Plans for Japan
I'll be flying over to Japan on the 28th and be staying for 9 days.
This will be my first time i get to look around by myself ^^
So far I've got these places planned out:
http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107497615374194282077.00048e27f2fda87615a5d&ll=35.698571,139.789352&spn=0.350187,0.727158&z=11
Red are i will most probably visit
Blue are maybe
Green is where I'll be staying
I'd like some advice on things to see and do, any must visit places?; or are the places I've marked probably enough to last me 9 days?
Is the 1:1 Evangelion bust in Fuji amusement park finished?
Since I'll be staying in Ikebukuro I'll be looking around Otome Road, is there anything that might be interesting there/nice places to eat?
I will probably set 2 days to look around Akihabara, most of the stores on the main road have people who can speak english right?
I'll be looking for:
-DD clothes, stands, body stocking, if they still have left over DDs from Osaka Dollpa i might get another girl too :p
-Nendoroids
-Figures etc - One piece, F/SN, evangelion, Hidamari Sketch
-Cosplay
-Illustration books
-Somewhere to buy Melon pan
If i have time i want to go to where Arakawa Under the Bridge is set. I've looked along Arakawa River on google maps but couldn't find a bridge that looked similar. Anyone know where it is?
I think you need to reserve a ticket beforehand to visit Gibli museum in Mitaka city. Did you?
By the way,do you know the manga/anime called "GTO"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Teacher_Onizuka
If you're interested in it,I think you'd go to Kichijoji which is next to Mitaka station.
There are famous park and yakitori(grilled chicken) shop which you can see in GTO.
i haven't reserved a ticket yet since im not sure if i will visit it.
i've seen GTO ^^. if i have time ill give that place a visit too :)
The Eva bust is indeed finished. I'm not convinced it's actually 1:1, but it still looks pretty cool. Punynari has a good post about it on his blog:
http://punynari.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/evangelion-world-home-of-the-life-size-evangelion/
To confirm what mog-mogu said above, you do need to reserve a ticket for the Ghibli Museum in advance. You can do so at any Lawson store with a Loppi ticket machine (most if not all Lawson stores have them). Be warned that the machine is entirely in Japanese, so if you can't read Japanese then I'd advise looking up some instructions to take with you.
Ticket information for the Ghibli Museum lives here:
http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ticket_information/
You can also reserve your Ghibli ticket at any JTB travel agency around the world. But like the others said you have to do it before you leave. I've done it and it's worth every effort.
Also, most people in Akihabara do not speak English. However most store clerks will at least understand you enough to help you. Pointing at things you want and asking "Kore Kudasai" (which means "this please") helps too.
I know its an unwritten law that you can't walk out of the Ghibli museum without a buying some merch, but I found better stores for Ghibli stuff elsewhere. However, unless you've found one of those, I guess you might as well buy stuff there. Though the unofficial stores have a wider choice.
I agree, the Ghibli Museum store was a little lacking when I was there. Check Kiddy Land in Harajuku and Yamashiroya just across from JR Ueno Station for Ghibli merch in Tokyo!
ooh thanks ^^. i might give it a visit
Keep in mind, the instructions from the Ghibli Museum site for the Loppi machines leave out just a few steps. It confused me greatly and I had to ask for help in broken Japanese/English XD Just soldier on through. The most confusing steps not mentioned are after you select the tickets and payment options. If you don't have a credit card you have to enter you name (in hiragana and katakana) and then your phone number. Other than that, it's very simple. Just do it early, though.
Haha. The Arakawa sight seeing plans made me smile =D
And as fellow dannychoo/figurefm poster, I think the goodsmile cafe should be a definite must. Although it does seem to be a bit more of a travel than all the other locations, aside from the gundam. I think Gundam visit would also be super freaking awesome. But that's just me. =p
haha yea i've always wanted to visit a place in an anime based on real life ^^. Haven't found the bridge yet though =\
Only thing making me not want to go to GSC cafe is that i don't know of anything else in that area. there goes half the day only visiting the cafe :|, but i'll probably decide when i get there ^^
I just got back from my 4th trip. I should probably make a post about what I did...I blogged quite a bit (see my blog). Good Smile Café was a major highlight of my trip and isn't a problem to get to at all. It's a quick 20 minute ride from Ueno Station and then a 5 minute walk.
Um, Ikebukuro is pretty sweet, not the best otaku shopping grounds though. What you should do is check out the few shops next to animate on otome road, make a note of what's there, and then hop a train over to Nakano (fairly close) and check out Nakano Broadway.
Shopping-wise, I've found Nakano Broadway to now exceed Akihabara in deals and selection. You can find most of the One Piece POPs there. All of the new ones for less than retail price, and all of the old ones second-hand at higher prices (but better than Akihabara). You'll also find your usual selection of Nendoroids and figmas.
In Akihabara, avoid buying figures at Animate or Comic Toranoama - They are forced to sell at retail price. Hit the little back-street shops across from them and look for signs on doors leading up and down stairs advertising they are a figure place. Most of the time you'll find the newest figures selling for 20% less than Animate and Comic Toranoama.
For older stuff (few months to a few years old), check out Mandarake 8F and other buy-back stores. Mandarake is across from Animate in the shadow of the huge black skyscraper. At the end of the main drag near Suihirocho station is another buy-back store about 7F high and has a lot of older figures. Some of them have gone down in price over the years, some of the rarer things have skyrocketed. For example, I wasn't able to find a Kaito Nendoroid for less than 6500 JPY (I wasn't looking, this is just an observation, I already have a Kaito :D)
For non-otaku stuff I recommend going to the Ueno for the national museum of nature and science. It was like 7F of win. :D
thanks for the info ^^.
Do you think its worth getting a suica card? since ill only be there for 9 days.
You're welcome! No need for a Suica though. I think you should just pick up a few 2-day Tokyo Metro open passes from the Airport (only place you can get them). They are 980 yen and activate when you use them first. Good for 2 days for an infinite number of trips on any tokyo metro line.
The desk to buy them at the airport is at the top of the escalator which goes down to Keisei line. :D
Can't miss it, it's a JR desk (which oddly enough sells tokyo metro tickets).
For dolls, other then the obvious Volks stores Mandarake has a good range of secondhand ones for sale. The Nakano one is best but the Akihabara store has a floor of dolls/cosplays/wigs.
Closetchild has a small range of dolls and clothes in Ikebukuro.
You should also find some dolls clothes for 1/3 dolls in azone stores (azone do their own range of doll similar to DD)
Soom also have a shop in Harajuku.