Japan Day 2

Getting lost is still too easy even on day two. At least we've got our JR passes activated now, empowering us with the gift of mobility! After stuffing our faces with French pastries for breakfast it was off to the Ghibli Museum.

Ghibli is a studio that has made anime films such as, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Laputa Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke and Totoro. The museum is a tribute to all that is Ghibli. For more info, check out this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki

We got there around 11am, just in time for a screening of a Ghibli anime only shown at the Museum. It was an impressive and entertaining film. Now let me briefly tell you about the museum. Think of a giant house built for kids with stuff to play with made for kids, with lots of rooms and sprial stairwells designed for kids. Don't get me wrong, adults are more than capable of enjoying the museum too but putting myself in the shoes of a child, I could see it would be like heaven. Lots of memorobilia, storyboards, interactive displays populated the rooms of the Ghibli Museum. I particularly enjoyed the displays which cleary demonstrated their animation techniques.

Ok. Fast forward to Shinjuku district in the early afternoon. If Minato-ku was tame and Ginza was posh, Shinjuku would be cool uncle that takes you to the games arcade and brings you along to the strip clubs when you're only 11. (No, I do not have an uncle like this but you get the point). Shinjuku is a little bit naughty in some areas, but full of youthful energy. Just the Shinjuku train station alone is full of department stores targeted at young women; You now the drill, skirts, dresses, makeup, shoes, all that jazz. South of the station are adult shops and entrances to what I can only guess are peep shows. Between this cheeky area and the station is what blew me away. Pachinko-overdose; Shop after shop, each one a multilevel establishment dedicated to the past time of the Japanese equivalent to the Pokies. If you could cross breed a pinball machine with a pokie machine and throw in some video game DNA, you would give birth to Pachinko. Boy do they love it. There must have been at least fifty pachinko parlours there if not more.

*Hold on - women's judo is on TV* ...

LOL accidental head butt. Ok where was I? Ah yes. Finally after wading through all the pachinko parlours, we found the departmental stores. Most of these were still above our budget, but not as intimidating as Ginza.

I'll keep this summary moving. Today we ate Tempura and Okonomiyaki for lunch. It was oishii desune. I'd just like to say Japan rocks, and so far all the food has been cheap and delicious with impeccable service. It is evident they really do their best to accomodate my tatty grasp of the Japanese language.

In the later evening we enjoyed freshly barbequed yakitori (skewers) with some sake on our way back to the hotel. We still get confused at the menus that don't have pictures or plastic food models, but it is definitely heaps of fun doing it on our own and not getting spoon fed on a pre packaged tour.

That's all for now.