Introduction

Welcome to my blog called "50 days in Japan". This is a traveler's journal for the 50 days I spent in Japan as my holiday. As you might realize, the trip is over, and this blog won't be updated anymore, until it's finished. It will probably take another month till I've finished it completely. You can choose to continue to read the introduction or jump straight to Day 0 and start reading and viewing my photos.

Will write more here later.

Some stats for the people who like numbers. Still need to count all the shots.

Handshakes: 67
Watanabe Mayu: 7
Ota Aika: 5
Kikuchi Ayaka: 5
Nakagawa Haruka: 4
Hirajima Natsumi: 4
Urano Kazumi: 3
Iwasa Misaki: 3
Ishida Haruka: 3
Matsubara Natsumi: 3
Komori Mika: 3
Nonaka Misato: 3
Matsui Rena: 2
Akimoto Sayaka: 2
Kashiwagi Yuki: 2
Satou Sumire: 2
Matsui Jurina: 1
Ono Haruka: 1
Hiramatsu Kanako: 1
Kinoshita Yukiko: 1
Nito Moeno: 1
Yonezawa Rumi: 1
Umeda Ayaka: 1
Minegishi Minami: 1
Miyazawa Sae: 1
Oshima Yuko: 1
Fujie Reina: 1
Itano Tomomi: 1
Kitahara Rie: 1

Events/minilive/concerts attended: 10
July 4th: Watarirouka Hashiritai - Seishun no Flag (LaQua)
July 11th: AKB48 - Surprise ha Arimasen Concert 3rd Performance (Yoyogi)
July 18th: SKE48 - Gomenne Summer (Yomiuri Land)
July 18th: Watarirouka Hashiritai - Personal handshake event (Ikebukuro Bunka Kaikan 3)
July 19th: SKE48 - Gomenne Summer (Nagoya)
July 24th: AKB48 - Ponytail to Shushu (Sendai)
July 25th: AKB48 - Ponytail to Shushu (Sapporo)
July 31st: Watarirouka Hashiritai - Extra handshake event (Yurakucho)
August 14th: Cave Matsuri (Akihabara UDX)
August 15th: Comic Market 78 (Tokyo Big Sight)

Shots (counting screenshots provided): 104
Mendol: 14
Majisuka Gakuen: 7
PVs: 35
Shukan AKB: 24
AKBINGO: 4
Nemousu TV: 9
AKB48+10: 7
Other: 4

Day 50

Back home to Stockholm with Air China via Beijing.

Day 49

Woke up at 4:45 to get on the first bus to Fuji Q Highland. Weather was unsettled during the whole day, and I was worried some rides were going to be suspended. Arrived at 9am and headed straight for Eejanaika since I knew that one has the longest queue line. Already at 9:10 the waiting time was 1 hour and 30 minutes. It was a great start of the day riding Eejanaika. It was my second time riding it, and I had forgotten how awesome it is. I tried to do a calm face at the photo section, but it was so damn fun I couldn't. The first time I went was soon after I arrived in Japan 3 years ago to study. That time I went on a Sunday during Golden Week, so lines were crazy. Only got to ride Dodonpa (3 hours) and Eejanaika (4.5 hours). I'm going to mix in shots with my photos.

pic of ee

screenshot

With a big smile on my face I went for Tondemina next. I thought it was going to be so-so, but it was actually alot better than I expected. I even went on this one three times during the whole day because the line was short. Pretty much everything was around 2 hours after lunch.

pic of tonde

Oshima Batting Center

To avoid getting too dizzy I went into the new Evangelion house, where they have a 1:1 scale EVA 01 right now. Only the head though. They also got a Seele room, and a 1:1 scale entryplug which you can try! Had to pay 1000 yen extra for it though.

While I was at it I thought I might as well do the Gundam house. It was really lame. You get a small pocket device and then you run around in a house looking for data centrals to collect all the parts for your Gundam. Only 1/5 of them work, the rest give you errors. I think it's entirely random. No idea what you get if you happen to collect all the parts within the time limit - 8 minutes.

pic of gundam house

About time to go on the second top ride on my list - Fujiyama. But while walking there I did a quick stop at the Panic Clock. Short and boing after the first half.

pic of mouse and panic

screenshot

pic of panic

Fujiyama is kind of old. It broke the world record for the highest roller coaster (79 m - 259 feet) in Japan when it opened in 1996. Since it's old, it's also a little shaky. But the lenght of the ride, 2 kilometers, the speed, and lots of G power time made the ride very fun. No wonder why so many people like it. Unfortunately it was cloudy and a little foggy, so no view of Mt. Fuji at all. Before getting into the line I had a choco-banana-vanilla crepe.

pic of fujiyama

screenshot

pic

screenshot

A crepe was far from enough to fill my empty stomach, so bought some takoyaki.

I really wanted to go on Eejanaika one more time, but with the line being just over 2 hours, I figured I should I try as many different rides as possible instead, so I know which ones are good next time I go. Because I will absolutely go back. First I tried Tekkotsu Banchou (Steel Frame Gang Leader), which is a slingshot high up in the sky. You get a nice view of the park while riding this.

Just for the experience, I tried Great Zaboon next, the water splash ride. A raincoat costs 100 yen. Very low quality as I saw lots of people who had their coats ripped apart when they sat down in the boat. Even with the rain coat on, I got pretty wet. If you don't use the hood, you're gonna be totally soaked. Poor Kitarie and Erepyon who had to go on this ride completely without rain coats. Actually, there were a few kids who did go without rain coats just for the lulz. Their parents had to squeeze the water off their clothes.

pic of shukan akb

screenshot of shukan akb

pic of splash

My rain coat was still useable, so I went to check the queue line for the other water ride, Nagashimasuka. But too long for me. I had about an hour and half left until the bus back to Tokyo would depart. Resulted in Fujiyama one more time, some Tondemina Pizza at the Pizza-La, and finally the Tondemina ride again.

The bus home was decorated with Gundam.

pic of bus

Back at Tokyo Station I finally got a chance to take a picture of the Japanese habit of sleeping just anywhere.

Finishing off with some more location shots.

Shukan AKB (09)

pic

screen

pic

screen

pic

screen

Oshima Batting Center

pic

screen

Day 48

Last shopping in Akihabara, dinner with friends.

Day 47

Headed out for Nakano with a friend from the house for some final AKB shopping. I couldn't resist more bearbricks and ended up buying three more, plus some expensive photos to complete a collection. This is the guy who had all the bearbricks on sale that I talked about earlier. You rent these glass boxes and put in stuff you want to sell, then you just go to the clerk who works there and say what you want to buy. The sellers can come back any time to collect their cash and put new stuff in. You can also see what each glass box currently have on their website. The one on the picture below is number C-199. I'm not sure how often they update the photos, but I think once a week or so. As you can see, this guy has a few new items like the Yuko daruma and 5400secs micro SDs, but still plenty of bearbricks.

Then we meet with another friend of mine who I met in Japan three years ago. As with many other people I know, we don't really stay in touch, but still make sure to meet whenever possible. Had dinner at an Italian resturant which means pasta and escargots.

And these are the bearbricks and pictures I got this time. Some of them were expensive, but I want to have 6 of each set so they take up a full spread in the binder. Still want more of the election posters.

Day 46

With a vacation/trip for this long, it's inevitable that you won't be doing anything on some days. Today was such a day. So instead, let me tell about guest houses in Tokyo. For the times I've stayed in Japan, I've been at three different guest houses. The two first being Sakura House, and the third one the one I'm staying at now. A guest house is like a shared house - you get your own room but share things like kitchen, dining and living room, toilet and shower. It's convenient when you first come to Japan for a longer period as you don't need to pay large amounts of fees which you would most likely have to do if you want an apartment. You can then take your time to look for a place which will suit you the most. I would not recommend staying any longer than three months in a guest house. You can get a much better and larger place for a similiar or cheaper rent. If you're only here on a longer vacation, like me, it's a good and cheap place to stay at. And basically the only other place you could stay at would be hotels and hostels. For starters, today I had shrimps sallad with fresh vegetables and mayonnaise, with a cinnamon roll and a chocolate drink.

Kitchen area. People in guest houses tend to not clean up after themselves, and noone wants to clean up after someone else. Luckily the landlord do some thorough cleaning at least once a week. Leave food in the open and you can be sure to spot some cockroach during nights.

Dining area. Another good thing with staying at guest houses on trips is that there will almost always be someone to talk to.

How it looks from outside. There's a 10-15 minutes walk to the Yamanote line, so some people buy bicycles. Just be sure to leave it somewhere it won't by taken away by the authorities. They come with trucks on without notice and pick up all the bikes that are parked within non-parking areas. Everybody still continue to park their bicycles in such areas.

Day 45

Today was the third and last day of Comiket 78. Comiket is short for Comic Market, and is the world's larget self-published comic book (called "doujinshi" in Japanese) fair. It's held twice a year, two-three days during summer and winter, at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. This was my fourth time going - my first time was winter 2005 which was Comiket 69. I only went for the cosplay. I didn't even enter the common booth area, since I know there's a ton of people there, and there's not much to see unless you're after something special. Cosplay means costume play. Let's get on with the pictures, I'll keep writing between them. I couldn't identify them all myself, so many thanks to those who contributed!

First, a thinly dressed Hatsune Miku. Honestly, she's one of the the best and hottest cosplayer I've ever seen with my own eyes. Female sweat is moe.

Sasasegawa Sasami from Little Busters! and Miyafuji Yoshika from Strike Witches. Have not seen either.  

There was a big group of Little Busters! cosplayers who got together, which you see in the picture below. As you can see some of them are male. Dressing up as a character of the opposite sex is called crossplay. There were many crossplayers, but did not take photos of them. 

To not distract female reader's, I'm going to mix in some dudes here and there. This being two funny dudes - left one being Hikonyan, the mascot for Hikone Castle, and right one being General Vamp from Sunred. When taking photos, you can ask them to do a famous pose for the character. For General Vamp, someone said "Ano yubi wo shite kudasai!" ("Please do that finger!"), and he gladly made the pose.

Another Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid. Vocaloid is a singing synthesizer application for PC, and Miku is its mascot. The name Hatsune Miku is written with the kanji that literally means "the first sound from the future". 

The age of the cosplayers vary, these two being a little bit above average. Furukawa Nagisa from Clannad and Yurippe from Angel Beats.

A few Evangelion cosplayers as usual. Top row, left to right - Nagisa Kaoru, Adam/Lilith, Kaji Ryoji. Bottom row - Shoryu Asuka Langley, Ikari Shinji, Ayanami Rei. I have only seen the first of the new Wevangeliwon movie trilogy.

Two more photos of the first Hatsune Miku girl. If you want them to look into your camera, you can either raise your hand and say something like "kochira onegaishimasu" ("please (look) here"), or you can try to wait until you're alone and get closer. Remember, you always need to ask the cosplayer for permission before taking photos. And be sure to thank them properly when you're done!

Sengoku Nadeko from Bakemonogatari. Very nice smile there!

A very tanned and sweaty Black Rock Shooter.

Lelouch Lamperouge from the popular Code Geass series.

Many friends get together and do duets. This is Koyori & Komugi from Nurse Witch Komugi-chan to the left, and the twins from Dragon Quest VIII to the right.

Also many trios. Shinra, Celty, and Shinra's father Shingen from Durarara. The paper he's holding up says "father-in-law". Not sure why, I haven't seen Durarara.  

Cosplaying as a random maid is also quite popular. 

The Bayonetta woman and Kasumi from Dead or Alive. They're both using an alternative version of their costumes - Bayonetta with a school buruma (gymnastic wear) and Kasumi in the black version. 

Sometimes, it can get chaotic with all the photographers. When this happens, usually a staff member has to break in to let the cosplayer get some rest and space. Many of the girls are happy to pose for big groups though.

Obligatory Sailor Moon cosplay. Sailor Venus, Moon and Jupiter here.

Sion from the Melty Blood series and Dr Faust from the Guilty Gear series - both being fighting games. Gender unsure! Really, some people you just don't know if they're guys or girls behind the costume. 

Not only anime and video game cosplay at Comiket. This is Ultraman and some dude from Kamen Rider, both tokusatsu series. Tokusatsu literraly means "special effects", and is a Japanese term for movies and TV series that have super heroes in them and use alot of special effects.

More duos. Piyoko and La Vie en Rose from DiGi charat and two maids from Kare ga Watashi no Goshujin-sama. DiGi Charat was one of the first funny anime that I watched. Glad to see that it's still fans around. 

What's even more obscure than tokusatsu cosplay, is cosplay of Japanese famous religious people. This is Kuya, a Japanese priest who lived during the 10th century, and initiated the pietistic movement in Japan together with the most influential Mahayana Buddhism scholar, Genshin. But he is most famous for this wooden statue, which can be seen at Rokuharamitsu-ji in Kyoto. The six small statues coming out from his mouth stands for the six kanji 南無阿弥陀仏 ("Namuamidabutsu"), which means "I sincerecly believe in Amitabha", or as we would say in English - "Lord have mercy on me".

And this is Ishikawa Ryo, a pro golfer, and an Xbox mascot guy.

This girl I think is from the Toho-series. Toho means the Orient, and in the anime and video game world, it's referring to the shoot 'em up games made by Shanghai Alice. Shanghai Alice was originally one person, ZUN, who made everything in the games by himself. Not sure about what his company looks like today. His games got really popular, and I had to line up for 2 hours to get Shoot the Bullet at a previous Comiket, even though I was able to enter at 10 am, opening time. Usually, to be able to enter at the opening time, you need to start lining up from the first train in the morning, around 4:30am. Now there are self-made comics and games based on these self-made games. Deep!

Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee from the latest Macross series, Macross Frontier. I saw the first episode and liked it, but never got around to seeing more of it. 

Kobayakawa Rinko, Takane Manaka and Anegasaki Nene from Love Plus.

These ones are all still unknown to me. If you know who they cosplay as, feel free to post a comment.

Many rich otakus like to spend their money on spicing up their cars with anime stickers and fill them with dolls and figures. These cars are called "itasha" and literally it means "painful car", because some people consider them painful to look at. I find them pretty cool. 

By the end of the day, 15 minutes before closing time, this big group got together for a photo session. Mostly Toho characters, and two Friends from 20th Century Boys being fried on the ground.

If you still want to see more of my cosplay pictures from Comiket, be sure to check out my Flickr.