Why I prefer UK anime conventions to Japanese ones

THERE HAS BEEN MANY COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG- I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT CLEAR, AS THE TITLE SUGGESTS, THIS IS AN OPINION BLOG. I AM EXPLAINING, FOR THE BENEFIT OF FRIENDS WHO WISH TO TRAVEL TO JAPAN FOR CONS ALONE, WHY THEY MAY WANT TO RETHINK THIS. I AM NOT TRYING TO STATE JAPANESE CONS ARE INFERIOR/WORSE THAN WESTERN CONS. ^^;

Long title, I know. And I’m sure anyone reading this must think I’m mad. How can the UK be better than Japan, the place where anime, cosplay and eventually conventions first came to be?

Trust me when I say I still can’t believe it myself. I went to Japan with high hopes of cosplaying all the time, having access to millions of anime/manga merch and attending many conventions.

Unfortunately, this never came to light. Maybe because I didn’t live in Tokyo and don’t speak fluent Japanese, so I was out of the loop a lot. But I certainly never saw any cons advertised.

Before I begin my comparison, I have to admit I am not regarded a massive con goer even in my home land. I attended Auichinawa once, Dee-con and recently the MCM Expo in Glasgow. However, I used to cosplay a lot when I went to Nanashi Dansu, which used to run every month.

The format of most UK conventions are the same: some sort of dealer area where official merch is sold; homegrown talent selling local comics and goods; some sort of photo booth/ place where you can have professional photographs taken. Then, within the event, there will be a schedule, such as voice actor panels, a cosplay masquerade/competition and sometimes ending with a disco/pub quiz.

UK conventions are pretty straightforward- you turn up with your pre-paid ticket/pay at the door, and go have fun. In Japan, it’s a little different.

I attended the Tokyo Game Show, which is mainly aimed at gamers as the name suggests, and Comiket, the biggest cosplay/comic convention in Japan.

For both events, there was a massive queue. We got early tickets for TGS but Comiket was free so you could walk in (or battle the crowds in).

The main difference (apart from the scale of these events, which is about 10 x the size of the events in the UK) is that you CANNOT walk into an event in cosplay.

My attempt to wear most of my cosplay while looking normal at the Tokyo Game Show

The is a big problem for many reasons. First, it’s hard enough putting on your wig, make up, costume and props and getting to an event, never mind having to transport all this to a con and then change there. To make it worse, the “changing room” is a big open room, with nothing to shield you when you are changing. Of course it’s separated by gender,  but this can be a nightmare for those who have to often change into underwear (or lack of) for their costume. Also, there are NO mirrors, so unless you have your own, you cannot even tell how you look once you change until you leave the area and manage to find a bathroom (where it is forbidden to change into cosplay). To top it all off, you need to register and PAY to cosplay, and wear a stupid sticker to prove it.

There will usually be a place to store your luggage, but the technicalities of trying to reassemble a cosplay in a room full of strangers with no mirror is a nightmare.

This is issue number one.

Issue number two is photographs are usually restricted to the “Cosplay Area”. While it’s great to have a dedicated area to take pictures, it means if you see someone outwith the area you want to take a picture with or of, you can’t. For me, this destroys one of the main enjoyments of a convention- walking around admiring costumes, talking pictures or having others asking if they can take your photo.

Also, once in the cosplay area, it is very common to be surrounded by Otaku wielding big Nikkon cameras. While they are polite and flattering, you can end up trapped for hours in one place.

The next issue is the main one. We are so used to the format of UK conventions, I assumed they replicated the Japanese model. This may be the case, but not any Japanese convention I seen or heard of.
TGS was impressive in terms of the displays by all the big names like Konami, Sega etc. However there was very little merch to actually buy. Most of it was just displaying graphics.

Comiket was not at all what I expected. It was massive, with 100,000 attendees. There were lots of great cosplays, but I have to admit I didn’t recognise half of them, not up to date with Japanese anime due to my lack of fluency and crap TV.

The main problem was there were no signs or maps in English and the scale of Comiket was indescribable. Even compared to London Expo, Comiket would be about 5 x bigger. Sounds amazing I know, but this was not the case.

I arrived at 11am on the Sunday and was able to walk (wade) right in. Maybe the Saturday was for the official dealers, but I doubt it. Comiket is mainly a collection of manga-ka trying to sell their work. However, they are not the famous ones we know. There were about 2 massive halls dedicated to hentai alone. This was not mild, skirt lifting panty stuff. This was full on, xxx rated hardcore porn. The stalls had massive posters displaying their art. Don’t get me wrong, there were many women selling their work in these halls too. However I felt it was mainly aimed towards the male audience looking for, simply, big breasts.

After about two hours of this wandering around I found some non hentai doushinji artworks (people that make fan work of famous manga/anime) but there was again, nothing I recognised.
I managed to purchase a small pin of Hunter x Hunter and Yu Yu Hakusho chibis. There were some stalls selling steam punk and jewellery, but these were few. I bought a pair of white clip in cat ears there.

The next two halls were dedicated to yaoi, something I haven’t been interested in since I was about sixteen. It was super tiring- there were hardly ANY places to sit. It was also the hottest weekend in Tokyo, over 40 degrees. It was too hot for me to even put on my cosplay. Not exaggeration, I couldn’t apply make-up without it dripping off. My shorts and t-shirt were drenched. I, like many others, wore a towel around my neck and constantly used a fan. Kudos to those who cosplayed, but it wasn’t worth my health.

The vending machines were also constantly queued up (about 50 people at a time) and kept running out.

It was interesting, but not one I would do again and definitely a disappointment in many aspects. Where were the famous voice actors, official merch and cosplay shows/skits?

Again, it may be due to my lack of Japanese ability, but I doubt it.

In contrast, I attended the MCM Glasgow Con this weekend. After Comiket, my expectations were pretty low. MCM restored my faith in everything a con could be.

Firstly, the reception in Glasgow itself was amazing. The guy in the City Parking was a sweetie, helping me with the machine and guiding me to the right door. Construction men (who I expected abuse from) told me happily I was the best costume they’d seen yet and to enjoy my day. Later on at McDonalds, no one gave me abuse and the worker behind the till was genuinely interested what I was wearing and why.

We had brought early entry tickets, but even then the queue was massive. I was so happy at the turn out and all the amazing cosplays.

Credits to forums.overclockers.co.uk for this pic of the line outside the SECC!

Which brings me to issue four. People assume it’s so easy to access everything for cosplay in Japan- true if you live in Tokyo and have a good grasp of the language. The costume I wanted came from a Japanese site, but turned out to be from China. My wig was also from China. I couldn’t locate the socks anywhere and finally got a pair from ebay upon my return.

I found it incredibly difficult to locate the simplest things. Buying online was also faced with nightmares of filling in forms using google translate, and the post office always delivering when I was out/ unable to find my apartment.

Actually in the UK, we have access to so many amazing cosplay sites, as well as local companies that do commissions for wigs, props etc. You can buy pretty much everything from ebay. We are actually in a much better position here than I was in Japan, where the only advantage was being closer to China (yet a lot of ebay companies wouldn’t ship to Japan).

Back to MCM! There were a lot of complaints about the queues, but I don’t think the staff had been prepared for such as massive turnout- the estimated 10,000 doubled to 20,000 attendees. We were lucky we arrived at the right time- I heard many tales from friends of two hours queues and people giving up. But being able to walk in with cosplay on felt AMAZINNNNG.

We had a few hiccups at the start of the day. The SECC was holding another conference (they won’t make that mistake next year!) so we weren’t allowed to use the cloakroom (though the girl was very apologetic).

We decided to go dump stuff in my car. I asked one of the staff if it was okay to go out the side door, since we had been stamped. He said that was fine. However, I double checked with another guy as we left the actual doors and he promptly told us we wouldn’t be getting back in.

To quote, he said “this is what we want to avoid”. Aka, people walking about in costumes while important officials were in town. He was the only rude guy we encountered. I informed the first guy, not only because of the way we were treated, but also because I didn’t want anyone else being refused back in.

This was a tiny spot on what was an amazing day. Although only one hall, the place was packed with merch- posters, DVDs, plushies, clothes, wigs etc. It was the kind of con I had always imagined but had given up ever experiencing.

The products are always marked up and I never buy what I can get cheaper online, but it’s simply amazing to see the stuff on display and watch your fellow fans get excited about them.

The biggest thing for me was the fact Vic Mignogna had his own booth and would be giving a talk. It was an okay system- you received a raffle ticket and had to keep checking back for your number zone.

We wandered around the stalls and were able to find places to sit and eat. It was hot and busy, but thankfully not as bad smelling as some UK cons can get (sorry, it’s true).

It was a dream come true to meet Vic. The conversation (while he signed the free Edward Elric poster) went like:

Vic: “Wow, I love your costume!”

Me: “Eeee…I love you, Vic!”

Vic: “I love you, too! Let’s run away together!”

Me: “Eeeeee. Can we get a picture?”

Vic: “Sure!!” *big hugs* “You smell great!”

Me: *shaking*

“I’m going to come to your talk!”

Vic: “Great, see you then!”

Had to record that so I won’t ever forget it ^^

After a bit of looking around the stalls, we settled down for the talks. There were Q&A’s for Warwick Davis, two stars from Merlin, and many others. However most of us were there for Vic ^^

He was fantastic as always, really connecting with the fans and making everyone laugh. He also treated us with some lines- Edward Elric saying “good things come in small packages!” and Tamaki’s coffee line (delivered to a girl who nearly passed out). He also got everyone to sing happy birthday to one lucky girl!

By then some of my friends were ready to go home. It was busy throughout the day, as bursts of people left and came in. The word was already spreading that next year the con would take place over 2 days and be more spread out.

I bought a Happy plushie to go with my Lucy Heartfilia, not too expensive at £15.

On the whole, the MCM con was a much more pleasant and fulfilling experience than Comiket. To those who plan to go to Japan for anime conventions alone, this is my advice- stay at home. Spend your money on better costumes and travelling to the many conventions we have in the UK. If you wanted to, I reckon you could attend a different con every month. I was in Japan for a year, and I cosplayed twice. I attended one official con.

If you want to go to Japan, go for the culture, the history, the beautiful scenery, the food, the amazing people, and the many other awesome things.

For places to go, check my other blogs 😉

BBC’s article on the MCM Scotland Expo- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-24003010

Hope this was informative!

Tokyo: First Impressions

Since I arrived in Gunma, I’ve been dying to visit Tokyo. However, a few things stood in my way- 1) Money: It’s a two hour train journey, plus I didn’t want to be in Tokyo for the first time and not be able to buy anything and 2) My sense of direction is hopeless and my Japanese limited, so I wanted to get an iphone first, ensuring I could always have google maps.

I decided to dress in fairy-kei style for my first day in Tokyo, as it’s more relaxed and comfortable than Lolita. It’s a style composed of many pastel colours, cute accessories and layers. I wore a yellow blouse, a mint green cardigan, a nude coloured tutu style skirt, and lilac socks, with lots of coloured bobbles and jewellery.

Warehouse dress, Jane Norman Cardie, Primark blouse. Hair accez and socks from local Japanese shop.

 

Thankfully it was a cloudy day, but it was still hot. I cycled to the station in plenty of time. It’s a handy 5 minutes away, and there are lots of bike racks to keep your bike safe.

The first leg of my trip involved a train from my station (Higashikoizumi) to Tatebayashi station, a small trip of only 4 stops. There were ticket machines with English instructions so it was much easier to buy a ticket than I feared!

After arriving at Tatebayashi, I simply had to walk across the platform and jump on the next train to Kuki. I was pleased with how smoothly my journey was going, but of course, these things never go completely to plan!

It was a half an hour journey to Kuki, and I got a lot of stares from other passengers, mostly because I was a foreign, but also because of how I was dressed. It didn’t bother me (you can’t really be into Tokyo fashion if you’re shy or self-conscious!) and I arrived in Kuki feeling pleased with myself.

This is when the problems started. Kuki was a much bigger station than the others- compare Lenzie to Central. There were many barriers and many signs, so I followed the crowd the best I could. Luckily I had noted down all the platforms the night before (for some reason my iphone doesn’t show them) but after eventually tracking down where I needed to be, I reached my train as it pulled away.

Panicking, I tried to use my iphone to find when the next train was, but it was telling me I had to get another two trains. I didn’t like that idea, because the plan was to catch one train straight from Kuki to Shinjuku. Also, I was meeting my friend Mi Lee, and I really didn’t want to be late.

I couldn’t see a timetable, but I managed to locate a large map of all the lines (picture the confusing London underground map, and you’ll get the idea).
I finally worked out the name of the line I needed, and after watching the information board, found there would be one in twenty minutes. I was able to get a drink from a HUGE vending machine and chill out for a bit.

The station was dead, but as time ticked on for the train to Shinjuku to arrive, a huge swarm of people suddenly gathered. I saw my first glimpses of real Tokyo fashion from the other commuters.

I was again drawing a lot of attention, which I was surprised at, considering how close we were to Tokyo. I knew it was the combination of my outfit (which I thought was pretty low key) and being foreign, but although I expected this in Gunma, I didn’t expect it in Kuki. I felt reassured I would blend in when I got to Tokyo (I would later discover this wouldn’t be the case!)

My other two trains had been quiet, but this one was going to be busy. Even though it was raining, the air was still humid, and I was wearing lots of layers. Add to the fact I was flustered from missing my train= not very pleasant.

I noticed two Japanese guys were watching me and as I got up to board the train, they said their goodbyes and one came to stand next to me. I didn’t think much of it, but once we were all on the train (standing room only) I saw he had managed to squeeze in right next to me. He didn’t even hide the fact he was staring! If he had been an old man or something I would have been bothered, but he was about my age and kinda cute, so I just pretended not to notice.

At every stop more people squeezed onto the train. It was a 45 minute journey to Shinjuku, and I was glad I was wearing flat shoes, seeing how I was having to stand the whole time. I noticed every time I got pushed in a different direction or stepped aside to let someone through, the Japanese dude mirrored my movements. I found it quite strange he was openly staring- in Japan, especially on trains, everyone keeps their eyes down. No conversations are had, unless you are travelling with someone, and phones must be on silent. It is strictly forbidden to talk on your phone. So despite the train being packed, the only noise was the occasional cough and the air con. A huge difference from the last train on a Friday night in Glasgow!

Eventually the train was so crammed I couldn’t even reach the handles to balance myself, so I had to brace with my feet every time the train stopped or turned. A certain movement caught everyone off guard, and to my shock, when I fell backwards, the Japanese guy quickly put his arm around my waist and caught me.

I know it might not sound like much, but this is SO not the norm here. First of all, the whole “not doing favours to strangers because they can’t be repaid” shizz that I’ve learned the hard way. Second, personal space is a HUGE deal here. The idea of a stranger touching another stranger so personally is pretty much unheard of. I’d be surprised if some one I didn’t know did that back home- here is like x100.

Needless to say, I thanked the guy and tried not to look like an idiot. Everyone was now staring at us, and rather than try and distance himself, he pulled out his phone and showed me his screen, where he had typed a message in Japanese (again, why does everyone assume I can speak and read Japanese?? Back in 2008, when I was in Osaka, it was assumed foreigners couldn’t speak Japanese. Every youtube vid I’ve watched bemoans at how foreigners are treated as an oddity if they can speak fluent Japanese. But more and more I find myself in these situations where I have to politely explain I can’t speak Japanese- in Japanese of course…)

So, after recovering from this further shock, I did the whole “Sumimasen, Wakarimasen” thing, he suddenly switched to English. (WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN? Makes me even more embarrassed I can’t speak Japanese)

He asked the usual, where I was from, how old I was, what did I do. He asked if I was a student (lol) and I told him I was an English teacher. I could see he was shocked at that one, no doubt because I looked about 16 because of my outfit.

By this point, we were the *main* attraction on the train. I could see people watching in disbelief because a) it’s unheard of to start a conversation with a stranger, b) especially when the stranger is the opposite sex c) even more so when the stranger is a foreigner. But Hiro (as I discovered) was completely chilled out, even to the point of then and there asking me on a date. Once again, I felt my life had suddenly starting to resemble a shoujo manga, and any moment I would return to reality.

I declined his offer, telling him I was meeting a friend. After swapping mails (it’s hard to explain, but here everyone has a mobile number and a mobile mail. I assume the mail is free, but then why would anyone text?) we arrived in Shinjuku, and Hiro was amused with how happy I was to see the large, built up towers of Tokyo from the windows.

He asked me where I was meeting my friend, and I said the Central West exit. He said he would show me the way, and I was about to say I would manage when I saw how HUGE Shinjuku station was. Despite being a Saturday, it was thrumming with business men and women in suits, and schoolchildren. Literally people kept walking right into me. I meekly followed Hiro as he led me through twists and turns, up stairs and down stairs (what the hell, Japan?) until we finally reached the exit. I thanked him profusely, and he asked me to mail him soon, and enjoy Tokyo. Literally, couldn’t have made that experience up!

It took me another half an hour to find my friend Mi Lee- that’s how big this one exit was. Not only is Shinjuku a station, it’s also an eight story shopping mall and food court. Because I was so late, I said I would treat us to lunch, so we went up to the 8th floor to a casual dinner. We had pizza and chocolate cake and caught up with each other’s back story.

After food, it was time to go shopping! Thankfully Mi Lee knew all the places I wanted to go, and she was an amazing tour guide. I think I would have spent the whole Saturday just trying to find my way out of the station if it wasn’t for her! There were lots of lockers which I took note of for next time. The rain had came on (I was so happy, because it meant the air was cooler) and after buying a cheap 300 yen brolly, we braved outside.

Shinjuku is exactly what you would expect- huge, high rise skyscrapers, neon signs, lots of cool fashion. All the shop workers looked like models, and as is the norm here, they call out to invite customers into their store. Mi Lee took me to a large shopping centre which held all the lolita brands, and I couldn’t believe I was actually wandering around Angelic Pretty and Baby the Stars Shine so Bright!

For those of you not familiar with Lolita, the brand names are very expensive. A typical brand dress is £200. I’ve only ever worn Bodyline, which is the cheapest brand.

In Angelic Pretty, there were so many beautiful clothes, so I was glad I didn’t actually have the money to go mad! I watched as a beautiful young girl was spoiled rotten by her rich father. He purchased the full set for her- a head bow, OP (one piece) and matching socks, probably amounting to £350.

We also went to the 2^nd hand Lolita stores like Closet Child, which I really wish we had back home!! I tried on a lovely yellow Angelic Pretty JSK, but the straps were too big, and I didn’t like how it was the apron style with the exposed sides. It was a bargain at about 7000 Yen- but I couldn’t justify paying that when I wasn’t totally in love with it!

Instead I went to Bodyline so I had an outfit for the next day, despite my tight budget. Going into Bodyline was a bit of a shock after the luxuriousness and decadent shops of the other brands. Despite the large, chunky chandeliers, Bodyline felt like a large, warehouse sale. There were just huge racks of stock, with no obvious rhyme or reason. Unlike the other brands, which have a very much upper class boutique feel, with lots of room and shopping assistants waiting on you hand and foot, Bodyline was like a jumble sale, with everyone pushing and grabbing. Needless to say, their prices are the best for what you get. Although the quality is nothing compared to the other brands, the prints are still pretty and the workman ship is usually good- though their cosplay section left a lot to be desired!

I settled on the lilac squirrel party OP, which I’ve had my eye on for a few months. It’s very cute, with a detachable bow that I could use as a head piece. Unlike the website, where you pick your size, in the shop, we were told everything is one size. I was a bit worried because the OP looked a little on the large size and you can’t try anything on or return. But for roughly £28, I really couldn’t complain. In fact the dress fits perfectly.

I also got white tea shoes, which I’ve always wanted. They didn’t have matching socks, so Mi Lee took me to a cute hosiery shop where I found knee high white ones. Luckily my jewellery and hair bobbles and clips from my fairy kei outfit went perfectly with the OP, which has yellow, pink and blue in the print.

Bodyline Squirrel Party OP and hair bow, socks from Japanese shop, Bodyline Tea shoes

I saw a really cute Lum hoody (a Rumiko Takahashi character) but it was pretty expensive, so I had to leave it. However, it’s defo on the wishlist ^^

After we shopped ourselves out, we went and got changed and freshened up our make-up in Shinjuku station. It was great we were able to put our shopping and extra things in lockers.

We then went on the hunt for food. Shinjuku is very pretty at night, with all the neon signs lit up. Despite not being dressed up any more, we were still getting a lot of attention, and the word “kawaii” (cute) seemed to be said every five minutes!

We located a curry shop and ordered up. Japanese curry is very different to Indian curry. It’s hard to describe, but it’s very good, and we both ordered fried chicken curry, which was very tasty. It was a traditional curry shop, where you eat at bar type format and can see into the kitchen. We got talking to one of the chefs (again, he could speak great English!) and he revealed he had been to both Scotland and England!

After we finished our yummy curry, we swapped mails with the chef, and decided to hit the karaoke.

I’m not a great singer, but I love a bit of karaoke, especially if I’ve had a drink. We couldn’t afford to drink alcohol, but included in the price of the karaoke fee was soft drinks which was great. We had a great time singing anime songs and kpop/jpop. Mi Lee is an amazing singer and can speak Japanese and Korean very well, so I basically mouthed along ^^

We were tired by this point, having walked about all day and been up since early, so we headed to the Cyber Cafe where we would spend the night. We had planned to go to a host club, but realised we couldn’t afford it. That didn’t stop pretty hosts approaching us, and it was funny to hear them try and speak English!

The Cyber Cafe was amazing. I had pictured a rather run down coffee shop style place with internet cafe style booths where people caught a few hours kip in their seats. The Gran Cyber Cafe was NOTHING like this. It was like a sleek four star hotel, all black walls and chrome. It had the biggest manga library I have ever seen lining the walls. We checked in an ‘all female’ area, and I soon realised why.

It’s hard to describe the booths, but imagine sitting down on the floor with your feet stretched out in front of you. The booths were that length and width. The floor was a padded leather mat, and there was a leather cushion. At knee level there was a wooden shelf supporting a computer and headphones. If I stood up, I could see into the other booths. It was really a strange phenomenon.

I picked up some copies of manga, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I lay down. We were given a thin blanket, which was good. Unfortunately these booths are made for Japanese people, who are on average smaller. I’m not very tall, but when I lay out, my feet scrunched up and if I turned over, my knees hit the shelf. I compromised by piling my bags to one side and lying out diagonally.

I’m the worst sleeper in the world usually- I can’t sleep on public transport, if I’m too hot, if there’s a light on, or if I can hear a constant noise (like a clock tick). I usually need silence to drift off at all. Although the café was pretty quiet, the booths were all roofless, so you could hear every cough, text and person getting up to go to the toilet. I also had a light shining right in my face, so I used my hair to cover my eyes. However for the price, it’s a great idea, it’s clean, and I even managed a few hours kip.

You had to pay to use the showers, but these too were spotless, and private, which I was shocked at. We got up at 6am, and I got the key to the private shower. After drying my hair the best I could, we checked out. I didn’t bother putting any make-up on, and I was still wearing the dress I slept in, because we didn’t have time to get ready in our Lolita gear (which takes a few hours).

We still managed to draw attention, even in the early hours of the Shinjuku morning. Mi Lee showed me around the host club areas, and we talked to a few hosts. I was surprised they were still up, but apparently some clubs open early for the hostesses that finish work late.

You could tell the hosts a mile off. Their hair was always perfectly styled, usually dyed, and they wore tight clothing and brand name accessories. Back home, their sexuality would be in doubt. Here, they are simply hosts.

We got breakfast in the station, then Mi Lee took me to the nearby Crown Plaza so we could get dressed up. I didn’t think we’d get away with it, but as we were carrying lots of bags, I guess we looked like travellers. The bathrooms were beautiful, with private vanity mirrors and lots of room. I could see why Mi Lee liked to get ready here. As we transformed, many of the guests using the bathroom watched us. One older Chinese lady even told us we were cute!

I’m good at doing make-up, but hopeless with hair, so Mi Lee arranged my hair in cute plaited buns. After putting in my hair accessories and fixing my bow, I looked very different! The great thing about the hair style was it kept me cool, as my hair wouldn’t stick to my back and neck. As I was wearing a OP, petticoat, knee high shoes and big shoes, I was going to be hot enough already!

Mi Lee wore pretty purple contacts to match her Angelic Pretty decoration dream co-ord, and bravely wore a wig as well! We took photos then decided to get a train to Akihabara, the well known electronic district. Akihabara is famous for the Japanese pop group AKB48. As the name suggests, the group has 48 members, and it’s basically a franchise, with groups all over Japan and recently, China and the Philippines. Everyone is AKB48 mad here- my school kids all have pencil cases and folders of them, and their posters are everywhere you go.

Electronic super city

Akihabara is also well known for its anime merchandise, and we went into many shops were I saw cool figures (but so expensive!) We stopped to take more Purikura photos in the famous photo booths they have here. There are so many different types and they make your skin flawless! You can also add effects and decorations like sparkles, cakes, words etc! They turned out so well!

In Akihabara, instead of hosts, there were many girls dressed up as maids promoting the maid cafés that are so popular here (again, totally innocent. They’re just waitresses dressed up!) The girls were so sweet, but every time they passed us they kept calling us cute because of our Lolita. It was pretty funny and awesome.

We then went to Harajuku, which was much more different than I expected. There were a lot of open market style stalls, and although I was tempted by so much, I resisted. We went to Etude House, a famous South Korean make-up brand, which I’ve always wanted to try because I love their model Park Shin Hye. They’re like the Korean version of Benefit, with lots of unique products in cute packaging. Their prices are more reasonable though, and I got a big tub of “Happy Teatime Milk Tea” moisturiser for 400 Yen.

Every time we explained we lived in Gunma, we got collective responses of astonishment. It made me feel pretty happy, as if these Tokyo-ers thought we were too cool to live in the countryside ^^ When we said we were English teachers, there was an even bigger reaction!

I honestly thought foreign Lolitas would be as common as soy sauce in Tokyo, but from the reactions we got, you would have thought we were famous models. People took photos and we even got filmed by some one on a mobile as we crossed the street. There was a hilarious moment when we saw the ABK48 theatre, and I wanted to go take pictures. As we walked, there were people in full Chimpanzee suits handing out balloons to promote some kind of energy provider. As soon as these monkey folk spotted us, one dude literally rushed forwards to give us a balloon. It was like something out an anime. Then, as I was trying to take pictures, some tourists kept asking for pictures of me and Mi Lee! It was crazy. Just as I was about to take my own picture, a guy (who I thought) was Japanese approached us. He spoke to us in Japanese (not again!) and then switched to an American accent, revealing he was visiting Tokyo, and was asking us for directions to an anime shop. I loved how he assumed because I was dressed Lolita, I would know the ins and outs of Tokyo, but I took it as a compliment!

After some more looking about the shops, we went to get food in Shinjuku station, because it was nice and cool. The clouds had cleared and we were been blasted by the ferocious heat of Tokyo.

We settled on a Chinese restaurant for a change, plus their menu said “twin set” for 1800 Yen, which seemed a great deal. Only after we had eaten all the delicious food did we realise “twin set” in English on the menu did not mean twin set. It was 1800 Yen, and I had the horrible experience of, for the first time in my life, not having the money to pay for something.

Luckily we were in Tokyo so they accepted foreign plastic. That’s the big difference about Japan- back home I’d switch everything and rarely pay in cash. Here, cash is King, and even though I’ve got a bank account, I’ve not yet received my cash card. It does mean I can’t just buy things for the sake of though. In saying that, I used the leftover change I had to buy a Lolita ring from Closet Child- it went perfectly with my dress, a purple bow with sparkly yellow and pink stars.

Having run out of money, we decided to head home. I was shattered from lack of sleep and walking so much in heels. Mi Lee helped me find my correct train, and I had my first horrible experience of being crammed into a busy Tokyo train. I was very glad to be wearing Lolita on one hand, because I was wearing layers, so protected despite being squished by three men. The downside was I was hotter than normal, and my feet wearing killing me. I had to stand for the whole 45 minutes, and at every stop cling on for dear life as people moved in and out. I had deep welts in my fingers from clutching my carrier bags. At one point I was crammed against a wall and really thought I was going to pass out or be sick. I’ve learned my lesson to change clothes next time I leave Tokyo!

My journey home was a lot smoother, and I managed to catch my next two trains. Luckily these were less busy so I could get a seat. I was so happy to be out in the rain, though the cycle home wearing Lolita, balancing two umbrellas and many shopping bags was not the best experience I’ve ever had!