I should write more about my Japan trip than just plane troubles, because I want to get all these thoughts and feelings down before they slip through my fingers.
I'll organise my thoughts mostly by area, as it's easier that way:
- Ginza: This is where I stayed, and it was a perfect base for exploring Tokyo. Last time (which was 17 years ago! A long time!) I stayed in Nihonbashi, and it felt less convenient. My hotel was literally right above an entrance to Higashi-Ginza station.
Of course, Ginza is perfectly nice on its own. Touristy, but not overwhelmingly so, and clean and nice with lots of good signage, and very walkable. I spent a bunch of money at Loft and Itoya, which are dangerous as a stationery fan (I did not realise until I got home how many stickers I bought). Cursing that I didn't buy one of the sun and rain umbrellas at Loft, tbh, because it would be super useful in Melbourne. I also spent a lot of time wandering through Mitsukoshi department store just browsing and not buying anything. If I'd been more flush with cash I might have been in danger of buying a bunch of fancy makeup here, but given I already have too much eyeshadow I'm not sad I didn't.
- This reminds me how convenient the trains are. They come so often! When I visited Tokyo in 2008 I'm pretty sure only Roppongi had the subway fare table in English, which was inconvenient when I was trying to get to Roppongi and my nearest station in Nihonbashi only had signage in Japanese. Now pretty much every subway station has English signage, and the ticket machines allow you to display the information in multiple languages and type in the station you're going to to get fare advice anyway. It's so convenient.
In general, Tokyo is so much more convenient for foreign tourists now. (Which turned out to be great for me because my Japanese is so much worse than I thought it was, lmao.) In some of the more tourist heavy areas the overhead announcements are in Japanese, then English, then two varieties of Chinese, then Korean. At Tokyo Station I think there were also announcements in Thai. Amazing, tbh. I don't feel any city has an obligation to be convenient for foreign tourists, but it is very nice.
- I did a lot of shopping at the Tokyo Station shops in 2008; I did a lot in 2025, too 🤣 I bought a kimono Miffy, and a fancy mug from the fancy Ghibli store, and I very nearly bought a tacky plastic keyring about my fave anime character before reminding myself I have too much plastic crap already...
- Tokyo Tower! I went to Roppongi thinking I'd go to the Mori Art Museum, but once I got there I only wanted to walk to Tokyo Tower instead (even though there's a closer station to it, yes). And it was so worth it. The bright red and white tower against the bright blue sky! In front of Tokyo Tower there was a mini Tokyo Tower surrounded by Christmas trees, and it was so cute. This is the only thing I remembered to photograph.
- Ikebukuro: I really enjoyed this neighbourhood and went there two days in a row. It's well known as a place full of anime merch frequented by women, and certainly I went to the massive Animate and looked in several of the second hand stores and considered buying things... but in the end, I stumbled into the Sunshine City shopping mall and bought a bunch of feminine accessories and looked at a bunch of cute clothes. I planned to buy other things, but then I spent ¥16,500 on a cute handbag & bag charm at Samantha Vega, and I can't remember how much on a hairclip at Mary Quant, and honestly if I'd had more cash I could have spent so much more... I also liked the other shopping malls in the area and the general vibe. Just a really nice area, tbh. I have to go back!!
- Akihabara on the other hand, meh. I didn't like it in 2008 because it felt crowded and sleazy, and I don't like it for the same reasons now. Most of Tokyo smells mysteriously nice, but Akihabara doesn't. OTOH, the Animate there had a different selection of merch, and was where all the Natsume Yuujincho stuff was?? I bought a Nyanko-sensei pen.
- I also could have spent entire days in Shimokitazawa. If you like neighbourhoods full of vintage shopping and independent designers that make you feel like you're not cool enough to be there, as I do, then this is top notch. There were so many cute things in the stores! I nearly bought a purple handbag at Wego (where everything was delightfully tacky), before reminding myself I'd already bought a handbag the day before elsewhere and how many handbags do I need... Well, I'm still thinking about that handbag, so I guess this is a reminder you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and 100% of the accessories you don't buy.
I bought so many stickers at B Side Label. I could have spent hours in there, buying every sticker I saw. They're so cute! This is their website, and I bought more anime stuff here than anywhere else, lmao. You can get B Side Label stickers all over the place - Loft, the Jump shop, the various TV station shops in Tokyo station, etc. - but I'm glad I waited to buy any until I got to one of their own stores and could browse a bigger portion of the collection.
Some other thoughts:
- I'm 5'4 or 5'5 depending on who measures me, and it's really nice to visit a country where almost everything is made for people around my height.
- Rice is healthy for most people, but I can't actually digest it very well, so after eating it several days in a row, having to deal with plane turbulence didn't only do in my back, I also felt queasy the whole plane flight. Live and learn.
- Google maps was good at telling me the public transport to get somewhere, but almost every time I needed walking directions it tried to lead me in a circle. What is with that?
- I talked with a friend about it after I got home, who said that he felt disappointed that Japan no longer gives him the feeling it used to the first time he went there, whereas it still gave me that feeling: excited to be there, and just different enough from home to be interesting but not so difficult that anything was particularly hard to navigate (even with language issues). Honestly, still feels like a very nice place for a solo female traveller to go, and I can't wait to go again.
I've probably forgotten so much of what I wanted to say about it already.
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kalloway
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