#The Gundam Base Tokyo

[emaadsidiki]

Life Sized Unicorn Gundam At The Gundam Base Tokyo

[redsamuraiii]

Urban Legend Woman 2 / Toshi Densetsu no Onna 2 (Ep 6)

Masami Nagasawa cosplaying as Sayla Mass, the orphaned child of Zeon Zum Deikun, in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam

[travelella]

The Life-Sized Unicorn Gundam Statue, The Gundam Base Tokyo, Koto City, Tokyo, Japan

mos design

[kishigunpla]

A final set of Gundam Base pictures from earlier this month. Hope I can go back again someday.

[irfnmn]

[yamada-ryo]

any recommendations for my honeymoon to Japan in July? have about 2 weeks around tokyo and 2 weeks around kyoto

Only listing places I've actually been to, some might be closed when your date(s) of visit so do check.

Tokyo: Shibamata Taishakuten, Tokyo Skytree, Sensoji / Nakamise street, Ueno Park museums, Hokusai Museum, Tokyo-edo museum, Akihabara street, Hijiribashi / Ochanomizu, Yasukuni shrine (controvertial), Tokyo station character street (underground complex), Imperial Palace (guided tour), Tuskiji Fish Market, Ginza street, DiverCity (1:1 Gundam Unicorn), Harajuku street, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Meiji Jingu / Yoyogi park, Nakano Broadway, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku Historical Museum, Suga Shrine (Kimi no Na Wa stairs), Lucky Dragon 5 Museum

Kyoto: Ryoanji, Kinkakuji, Imperial Palace / Kyoto Gyoen, Shokokuji Jotenkaku Museum, Tadasu no Mori, Higashiyama Jishoji, Nijo Castle, Honnouji, Kiyomizudera, Fushimi Inari Taisha (mountain with shrine gates all the way)

I highly recommend visiting Nara / Osaka / Kobe if you're around Kyoto for two weeks and Yokohama / Yokosuka / Saitama / Kamakura for Tokyo. I also recommend you to look up if any anime / manga / media you like is based on real locations and go visit those if you have the chance to.

[figurecollection]

Hi, I apologize if this is a question has been asked already, but I want to slowly get into anime figure collecting, what are the best websites to get figures online?

Definitely start off with a site based in your country. imo the scariest thing when first getting into figure collecting is working out shipping and possible customs/import tax prices and it can be really frustrating and discouraging. They can be a little bit more expensive than buying from a Japanese site, but a lot of the time they'll do free shipping over certain prices orders, you don't need to worry about any surprise import charges and it's much easier to return a package if there's any issues. I'm going to assume you're in the USA, if so try USA Gundam Store, Tokyo Otaku Mode, Akiba Soul and BigBadToyStore. If you're in the UK, I highly recommend Dekai Anime. If anyone in other countries have store recommendations, drop them in the replies!

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 7: The Witching Hour Is Here!

Spoiler Warning: This post contains spoilers for one Brave Bang Bravern. I'd recommend watching at least the first episode of Bravern before continuing.

Welcome to the final installment of An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time, we had some technical difficulties due to the Lich screwing things up with its time shenanigans covered what many would consider to be mecha's "Dark Age." Now, we will see how the genre has recovered. It remains to be seen how this decade will go down in history, but so far mecha shows have had a minor bit of a rebound. Though that insipid line of thinking (you've probably heard it at one point: "mecha shows are about the robots, not the characters") is still doing a bit of harm to the general reception of mecha shows, the canon is doing better than before. Not well, like it was in the 90's, but it's not in dire straits.

Victory is never decided by mobile suit performance alone.

Nor by the skill of the pilot, alone.

The result itself is the only proof!

Kyoukai Senki/AMAIM: Warrior At the Borderline (2021)

Kicking off the decade, 2021 would give us a new franchise in the form of the former Xebec, now Sunrise Beyond series AMAIM: Warrior At the Borderline. Sporting smaller robots in a setting similar to Code Geass but Japan was split into three by three world superpowers like it was Post-World War II Germany, AMAIM would be one of the few new mecha shows to come out that would be animated entirely in 2D.

Megaton Musashi (2021)

Developed by Level-5 Studios, Megaton Musashi is a game series that pays homage to the mecha stories of old, particularly that of Getter Robo. The game itself would suffer in terms of marketing, as Level-5 would end up shuttering their US studio in this decade. Which is wild, because this series would also get an anime adaptation that's only started airing this year.

Also, Megaton Musashi has a lot of crossovers with older mecha shows like Getter Robo and Combattler V.

SSSS.Dynazenon (2021) & Gridman Universe (2023)

Returning in 2021 would be Studio Trigger with the follow-up to SSSS.Gridman, SSSS.Dynazenon. Based off of the Dyna Dragon from the original Gridman the Hyper Agent, SSSS.Dynazenon would carry on the energy from its predecessor in terms of energy and heart.

2023 would also see the worlds of SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon collide with the movie finale Gridman Universe, bringing the casts of both shows together for one last hurrah for Trigger's Gridman trilogy.

Back Arrow (2021)

While 2021 was a good year for mecha in general, one show that doesn't get talked about more is Goro Taniguchi's Back Arrow. Set in the walled world of Lingalind, Back Arrow would give us a story where the mecha are powered by a character's convictions.

That's right! Back Arrow is quite possibly the single greatest series in terms of highlighting what piloted giant robots are all about. These stories were never about the giant robot itself; the giant robots were living extensions of the pilots who controlled them. Hence why the breiheights of Back Arrow are based purely on a character's core beliefs.

Getter Robo Arc (2021)

2020 would also see the surprise announcement of an adaptation of the unfortunately unfinished Getter Robo Arc. With the goal of wrapping up the story as best as possible without the guiding hand of series creator Ken Ishikawa, Getter Robo Arc's anime adaptation would finally release in 2021. With this, the Getter Robo saga can finally come to an end.

If you've already watched his video on Getter Robo, Cheese GX also has a follow-up covering Getter Robo Arc specifically.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash (2021) & Cucuruz Doan's Island (2022)

And in case you didn't believe me when I said 2021 was a good year for mecha, let me remind you of something: Gundam was featured as part of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Gundam would see the creation of the now-disassembled RX-78-2 Gundam in Yokohama as part of the celebration of the games. The RX-0 Gundam Unicorn would also make a cameo in the background during the Olympic Rock Climbing event, as Gundam Front Tokyo was the venue.

Most important of all for us, is that 2021 would see the release of part one of a trilogy of movies based on the Hathaway's Flash novel. And as if that wasn't enough, 2022 would also see the release of a movie based on the infamous episode of the original series known as Cucuruz Doan's Island. And as a reminder: Gundam's not done yet. I haven't even gotten to the other big Gundam series yet. These were just the two major series released for the Universal Century in this decade.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)

Where Gundam made really big news in this decade was with the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. Set in the Ad Stella timeline, G-Witch would bring awareness to the franchise that hadn't really been seen since it's heyday in the 90's. G-Witch would also differentiate itself from the rest of the Gundam series by presenting us with Gundam's first female main protagonist, the very tanuki-coded Suletta Mercury (and that depends, because if we're saying Gundam protagonist, then I'd argue technically War in the Pocket's Christina McKenzie has Suletta beat by a couple decades; this isn't even getting into Ecoile du Ciel). And not only is she the first female protagonist, Suletta is also Gundam's first queer protagonist!

Bullbuster (2023)

If there is any series that I wish I had caught while it was airing last year, it would definitely be Bullbuster. Cut from the same cloth as Patlabor and Dai-Guard, Bullbuster presents to us a construction robot is used to fight... aliens?

LEGO movie, is that you?

Okay, seriously though, I do think Bullbuster got drowned out due to being in a year that also included The Witch From Mercury.

Brave Bang Bravern (2024)

Man, if you thought The Witch From Mecury was gay...

2024 would open with Cygames Studio's Brave Bang Bravern. Directed by Masami Obari (a man who I have somehow failed to mention until now), Bravern would manage to capture the joy of the Brave franchise of old (and really mecha shows on the whole), all while making it very gay.

And I mean it. Bravern is quite possibly the single gayest show to come out in the 2020's. Maybe even of all time.

And that's really a wrap on pretty much everything that's come out, but there is one upcoming series set to come out next month...

Grendizer U (Airs July 2024)

Not seeming to want to be left out, the Mazinger saga would also get a surprise announcement in 2023 with a teaser for Grendizer U. Set to air in 2024, Grendizer U is going to be a reboot of the original UFO Robot Grendizer series, though some changes have been made (namely, Kouji has now brought along both Sayaka and Professor Yumi; more importantly, Kouji will now be piloting Mazinger Z instead of playing a support role like he did in the original Grendizer).

You can bet that I will be covering this series, especially if it's picked up by Crunchyroll this coming summer.

Looking Beyond Grendizer U & 2024: Live-action Gundam, Hathaway Parts 2 & 3, Gunbuster 3, and Patlabor EZY

Going beyond 2024, there are also other series that are set to be released some time in this decade. 2016 saw the release of the Patlabor Reboot promo, which is supposedly a test run for a new Patlabor series: Patlabor EZY. Supposedly set to air sometime in 2026 (at least last I saw), I'm as excited about this as Isao Ohta is about any type of gun that comes across his path.

Studio Gaina (again, not to be confused with the now-closed Gainax) also has plans to release Gunbuster 3, though that will probably be on the shelves for now until Grendizer U wraps up.

And of course, Gundam still has two more parts of the Hathaway movies to work on. There's also a live-action Gundam series that is also in the works at Legendary.

Conclusion

And that's a wrap, folks. Finally, after ten whole posts, I've covered an incomplete history of mecha! Yes that's right! Incomplete! Why did you think it was called abbreviated?

Jokes aside, I thought this would be a relatively simple project. Just cover a handful of mecha shows from the decades since their inception, say a thing or two about them, and move on. It turns out that, even when I cherry-picked the shows to talk about, there were still a lot of them.

Do I regret doing it, though? No. Well, maybe that bit about Valvrave specifically. Outside of that, I think it is important that this series of posts still exist. I tried my best to be as impartial as possible, and hopefully you, dear reader, have caught that. I really don't want this project to turn out to be identical in tone to Professor Otaku's Complete History of Mecha video series. Man literally cannot hide his disdain for shows he doesn't like very well, and I think it does a massive disservice to both his series and himself.

What I want you to take away from this series of posts is: every show I covered on here is someone's favorite. I've seen at least one person go to bat for every series I named here. I've done it for G Gundam and Patlabor, and I plan on doing it for a couple more series on here. The real important thing here is that this post helps in dismissing that wrong-headed claim of "mecha shows are just about the robots and not the characters." Which is a thing I will talk about soon.

But not right now. Now I want to rest. And by rest, I mean throwing my wrist out while playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

God Groose is such a great character.

[stevebattle]

Gundam Concierge Haro (AKA Gundam mascot "Hello") by Bandai Namco, Tokyo, Japan (2017). The "Hello" robot, demonstrated at CEATEC 2017, is based on the robot mascot of the Mobile Suit Gundam science fiction anime franchise (fifth image). The robot answers questions, and is voiced by Satomi Arai. "The unique-looking communication robot has LED-installed eyes and ears that move. Speak to Haro and it will respond by conversing in Japanese as well as wobbling and swaying around as it interacts. Its AI technology can access a database to search for the best response to a certain question or statement based on the speaker's meaning." – Gundam Concierge Haro Robot, Japan Trend Shop.

[ouroborosorder]

My belief that Maribel is Yukari is based on reading a few RenMerry fics I really liked a few years ago that used that assumption but I'm curious what other theories exist about that connection. It used to drive me so insane before Len'en gave me much more to drive myself insane over (turns out I'm addicted to getting attached to plot threads that aren't getting resolved anytime soon).

okay so i'm going to level here. I really don't know what they are. I honestly also really don't care. I'm sure the evidence is good, I'm sure the theory is fine.

But when I say I hate the theory that Maribel is Yukari, I mean I hate it on a conceptual level. Not only do I think it adds nothing to the story, I think it takes away from it at a fundemental level.

Part of why Maribel and Renko are so important to me is that they're so... weird structurally. They're completely disconnected from Gensokyo and Touhou in general, but are undeniably linked to it. They feel like echoes of Gensokyo. Maribel and Renko are iterations of Marisa and Reimu the same way that every Gundam series echoes Char and Amuro. It's the same heart and narrative sensibilities, applied to a different angle, a different part of the world, expanding outwards in a way Touhou can't always do - the comfortable dystopia of modern life.

When I first found out about them, that was the thing that made me compelled by Touhou as a series. That this world felt suddenly so big. The story's point felt so distinct. Touhou is a story set in Gensokyo, a fantasy world running concurrent with our own reality. But there's sidestories set in Tokyo, but in a distant unnamed future. There is no reality here. There is only two different fantasies, adjacent to the reality we live in, and yet undeniably shaped by it.

So if Maribel is Yukari then... it undoes... everything I love about them.

The world is not bigger than you think. The story is not about the fantasy layered over our reality, there is no grander scope to the world beyond the setting. It's all about Gensokyo, and always was. Not even Gensokyo, but about the central characters in Gensokyo.

And then... What's the point of the Hifuu Club at all?

This is why I like Sumireko so much, ironically. Because she feels like an echo of Renko the same way that Renko feels like an echo of Reimu. The layers of fantasy echo back in on each other. And the result is the one character who is most closely tied to reality itself. The girl who is escaping it, and drifting deeper and deeper into the fantasy.

As time passes by, we're destined to become the future depicted in the Hifuu club. A smaller, comfortable dystopia. They're building apartments on Mt. Fuji. Nobody can eat strawberries due to climate change. We escape into this dreamlike fantasy, bringing reality and the fantastical future we're inevitably running towards with us.

maybe this is just me justifying shit because Sumireko is my favorite Touhou but idk it feels tangibly different

[galactic-johnny]

P-bandai HG Gundam Lfrith Pre-Production Model.

I did this like a month ago but I was in Japan for 2 weeks and otherwise didn't have a morning where I felt like taking pictures of it until now. Also it took like 2 years after the prologue for this to finally get a kit, and as always its pbandai again (at least im american where i have AC and pbandai access).

It's mostly the original Lfrith with the same runners in new colors, except with three new ones with small parts for a new torso and head that are slightly different, but mostly mostly the new runners have parts for the very involved backpack which takes up as much time as the arms and legs to build. It's comparable to the Pharact backpack because it has a bunch of moving parts and articulation that I loved. I was really into because of its colors but the backpack is still cool.

Most of the extra effort I put in was on the red/green sensor parts for the exploding gundbits. They came with individual stickers for each but they folded on a round surface so I refused to use them and used silver then metallic red/green gundam markers for it instead (although I now know from airbrush guides it would be better to use clear green/red over the silver next time). I also could have detailed them a bit more with panel liner but I was already going insane from cutting them off the runners and panel lining the backpack so I didn't. Also painted the white on the knee armor because the sticker on my old lfrith looks bad and is peeling.

Because everyhting on the body is the same it can do the same squat as normal lfrith, unlike its child lfrith jiu. My lfrith family collection picture isn't actually all of my stuff but I didn't feel like rearranging my shelf yet to put lfrith Ur and Thorn, but I'll probably do that when I do the gundvolva.

Also a bonus is the two gashapons I got at the gundam base store in Tokyo, the Z'gok and the Gundam TR-6 Haze'n-thley II (?). I got a few other things but I'll show those later.

Also to whom it may concern now that I'm done with my Japan trip im gonna buy all my airbrush stuff and try to do my first custom maybe starting in the next.

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

#OnThisDay: Sept 23rd, 2009

Title: Cuteness ACE 3 the final retro

IMPORTANT NOTE: Umm... Before I shared my throwback, I just wanted to say, I'm still not okay from yesterday [CLICK ME!]... 😞😔 I'm still had jealousy feeling from my siblings owing to their own jobs and I DON'T HAVE ONE. My cure from depression is going albeit slow... But, I'll try to dust myself off and standing my two feet. Maybe a nice morning walk will make myself a little better, like what happened in 2022. 🚶

Anyway, enough of my sorrow, let's moved on to my Monday's throwback:

Here's a fun fact of me playing video games: Did you know, 15 years ago, I've played the SUPER underrated mech-based game gem called "Another Century's Episode" franchise exclusively on Sony PlayStation consoles/handhelds (specifically, PS2, PS3 and PSP; PlayStation Portable)? 🤖🎮😁 Yup! It was a lot of fun, at the time when PS2 still going strong (over the new PS3).

• For those who don't know, this Japanese exclusive video game 🇯🇵🎮 was created by the old gaming publisher/company "Banpresto", the same team behind the "Super Robot Wars" franchise (formerly known as "Super Robot Taisen") before Banpresto was merged with "Bandai Namco Games", now called "Bandai Namco Entertainment". Now, ACE (short for "Another Century's Episode") wasn't your typical mech-based chess strategic game like the aforementioned "Super Robot Wars", ACE had a different approach using "Third-Person Shooter" game where you played different mechs based on Japanese most memorable TV Anime Mecha shows like of course "Gundam" (which we're never forget in our hearts as a fan), "Martian Successor Nadesico", "Getter Robo" series, "Eureka Seven" series ,and more... Heck, they even collaborate with Banpresto and Atlus (well known for "Shin Megami Tensei" and "Persona" series) creating their own mechs and characters for the 3rd ACE installment, and its SUPER DOPE in a good way! 😃

BTW: let's not forget "From Software", who also developed the said underrated mech series. Which, you may known today behind "Soulsborne" genre, like the over popular "Elden Ring". ⚔️🏰

• And as you can see, I draw Pocoyo 🔵👶 armoring the "Exblau Form H", along with Kirby ⭐ armoring the "Burning/God Gundam", and two Muglox faries of Mirmo 🪇 and Murumo 🥁 armoring the "Gundam Double X + G-Falcon" and "Freedom Gundam", respectively in a colored-retro style! 🤖😁

If you want it more, then please go to these provided links 😉👉 [CLICK ME! #1], [CLICK ME! #2], [CLICK ME! #3].

Pocoyo - POCOYO © Zinkia Entertainment Kirby - Kirby series © Nintendo, Hal Labs Mirumo & Murumo - Mirmo! © Hiromu Shinozuka/Shogakukan, TV Tokyo Armor - Another Century's Episode © Bandai Namco Entertainment (BANPRESTO) Armors (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, After War Gundam X, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED) - Gundam series © Bandai Namco Filmworks, Inc. (SUNRISE), Sotsu

[redsamuraiii]

Guillermo del Toro, Rinko Kikuchi and Mana Ashida from Pacific Rim visits the Tokyo Gundam Base by kiyosu jo

Guillermo del Toro treating Rinko Kikuchi and Mana Ashida ice cream.

Guillermo del Toro shows his sketchbook where he drew the inspiration for the character of Mako Mori.

Guillermo del Toro explains the Jaeger are heavily influenced by Gundam, such as Cherno Alpha.

Guillermo del Toro's reaction to seeing the Gundam is priceless that they joke about him forgetting Rinko Kikuchi and Mana Ashida.

I really love seeing everyone's reactions being so happy like their inner child finally reveal itself, not caring about what others say.

Thank you Japan, Gundam, Guillermo del Toro, Pacific Rim, for making our childhood and adulthood an awesome one!

[animanga-bc-tournament]

THE TOONAMI CARTOON NETWORK/KIDS’ WB ERA (1997-2008) ANIME SMACKDOWN WILL SOON COMMENCE!!

In this tournament we will determine which series that aired on the Toonami block from 1997-2008 that tumblr users enjoyed the most. The one you always made sure to watch or that left the biggest impression on you. And if you didn’t watch Toonami, then vote for the series you liked the best! When vote then  vote in the name of nostalgia over what series you think is best *today*. 

How was each series chosen? 

I sourced the anime included in the bracket based on the well documented Wikipedia page for Toonami. However in order to keep the bracket manageable and even the playing field some decision were made: 

Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Cardcaptors, Sailor Moon, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh [GX], and Naruto are excluded due to their overwhelming popularity, so to even the field Yuyu Hakusho will be the only series with its high level of international fame to participate. These series will be included in another bracket [TBA]. However I chose to keep Dragon Ball GT due to how polarizing it was among fans.

For the sake of simplicity series that are in some way chronologically connected will go under the same entry. For example: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, Tenchin Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo are entered together Tenchi Muyo! in the bracket. Zoids: New Century and Zoids: Chaotic Century are entered together as Zoids. Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Enegron, and Transformers: Cybertron are entered together as Transformers Trilogy. Gundam is excluded from this ruling as just about every entry are stand alone stories or exist within separate canons. 

Japanese-international co-productions will be in a bracket of its own [TBA]. However an exception will be made for Voltron, G-Force, and Robotech. While technically considered adaptions because of the reworked scripts and footage, they’re re-broadcasts of early attempts at anime distribution in the US, rather than an attempt at making something for an audience who are already familiar with/fans of anime. The Transformers trilogy is also exempt from this ruling despite being produced by Hasbro as I view them the same as a Bandai produced anime.

 Hamtaro is not seeded but is in fact going up against G-Force: Guardians of Space. (I accidentally wiped the whole bracket 3 separate times while making it and i am not redoing it at this time, sorry)

Every series in the bracket are listed below the cut!

Voltron (An adaption of Beast King Go-Lion with some episodes using footage from Armored Fleet Dairugger)

G-Force: Guardians of Space (An adaption of Science Team Gatchaman)

Robotech (a frankensteined version of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada)

Ronin Warrios (Known as Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers in Japan)

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Tenchi Muyo! (Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki, Tenchi Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo all go under this entry)

Blue Submarine no. 6 (1998 OVA)

Outlaw Star

The Big O 

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Zoids (Zoids New Century and Zoids Chaotic Century both go under this entry)

Gundam 0080 War in The Pocket

Hamtaro

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

.hack //sign

Yuyu Hakusho

Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier (2001)

Superior Defender Gundam Force (SD Gundam)

Dragon Ball GT

Duel Masters

Astro Boy (2003)

Transformers trilogy (Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, and Transformers: Cybertron all go under this entry)

Gundam SEED

Rave Master

Zatch Bell!

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

MÄR

Prince of Tennis

Mega Man Star Force

Bakugan 

Blue Dragon

[roboyfriend]

The Gundam Base Tokyo

[ahiddenpath]

Japan Trip 2023

I just returned from a two week trip to Japan! I'll be slowly releasing material about it- where I went, my experience, what I purchased, etc. For now, here are the broad strokes beneath the cut!

Itinerary

First we went to Tokyo and stayed in Toyosu, which is close to Odaiba. After that, we moved to a hotel near Shibuya, after which we moved to a hotel in Osaka. From Osaka, we commuted to Kyoto twice and Nara once.

I want to start by saying that I have never been on a vacation like this. It was physically demanding!

Highlights:

-Team Labs Planets in Toyosu

Team Labs is basically... A group sensory experience? I don't want to spoil it in case anyone wants to go, but basically, you and a bunch of strangers enter a series of rooms with sensory stuff going on. People of all ages are encouraged to play, truly play and engage. My husband and I were giggling the whole time. I've never done anything like it, and genuinely, it's making me want to have a serious deep think about what it means to engage and play, and how our senses are connected to that.

-Doing shrine activities that I have researched at Sensou ji

Shrines have featured in several of my fanfics, so I was so pumped to A.) Know what was going on, B.) Have a general idea of what to do, and C.) GET TO DO IT MYSELF!!! I showed my husband how to purify your mouth and hands with the sacred water. We both pulled our fortunes, and because we both got bad fortunes, we tied them to the rack and bowed and clapped our hands to dispel it (not sure if that last part is necessary, I just copied a Japanese person). The line to pray was long, and I was fretting over praying correctly... And then someone got tired of waiting and CHUCKED THEIR OFFERING MONEY OVER THE CROWD and into the giant offering bin. My husband said, "I maybe wouldn't worry so much," lol! I also bought some shrine charms!!!!!

-Wandering Odaiba

I was upset because our plane to Japan was delayed five hours, meaning I lost time in Odaiba... But I still hit some highlights! I really wanted to see the gazebo and Akemi Bridge, for example. I also saw the Rainbow Bridge, the Statue of Liberty replica, Fuji Station, Diver City, Aqua City, and Tokyo Big Site. I really wanted to check out the apartments where the Chosen live, like Odaiba Kaihin Koen, but there just wasn't time. I didn't really get a sense of the layout of the place, either :/

-Diver City and Gundam Base

I'm not particularly a Gundam fan, but the 1:1 Gundam outside of Diver City on Odaiba???? As if it existing wasn't cool enough, it LIGHTS UP does a SHOW??? According to Google, "It undergoes a transformation four times a day (at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm) into 'destroy mode'; light shows take place on the half-hour between 7pm and 9.30pm"

THE NIGHT SHOW WAS AMAZING! It plays music and projects visuals from Gundam Unicorn onto Diver City, all while the Gundam lights up and physically shifts between its two forms. And it does it all autonomously!

For scale, I am 5'8". I did not go up to its ankle.

-Tokyo Disney Sea

My husband and I love theme parks, and so does Japan! We were in Japan for two weeks, so we opted to only visit one park, the one that cannot be found anywhere else: Tokyo Disney Sea. This park is themed around exploration, and has rides found nowhere else, like Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It also has a truly kickass Little Mermaid section for wee kiddos.

I admit that, because we knew we may never come back, we did the bougie thing of paying to skip lines to experience the most popular rides. Our crowd level was 2/5, and still, the park was JAM PACKED. There were waits of 180 minutes for some rides, so this was the only way to see most (but still not all!) of what we hoped to see. If you're ever planning to go but don't have much time to dedicate to it, I would keep that in mind.

-Seeing Kabukicho and having the best alcohol of my life at Golden Gai

Kabukicho is the main setting of LAD (Like a Dragon), a popular video game series about the Yakuza. And I saw it with my own two eyeballs! We arrived at about 7 PM, way before the nightlife crowd, but that does mean I was able to peek around in peace and have table space at the microscopic bars in Golden Gai. I had the best alcoholic drink of my life, a dessert umeshu, at the Blue Dragon.

One thing to note about Kabukicho, if you ever plan to go. It's a red light district. Sex workers and barkers for sex workers line the streets (don't take your kids here!!!!). Automated messages play in English, warning tourists not to trust touts. Touts are apparently different from barkers. Barkers stand outside of their venue and say stuff like, "Come in and meet our girls," etc. Touts promise you free drinks and will half physically pull you into their establishment. There have been cases of them drugging those "free" drinks and then charging their victim thousands of dollars.

Kabukicho was the only place in Japan where I was nervous, safety wise. Just keep walking if someone tries to get you to go somewhere.

-Nakano Broadway

Nakano Broadway is a giant ass nerd mall in Nakano, a special ward west of Shinjuku, that is mostly owned or rented by Mandarake. Mandarake is a chain of second hand stores for nerd shit (anime merch, collectibles, vintage toys, ball jointed dolls, idol merch, etc). I found most of my digimon stuff here. There are a ton of Mandarakes spread throughout Japan, but the others that I visited were mostly too crowded, packed, and hot for me to browse.

Nakano was like a dream. Most of the stores I wanted to visit were several train rides apart, and each station had several flights of stairs and little to no AC. Nakano had dozens of cool stores in THE SAME WELL AIR CONDITIONED BUILDING, with two bathrooms per floor. The opportunity to hang out for hours in a single comfortable place was enough to make me cry in gratitude. I'm not kidding. This is not hyperbole.

Now, as a warning, it helps to be able to read Japanese in these stores. Most directional signs in Japan are written in Japanese and English, but store directories and labels often are Japanese only. My husband can read well and speak decently, so he was able to navigate stores and read the organizational labels on the jam packed shelves.

Nakano Broadway is also a main setting for Digimon Cyber Sleuth!

-Konansou Ryokan at Kawaguchi

So we wanted to book a ryokan, or traditional inn, at Hakone, home of some of the most luxurious inns around. Unfortunately, you need to book those at least three months in advance to get a room, so we ended up in Kawaguchi, a popular getaway for Tokyo folks located near Mt. Fuji, which is called Fuji-san in Japan.

This is easily the most luxurious thing I have experienced in my entire life.

The room was a gorgeous suite with a HUGE outdoor bath facing Mt. Fuji. It had a genkan and an entry with sliding doors to the living area, bedroom, and bath area. The floors were tatami, and guests were provided with yukatas and a lounge set. The dinner was indescribably fancy, and was delivered straight to our room.

Our only regret is that we only spared one night for the ryokan. The time passed like blinking. I truly hope to stay in a ryokan again someday!

Also, Kawaguchi was my favorite area of Japan that we visited, for its beauty and relative calm, crowd wise. I am not a city person, so that tracks.

-Dotonbori

Look, Dotonbori was crowded AF, especially on Sunday. But it's a delight to the senses at night. LOOK AT THIS STUFF, ISN'T IT NEAT?!

Absolutely try to look up "walk with me" videos in Dotonbori at night. The signs! The lights! The competing street performers! The FOOD!

-Osaka Aquarium

I met two whale sharks! WHALE SHARK!!!! WHALE!!!! SHARK!!!!!

-Todai-ji Daibutsuden (Hall of the Giant Buddha) and Nara Deer in Nara

Nara was a daytrip for us, about 40 min away from Osaka in practice, but functionally longer, at least for us, lol. Okay so like- The giant Buddha? It was. GIANT. Like... house size. Like... utterly jaw dropping.

And the Nara deer were so cute! They were EVERYWHERE! They will bow if you show them a deer cracker/senbei. Just be careful and only offer it to a deer that is alone, and don't let them see the senbei before you are ready to interact with them. The deer can be aggressive, especially in colder months.

Interacting with them was truly some Disney princess shit, it's incredible. I also enjoyed walking around Nara a lot, it feels much more friendly to me than the cities. Also, this is where the most locals talked to me of their own volition, even though we were only there for a few hours. Like literally, in those few hours, more people approached me than almost two weeks combined in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

-Ikebana classes at Kinse Inn in Kyoto

Yes, I took an ikebana class. Yes, it was mostly for Puits d'Amour. I had an absolutely lovely time, I enjoyed the hell out of it. The lessons were given by an American living with her Japanese husband, whose aunt welcomed her into her ikebana school. Learning her story and meeting her family was awesome, and I also loved hearing about how her husband re-opened the gorgeous inn (seriously, it's beautiful, check out the website) after it sat in disuse for a generation between her husband's grandparents and her husband.

I truly cannot express how much this experience meant to me. I am going to try ikebana at home, too! Check out this freestyle arrangement I made!

Is it good? No idea! Do I love it? YES!

-The entire final day in Kyoto (Fushimi Inari, Gion/Sannenzaka, Kiyomizu-dera)

OKAY RAPID FIRE!

Fushimi Inari is a Shinto Shrine! It features hundreds of red gates going up a hill (mountain?). It's some straight up Ghibli shit! It's magical! The way the trees surround and embrace the gates is stunning, I wish I had good pictures, but they are full of tourists (it was crowded). Definitely look it up on YT if you're interested! I've never seen anything like it and never will again! I also hung my ema, or wishing plaque, with the wishes of hundreds of other visitors, which is something I dreamed of doing. It was shaped like a fox head!

The Gion/Sannenzaka shopping area was gorgeous omg!!!

And of course, the famous Kiyomizu-dera shrine among the trees is beyond compare! I also had a group of young Japanese ladies in kimonos ask me to take their picture, which was so fun!!!! People rarely talked to me in Japan- I always forget how uncommonly friendly Americans are- so this made me so happy!

-The Food

Japan has incredible food! The ramen, okonomiyaki, and taiyaki were my faves. I also really enjoyed MOS Burger, it was way better than any fast food I've had in the states, which annoys me so much lol! It was piping hot and was made with real gouda cheese, not the gross yellow American cheese that tastes like plastic that all the fast food places use here. And the ryokan meal was an experience like no other.

The bad part is that I could barely eat in Japan, as I'll expand on below.

Rough Spots:

-The heat

Tokyo gets hot, and a lot of the old buildings simply don't have adequate AC. In fact, as I understand, central heating and cooling are kind of an American thing? Add the immense crowds and high lighting in stores, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Normally, in late September/early October, temps are historically in the low 70sF. It was 80-90F all but one day of this trip, with high humidity and sun. The good news: no rain and no typhoons (my BIL went a few weeks before us and lost a day and a half to a typhoon!). The bad news...

I have never sweat like that in my life. It rolled off my body and onto the pavement. On the 90F day, I took THREE showers, because I could tell my husband and I stank. I promise, this isn't normal for us, lol! I nearly fainted a few times, especially on the Akihabara day.

It's just, everywhere we went, we usually had to go to several train stations, all with a few flights of stairs and a lot of walking involved. We were walking at a brisk pace all day for two weeks, from 9 AM to 9 PM ish, in the blistering heat, with no real AC relief (except for Osaka. For some reason, the AC seemed to work better in Osaka? Maybe it's just comparatively less crowded than Tokyo?). And like- god almighty, standing on those packed trains with your face in some stranger's armpit, with a stranger's face in YOUR armpit...!

Most days, we were only able to eat one meal, and even then, we were forcing ourselves to do it because... You know... Humans need food. I would be shocked if I didn't shed weight this trip. Something about being that hot made us unable to eat.

-The crowds

I have a low stimulus threshold, and the press of all three cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto), but Tokyo most of all, was absolutely bonkers unbelievable holy shit. If you make a wrong move, which is common for tourists in the subways, you're going to cause a collision. There were whole areas of Tokyo where I could not see any of the stuff I came to see. I saw people smushed against windows in trains, with their palms adhered to the glass.

It was an actual nightmare. I don't know how else to say it.

-The laundry fiasco

We had a two week trip. We took a week's worth of clothing each and chose a hotel with a washer/dryer for the mid point of the trip. Most Japanese people, as I understand, hang dry their clothing. The washer/dryer in the hotel was a combo unit that could not fit a whole load. We were also forced to use their auto detergent, and as I've mentioned, we were sweating like pigs in hell.

And the dryer didn't dry the clothes.

My husband spent FIVE HOURS trying to get space in the four machines to rerun our clothes. Some of our things were dried FIVE TIMES and STILL CAME OUT WET, and the detergent wasn't strong enough to handle our western sweat glands in "hey you might actually die" mode.

There's no nice way to put this: our clothes did not get cleaned, and we spent an entire evening on this. Worse yet, we did our clothes the day before shipping off our luggage to the next hotel, meaning we did not have extra nights to air them out.

My advice for anyone visiting Japan is to find a hotel with a nearby laundromat. The ones we passed had impressive-looking machines with separate washers and dryers, not that tiny combo disgrace.

I don't want to talk about this any more, lol!

-Akihabara

Akihabara is a nerd area of Tokyo, with a high concentration of anime/video games/ball jointed doll/entertainment merchandise. Anime characters line the buildings, anime music plays everywhere. This was one of the places I was most excited for. I brought my backpack to carry my inevitable purchases.

I bought four items, and three of those were from the spacious Volks doll store. Most of the stores were so packed with people and merchandise that I could not see a damned thing. The crowds, heat, humidity, lack of AC, and the harsh display lighting made the stores indescribably hot. This was the day I nearly passed out a few times. I ended up almost crying on the street by about 5 PM.

I should tell you that I loved the Radio Kaikan building, which had a ton of great stores in it, was big enough to almost accommodate the crowds, at least comparatively, and had proper AC somehow. I also liked the Eorzea Final Fantasy XIV cafe, although I needed my earplugs because of how loud it was.

Everything else? An actual level of hell. Denden town in Osaka was similar, but had proper AC and was large enough to actually see what you are shopping for. I am not exaggerating, you cannot turn around in the aisles at most Akihabara stores, and they are packed solid with shoppers.

-Japan hours

Don't ask me why, but most businesses in Japan don't open until 11 AM. Like literally, I'd be looking for coffee and have trouble finding it before that time. Even breakfast opens late??? Japanese stores are also off on random days, and often restaurants close in between meals, meaning if you don't eat at noon, you might not be able to find a full meal until 6 PM (although you can always get a snack at a conbini). We had to schedule our days around certain closures, etc.

This is fantastic for people who work with customers in Japan, everyone should have adequate time off. But damn it's hard to deal with as an American on a tight vacation schedule. In the states, most businesses are open every day from like 6 AM to 10 PM, or 10 AM to 8 PM at least. We missed out on a few things because of this.

-Other Tourists

Japan attracts a ton of tourists, and as I've mentioned, its cities are DENSE. Think of common obnoxious tourists. Now multiply their numbers by 1,000 at least. Now cram them into an already crowded local population.

It's bad. Real bad. I got bodily shoved aside so many times that I finally cracked and began shoving back. It was always tourists, at least judging by the languages they spoke.

-That one creep with the camera

So. There are a few signs in public transit showing a man sticking a phone under a lady's skirt saying basically, "Do not take unwanted photos."

So yeah. I saw a guy doing that. Absolutely repulsive. This isn't a Japan specific thing, of course, but they apparently know it's an issue.

-My own anxiety about fitting in at Japan

So, part of my problem with the heat is that I dressed, to the best of my ability, according to Japanese sensibilities, as informed by interviews with Japanese people I found on YT. And they were correct: Japanese women rarely show their legs, and even less so their bust and tush areas. They wear long sleeves and pants in 90F weather. Maxi dresses and long jumpers are also in. Anything flowy, long, and oversized.

Do you see where I'm taking this? My dumb ass didn't bring short sleeved shirts or shorts. I tried to buy them at Uniqlo and H&M. They were not in stock. Not a single pair of shorts. I was forced to buy what I suspect are men's lounge shorts from the clearance section, they literally had ONE pair. I did manage to find a t-shirt, too. I wore those shorts more times than I care to admit.

So yeah, maybe only 10% of ladies wear shorts on a hot day, and a lot of them are foreigners, but do you know what is nice? Not fainting from the heat.

Also, there are a lot of behaviors that are considered okay in America and not okay in Japan. I watched a ton of videos and really stressed out over behaving as properly as I could. And guess what? Within a day, I saw people speaking Japanese do all of those forbidden things, like drinking and eating while walking, talking on the train, and so on.

If you do go, try to be respectful and informed, but please don't feel anxiety/fear over it. Just say "sumimasen" if you think you made a mistake, the locals will get it.

I have so much more to say about the trip, but that is all the brain juice I have right now! Take care!