Japan: Geeking Out

Japanese pop culture has become synonymous with embracing your geeky side, and it was this aspect of Japan that attracted me from a young age. The idea of visiting the homeland of Nintendo, ninjas and Sailor Moon has kept Japan at the top of my bucket list since I was 13 years old. Thankfully I grew up and married a man as nerdy as I am, and we packed our Japan itinerary full of nerd things.

Our first night in Tokyo we were tired and hung out in our hotel room, and were delighted to find the first Harry Potter movie on TV!  It was dubbed into Japanese, but we happily watched over an hour of the Philosopher's Stone before going to bed.

The best part about nerd/geek culture is that it's not just for Japanese children - adults in Japan embrace it with just as much enthusiasm. As someone who has at times been made to feel a bit ridiculous for my "childish interests," I felt a bit like I'd found my people.

Akihabara - Electric Town

The Akihabara district of Tokyo is the mecca of all things nerdy. The streets are lined with arcades, manga/comic book stores, electronics stores, maid cafes and all sorts of things strange and wonderful (and some not so wonderful - just the idea of a cat cafe makes me a little ill).

One of the best things we saw was a group driving through the streets of Tokyo in real-life, working go-karts dressed as Mario Kart characters.  I only wish we'd known about it in advance like this guy so we could have joined them!

Clockwise from top left: Mario Kart in the streets of Tokyo!; we saw lots of adult men shopping for doll parts - it was a little creepy; outside Gundam Cafe; a maid trying to convince people to go to her cafe (there were a lot of these - we declined); Sailor Moon costume!

Nintendo things!  We played hours of Mario Kart, and I kicked Rob's ass nearly every time!

Yodobashi Camera

More than the shrines and the sushi restaurants and even the Park Hyatt, Rob's favourite place in all of Japan (and possibly the world) quickly became Yodobashi Camera, an electronics mega-store. This place was like what Amazon would be like if the entire website existed under one roof. The one in Akihabara was 9 stories high and an entire city block around, and the one near our hotel in Shinjuku  took up six different buildings.

Along with more electronics than even Rob could imagine, Yodobashi Camera sold housewares, clothing, books, toys, stationary and more - including a full floor of restaurants. Our first visit to Yodobashi Camera lasted over three hours, and we went back multiple times.  The main store in Kyoto even has a craft store in the basement!!

"You don't understand. Most specialty stores would carry maybe 1 or 2 of these speakers/headphones/TVs, but this place has ALL OF THEM" - Rob's most repeated phrase in Yodobashi Camera after "Can I live here?" and "I want....."

Ghibli Museum

The Ghibli Museum is devoted to the works of Studio Ghibli, an animation studio in Japan that is most famous for its movies directed by Hayao Miyazaki. These include Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.

The Ghibli Museum has its very own city bus and its own beer!

Shopping in Japan

We also did a fair bit of shopping in Japan.  I am excited by American brands, so we went into a GAP in Kyoto (we don't have them in New Zealand). I found it hilarious that the GAP in Japan only goes up to my size (a US size 8), but goes down to a 0000. This turned out to be a common trend in Japan, and so I browsed a lot more than I bought!

I also found Japanese fashion to be extremely modest. It was a lot hotter than I had packed for, so at one point I was hoping to pick up an extra tank top.  I couldn't find one anywhere - even at stores like GAP and H&M!  The athletic department at Yodobashi Camera didn't even have them in with the yoga clothes.  I guess they don't sell there, so no one carries them. After that I started paying attention, and sure enough - no bare arms to be found anywhere!

We also saw a kimono fashion show and a Garrett's popcorn. Notice the GAP size chart in the center left - anything above Medium is not an option .

Universal Studios Osaka

Finally, in the middle of our stay in Kyoto, we took the train down to Osaka to check out Universal Studios Japan.  To be honest, we were only there for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but the rest of the park turned out to be pretty fun! They have some rides that Universal Orlando has gotten rid of. We had the express pass, so we blazed through the park in a couple of hours before spending the rest of the day at Harry Potter World.

You can only enter Harry Potter World one time - your ticket comes with a timed entry. Our ticket wasn't until 4pm, but we managed to get another one that got us in by 2pm. We thought we'd end up leaving the park early as a result, but we managed to spend the next 6 hours hanging out in Hogsmeade. 

I say "Hello" you say "Kitty!"

We saw a lot of friends/couples dressed alike, but these two were our favourites. Interestingly, all of the Hogsmeade "characters" were played by non-Japanese people from around the world. Ollivander conducted his wand selection in English and Japanese.

The best picture of Hogwarts ever taken, compliments of Rob.