Photos from Japan trip/sort of after-trip blog: (Patreon)

Going to be a photo heavy post! If you're interested in seeing phone camera photos I took during my trip, please feel free to click in and look. I'll try to give context for each one/set where I can-

Started off the trip packing buttons.. I could punch the buttons in Canada but didn't have the packaging to make it look nice, so had to wait until I landed in Japan to buy them. 

There was a really nice cafe nearby the hotel I was staying at called Glams! My friend got the fancy looking one and I got the croissant. I think his set was a bit under 1000 yen(?). Was pretty nice!

2 days after landing was day 1 of Comiket- I think the photo of Big Sight was taken at around 7:30am or so.. already a lot of people at that time. The amount of merch I had behind my table was so much less than my neighbours'.. hopefully someday I can sell as many copies as they do..! Also, you can't really see it but there's a big rip on my wall poster on the top-left white area- was super careless and let tape stick on to that area by accident ; - ;.. 

I actually used my early-access privilege to line up before opening for Wadarco's table. Technically you're not supposed to be lining up for tables before opening, but people kind of form one giant unspecific one for line-up-outside tables anyways. There was a staff member holding up a hand-made sign telling people how to split into the queues they wanted to line for after getting outside. Lined up 30 minutes before opening and ended up getting back to my table 2 hours later.. 

There's an izakaya chain called Tsukada Nojo that's actually really good for food- specifically chicken. I should've taken more photos of the other things my friend and I ordered, but this dish was pretty much sashimi chicken- something you definitely can't safely eat over here in North America.. 

FGO figure exhibition in Akihabara! They had a 1:1 scale Mash shield there.. pretty ridiculous irl-

nice ad

Okonomiyaki..!

Tokyo Skytree from the outside!

Back to Big Sight for Comiket day 3. Pretty incredible how much traffic there is at all times.. 

Went to Odaiba to see the 1:1 Gundam Unicorn! 

There's a mall in that area called Venus Fort that kinda does that Las Vegas indoors-but-looks-outdoors thing. According to my friend, this fountain was where they based one of the social areas in Persona 3 on. 

There's also a neat car history museum kind of thing in Odaiba by all these malls (I think set up by Toyota? Possibly part of their building called Mega Web.) Tbh not really much of a car person but I really like retro products and decor, so this place was still super enjoyable for me to walk through. 

Steak from a franchise restaurant called Ikinari Steak (literally All-of-a-sudden Steak). Wasn't expecting much since it was a franchise but was actually surprisingly good! 2000~ yen for 300g... rice not included (+200 yen). 

Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos of the inside so I didn't take any ; - ; but the really old gross looking building in the middle is actually a really cool (super unrealistic and dirty version of) Kowloon themed arcade..! It's called Anata no Warehouse in Kawasaki. If you try googling it there are probably photos you can find of how the inside looks-

Really good and reasonably priced kaiten sushi at Nemuro Hanamaru, in the Marunouchi KITTE building across from Tokyo station. Had to line up an hour for lunch though. 

At the top floor of Harajuku Tokyu Plaza is a starbucks where you can chill on the roof- really cool but didn't want to wait in the massive lineup for coffee so just took photos and left-

Cafe Kitsune- small coffee shop on the side somewhere in Harajuku that looked really interesting and sounded super weeb so my friend and I went for it. Wasn't worth it in our opinion though.. the Americano was 600~ yen and the matcha latte 700~ for pretty much a taster cup size. Maybe my tastebuds aren't refined enough but it.. didn't really taste that amazing or anything to me.. 

Cheap but decent izakaya chain called Torikizoku. All of their skewers are 298 yen per pair. 

Drew on an ema to hang at Kanda Shrine!

Wagyu sushi... was so good.. please let me relive this.. 

This place was Kobe Biidoro, also within walking distance of my hotel. Had a set course with my friend for 5000~ yen each, included the wagyu yakiniku with super amazing beef and the intense looking hotpot that came after it. Apparently their main branches also have wagyu all you can eat, but the store we went to didn't. 

Cooperation cup (Street fighter 3) finals in Asakusabashi. Got to see a bunch of famous players like Daigo and MOV and Haitani in person..! There were a ton of westerners there too, apparently there's no prize money for this tournament because it's not really legal in Japan to have it, but people still fly in from all over the world to participate. Also free Redbull. 

These guys seemed really excited about their typical Japanese food. 

Nice looking unagi place off to the side.. wish I gave this place a shot..! I've never actually eaten at one of these small family-run places.

Grilled fish teishoku place at the top floor of Akiba's Yodobashi building. I ordered an expensive fish so got a tiny portion.. my friend got a whole fish with his meal for the same price. 1300 yen-ish.

Had this chirashi don for breakfast at a place called Hokkai Ou (near my hotel again). They only sell 10 of these sets every day apparently. 1200 yen. 

Cake at Quil Fait Bon in Solamachi mall (connected to Tokyo Skytree). Had this strawberry tart that had strawberries that (as advertised) didn't taste like strawberries at all..! Was pretty amazing- tasted like some kind of candy..! I think this was a specialty cake so it was kind of pricey at 700~ yen. 

Pokemon centers- Rayquaza was at the Solamachi one and Charizard was at the Ikebukuro one in Sunshine City. 

They had a Macross event/promotion at the top of Skytree..! Meaning you had to pay 2000~ yen to get to the almost-top and then another 1000~ to get to the top where all the Macross stuff was set-up. Tbh there wasn't much there- they had the walls of the spiral showcase detailing the stories/histories of the various Macross series alongside 1:1 illustrations of the main characters of each one, and another section with storyboards, and finally, a section of various model kits/figures on display. The goods store was also on this floor, but there wasn't much to buy.. acrylic stands, postcards, 1 monochrome sweater design, and a limited selection of model kits. 

The elevators going up to the top from the almost-top were also completely decorated in either Macross Frontier or Macross Delta themes; The ride up only lasted 30 seconds, but they had a song from the corresponding series kick in once the doors closed and I was actually really hyped on the ride up-

The actual view part of being at the top of Skytree was pretty amazing though. You definitely don't think of the scale and density of Tokyo the same way when you're on the streets. Even though I paid 3000+ yen and another 1400 for a lousy collaboration drink and roll cake, I don't regret spending that money going up and being able to sit around for the sunset. Probably a one-time thing though-

There's a part in the 2nd highest tier of Skytree where you can stand on glass floors. Wish I went to see this when it was still daytime! 

Skytree at night.

Unagi-don at Komagata Maekawa in Solamachi. Around 5000 yen. Was good but pretty pricey..!

Beef stew and Karaage at Denny's. Japanese Denny's is amazing.. definitely try going to one if you're ever in Japan-

Sad solo oyakodon meal at Haneda airport. 

Tbh.. not bad for an in-flight meal. They actually had scallops in there. Thanks ANA-

Aaand this last one is just me being immature- 

Overall had a really fun trip! Spent a ton of money on food.. I thought I brought extra cash but I ended up spending pretty much every single yen I exchanged by the time my trip was over. 

If you made it this far, thanks so much for sticking through to the end! Didn't think I'd make such a long post of photos and commentary whoah- hopefully going through these photos was enjoyable! If people like this kind of thing maybe I'll do more of them in the future when I go on trips-