Day 1 was supposed to see us fly in to Tokyo in the early hours of the morning to enable us to have a full day in Tokyo, however due to technical difficulties with the plane leaving Sydney (thanks Qantas) we were delayed for nearly two hours. I guess I should be thankful we were able to get special dispensation to actually take off that night as we were way past Sydney Airport’s take-off curfew of 11pm.
I knew we had arrived in Japan when I visited the restroom in the hotel and found the heated seat, the tranquil forest sounds, the bidet and the auto-flush. Technology – you gotta love it. So, after this marvel known as the Japanese toilet, by mid-morning we had dropped off our bags at the hotel and set-off for the Ghibli Museum at Mitaka.
For those wondering what the Ghibli Museum is about it is definitely not your typical museum as although the museum does showcase some of the work of Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio often referred to as the Disney of the East, the museum is like a giant playground and seems more concerned with drawing you into the world that is Studio Ghibli than informing you about it.
Getting to the museum is relatively simple – there are shuttle buses that can take you from the station direct to the museum, alternatively you can take a nice 15-20 minute stroll, as we did, along the river and enjoy the peacefulness of the smaller Mitaka town. Don’t worry – you won’t get lost as there are helpful little signs that tell you how many metres are left to get there.
Entry into the museum is by ticket in advance. You swap your “ticket” for the real ones which includes entry into the short animations showing in the museum theatre. It was kind of cool as the tickets were actually film cells from Studio Ghibli movies.
Its difficult to describe the museum and unfortunately you weren’t allowed to take photos inside. There is no real path to follow in the museum and it all depends on your curiosities. Moving around the museum was quite amusing as there are stairs (including a mini-spiral stair case that took you straight up to the third floor) and walkways all over the place. On the main floor there is a room off to the side that demonstrates some animation techniques – one of the more interesting exhibits involved the use of strobe lights to give the impression that 3-D models were actually moving. I could have stared at it for ages. Here is a pic of the models (from the official Ghibli book). 
The second floor seems to document the animation process with plenty of storyboards and pictures to look at and even animation books to flick through. The third floor has the museum shop, bookstore and a giant catbus that kids can climb and sit on. Also from the third floor is access to the spiral staircase that takes you up on to the roof to see a robot and block from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. The theatre is quite interesting as it had a painting of the sun on the ceiling, and when they dimmed the lights for the movie to start, a moon covered up the sun.
Make sure too look for details of Studio Ghibli movies in doorways, door handles, fan blades, bricks, closets, staircases, stained-glass windows, the benches, and even the drinking fountain. There are some other cute things to look out for such as the 3-D glasses that turned lights into shapes – a heart, alien faces, smiley faces and the Apple Mac fish tank!
Check out more of my photos of the external here.
By the time we got out of the museum it was mid-afternoon and our bellies were protesting rather loudly so we headed back to Shinjuku where we were promised cheap delicious meals. When people refer to Shinjuku they are usually talking about the large entertainment, business and shopping area that surrounds Shinjuku Station. The station is Japan’s, and most probably the world’s, busiest station seeing anywhere between 1-3 million people passing through its gates every day.
All around the station are Department stores, subterranean malls and electronic shops. West of the station is Shinjuku’s skyscraper district, home to many of Tokyo’s tallest buildings, including the gorgeous Keio Plaza and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office (where you can climb 45 floors for a free bird’s eye view of Tokyo). Northeast of the station lies Kabukicho, Japan’s largest and wildest red light district. I guess you could compare East Shinjuku with Kings Cross Sydney or Soho London.
In this environment finding food wasn’t too hard but making a decision certainly was. We finally decided on a traditional tempura meal which was quite delicious. Later on in the evening we discovered the world of department store food – most stores have a subterranean food section where you can generally find inexpensive but good quality food to eat for dinner. The environment is similar to the food halls of Harrods.
After the Edo-Tokyo Museum it was on to Akihabara (or Electric Town). As the name suggests the area is devoted to all types of electric and electronic appliances. The latest technologies and gadgets can be found here though it is not as cheap as one would like – I guess you’re paying for the fact that certain technology was available at all. It seemed that most buildings had a pattern to it with the large displays of flashy cellular phones inviting visitors into the store. This was often followed with the digital music players, then a floor for computers, household appliances, and then often a gaming or adult floor. My parents discovered a hidden treasure – if you’re waiting around for your friends to finish their shopping or if you’re tired, simply find one of the floors that have massage chairs on display. These full body massage chairs are absolutely divine but after some time of sitting in various chairs I actually felt a little nauseous. Pat tells me it’s because the toxins are being released in my body but it was nice while it lasted. So nice that Stephen and my Dad were even tempted to import one back to Australia! But good sense prevailed in the end … I think.
An unplanned stop saw us going to Roppongi for the balance of the evening. Roppongi is … interesting to say the least. With the highest concentration of foreigners that I’d seen anywhere in Tokyo it well deserves its status as the International City That Does Not Sleep. A number of bars and clubs were fronted by African men – but I couldn’t figure whether that was to attract the locals or the nationals. Yes the place is most definitely seedy but that just makes it more interesting to observe or be a part of. Hey – where else am I going to find a full body Pikachu suit?! 
