it's 3:30 in the morning and you need a Michael Jackson costume, Don Quijote is your best friend.

Day 6: Harajuku & Ochanomizu

Harajuku: Part 2. Again, my arms were laden with shopping bags, but I managed to snap a few pictures. For being a Monday, Takeshita-dori was packed!

I got there a little before noon and right at the entrance of Takeshita-dori there's a 24-hour McDonalds. I've been seeing posters all over Tokyo for something called the "California Burger" at "マック" (Makku), what they call McDonalds for short. I've tried KFC and T.G.i.Fridays in Japan, but not McDonalds.

What we call "value meals", they call "sets" or "セット" (setto). I got to admit that I was pretty disappointed by the burger. It had a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, white cheese, a tangy BBQ sauce on a wholewheat bun. For all that, it was pretty bland. Apparently, there's also a Texas burger and according to a poster inside the restaurant, it's "coming back soon!!". The fries were on par with what we have here, though.

Though the food wasn't that great, the people watching made up for it. I've never seen so many giggling and chatty teenage Japanese girls in one spot. And here and there in this crowded dining space were middle aged business men in their pinstriped suits totally not blending in.

For all of Harajuku's uniqueness, there's also some familiar stores to be found like Claire's. I couldn't believe it. There it was, jammed in with all the other shops. That and the GAP I could do without, but I suppose to the locals these are charming snippets of American fashion.


I checked out LaForet and it turned out to be pretty pricey and upscale for being in Harajuku. I didn't spend a lot of time inside as the price tags were not very welcoming.

Having bought all I could carry, I went back to rest my sore feet at the hotel for a few. It was getting late, so I decided to head over to the origami kaikan in Ochanomizu before it closed.



The Ochanomizu JR Station is right on the Kanda river. The origami kaikan is a short walk from the station by cutting through the Tokyo Medical and Dental University's campus.



I simply adore this place. The staff here are so friendly and if you have ever done origami, they are so pleased to hear that. Every month, they feature a project and have it on display in the 1st floor gallery and the projects from the previous month are on the 2nd floor gallery. This month was samurai helmets.

I told the lady that I enjoy origami as a hobby and told her I like to make kusudama. She smiled from ear to ear and told me to check out the 2nd floor. So I headed up to find that kusudama were the previous month's feature!


The exhibits, staff and merchandise here never disappoint me. The 3rd floor has a very impressive shop. They must have miles of paper. There's 2 rooms full of handmade washi, kits they they've made up for different projects, glue, display boards, etc.


As I was browsing, a dozen or so older ladies came down from the 5th floor classroom after just taking some lessons. They were so lively and fun to watch - kind of like the loquacious girls in Makku earlier.

The 4th floor is a workshop where you are free to check out and watch the artisans make paper.

This gentlemen was taking the black hanging pieces of washi made earlier and brushing a design on them and then hanging them to dry on the other side of the workshop. So, even if origami really isn't your thing, you can go check out this interesting process for free!

Next post: my last full day in Japan!

一円九！109!

Ah, the iconic 109 (ichi-maru-kyuu) building in Shibuya, mecca of the ギャル (gyaru or "gal") culture in Tokyo. This was one of the top items on my list of things to see while in Tokyo, but due to my traveling schedule, it had to wait 9 days into my trip. I wanted to devote as much time as possible to Shibuya and all its wonder. At 109, you'll find an ecclectic array of clothing, accessory and shoe stores along with cafes and nail salons.

Some of you might not be totally unfamiliar with 109. If you played "The World Ends With You" for the DS. You might recognize it as the "104" building in the game. And yes, the game is laid out almost exactly like the real Shibuya - building fascades and all. I was pleasantly surprised and able to (sadly) navigate my way through all the streets without any problems because of it.

I stood at the entrance for a moment to let the fact that I was standing at the portal of all things cute and trendy sink in. Once inside, we decided to go to the B2 floor and work our way all the way to the top. It's 10 floors consisting of about 12 stores apiece - a daunting task I was more than willing to take on. A complete list of stores can be found here.

I can't do much in the way of purchasing clothing for myself because Japanese sizes are a lot like binary: 0's and 1's only. But I did manage to find a lot of cute accessories at very reasonable prices.

Only 20 more days until I can go back and I promise to do a very thorough sweep of each floor grabbing as many photos and notes as I can for those interested in going.