One of the few regrets from my trip to Tokyo last winter was that I didn’t pick up a souvenir keitai strap of Docomodake, the freaky mushroom-like mascot of NTT DoCoMo. But thanks to an extremely kind gesture by fellow blogger Roy I now have one in my possession, pictured here dangling from my trusty hiptop2.

It’s perhaps a bit large for everyday use, but you know I’m going to have it with me on my next trip to the Far East—speaking of which…

Remember in The 40 Year Old Virgin where we see Steve Carell’s bedroom for the first time and it’s full of action figures? Well, the Japanese have a name for people like that… They’re called otaku, and the term applies specifically to any adult male who still plays with dollies and knows his favourite animé series inside-out.

In Japan, otaku are both shunned and catered to at the same time. At least one bar in Akihabara features waitresses dressed up as animé characters for their otaku clientele.

I of course knew all about this before my recent Tokyo trip, and wanted to pick up a DVD of the hit Japanese TV soap opera Densha Otoko (“Train Man”), based on a true otaku love story from an online chat group (!)

The only local copies I could find had no English subtitles, but back home I managed to track down an official Hong Kong release. I watched the first episode last night, and from the first power chords of the opening credits’ Mr. Roboto the show had me laughing out loud—a pretty rare occurrence for anyone who knows me!

Of course, to love this show like I do you have to be willing to accept the very broad Japanese definition of comedic acting—big faces, and lots of ‘em—something I’ll allow for this example only. For those who won’t go that far, perhaps, like The Office, a westernized version of this show is in order.

Hmmm… Anybody wanna go in with me on a pitch to get the English rights from Fuji Television?

Here’s LinLyn in the middle of the Ameyoko Street Market, where we began our last full day in Japan. Originally it was a black market for post-WWII Tokyo; these days its vendors offer domestic product as well. The hot Japanese brand for accessories right now is Porter—so hot in fact that I couldn’t stop myself from buying one of their wallets and man-purses (!)

But let’s face it, I was really only killing time before the main event… An afternoon in Akihabara Electric Town!

You gotta understand, when it comes to technology, the Japanese and I are kindred spirits. Hell, even their seniors have cell phones!

However, I wasn’t quite prepared for this unabashed display of PSP porn.

The Nintendo DS would never sink so low. Even when blinged-out like this, it’s still got class…

… Although these real-life Mario Brothers, seen in TV ads and this in-store display, are apparently hot.

Before we knew it the sun had set, and it was time for one last scramble through the Shibuya crossing back to our hotel before the flight home the next day…

Being the second Monday of the first month of the year, January 9th marked Seijin no hi or “Coming of Age Day” for all of Japan, and to celebrate I took LinLyn to Sensoji to see the throngs of kimono-clad girls. And we weren’t disappointed—these three were posing for photos right outside the Asakusa subway station.

To get to the temple we first had to pass through Kaminarimon or “Thunder Gate”, then make it to the other end of this busy souvenir shopping arcade. Yeah, we bought a thing or two along the way…

Here’s me making like a local while LinLyn looks on in disdain. The deal is you buy some incense in front of the temple, light it then add it to a huge smoldering urn and let the smoke waft over you for good luck. And good luck is what that backwards swastika stands for in Japan, even after Nazi misappropriation.

After taking in the good luck fumes we joined the throngs entering the temple and found out that all the hubbub was solely for throwing change through the grates of a giant donation box. Some people couldn’t wait until they got to the front of the crowd and tossed the contents of their pockets over the heads of those in front of them.

Escape from the flying shrapnel was difficult with another big crowd boxing us in from behind. It wasn’t really an issue, though—lots of people ducked, but nobody seemed to get hit.

Just as popular as the young ladies in kimonos were these corn-eating kids. Their mother was having a good laugh while everyone stopped for a photo, including yours truly—hey, when in Rome… And all the while the kids kept at their cobs like old pros.

My buddy Sean and I had discovered during our 2003 visit that Ginza-dori Avenue was closed to vehicular traffic on special occasions. I took LinLyn to check it out, and found the Ginza Apple Store, where I posted my holiday hello.

Day three in Tokyo brought the first real subway ride of our trip. LinLyn picked the best spot to be seen…

… While I second-guessed each step of our route. You try navigating a system with no transfers and few English signs!

Fortunately we reached Tokyo Big Sight without incident. The city’s convention centre is located on Odaiba, a tract of reclaimed land in the middle of Tokyo Bay.

I brought LinLyn there to wander through the aisles of a big annual antique jamboree. But an hour later I had seen everything and she was still looking, so I wandered upstairs to check up on my blog via this handy, coin-operated public computer.

As previously stated, I did not bring LinLyn to Japan to propose to her, but I did fall in love all over again—with this Japan-only bB, on display at the Toyota theme park just down the road.

There are no less than three shopping malls on Odaiba; last time I was at Decks they had, er—“decked” out the top level as a recreation of pre-WWII Japan. This time the top floor was all done up like Hong Kong, a strange coincidence considering my buddy Kevin was vacationing there with his wife that very same week…

LinLyn and I resisted the urge for Chinese food, and instead chose a Japanese restaurant with this commanding view of Rainbow Bridge.

On our second full day in Tokyo I made the executive decision that LinLyn and I should nix the hotel breakfast and eat on the road. Of course I had something in mind, specifically the Denny’s in Harajuku. Sean and I had dined there three years ago, so I figured it’d be easy to find. Only after searching for almost an hour on empty stomachs did we find out it had moved down the block.

Once we found it and had eaten we were ready for another of Tokyo’s big attractions—the Harajuku Kiddyland. Visiting the store’s five floors is like riding the central nervous system of Japan’s popular culture. Here’s what we found:

These “root men” are manufactured by Takara toys. If you can find anything specific about them on the company site please let me know!

I still can’t conclusively say whether these are toy versions of Japanese raccoons, foxes or bears. But they sure are cute…

Stuffed bears as furniture and appliances..? All completely possible, thanks to the good folks at Wanroom.

After Kiddyland we weaved our way through the Saturday crowds on Takeshita Street. This bustling walkway is where many a fashion trend is born, but I didn’t see as many western photographers there to document it as I have in the past.

Having about a half-hour of sunlight left we joined more crowds pouring into the grounds of the Meiji Jingu shrine.

I had thought that Seijin no hi was only a one-day affair, but there were already young ladies in kimonos walking the grounds, which were also dressed up for the occasion.

Did I mention how fricking cold it was during our stay in Tokyo? Northern Japan was under many feet of snow; I was merely freezing my ass off…

But soon enough after a short subway ride we were being warmed by the neon lights of Shinjuku, inspiration for the look of Blade Runner if ya didn’t already know. Of course, I don’t remember seeing the sign for Yodobashi Camera in the movie…

And somewhere in the maze of alleys we found a basement-level restaurant that served up this yummy prime rib, with a mountain of horse radish on top just the ways I likes it!

The ride into Tokyo on the NEX was a bit harrowing in that LinLyn and I had apparently boarded the wrong car, and because the train was to split up at Tokyo Station, we had to make a bit of a mad dash with all of our bags from the back of the train to the first six cars during a very brief stop.

But it all paid off when we checked into our hotel room… I will never get tired of this view!

The next day we had the entire city to explore but spent all of it in Shibuya. After the first of many decadent western buffet breakfasts we stood in awe of Japanese fashion at the Shibuya 109 mall. The hot Tokyo trends for women right now? Grey-tinted hair and walking pigeon-toed in suede boots, apparently!

The rest of the afternoon was easily eaten up at the Tokyu Hands “Creative Life Store”, which is kind of like IKEA, The ‘It’ Store and Toys ‘R’ Us all rolled into one. I secretly lusted after the many wicked-cool compact vacuums, but settled instead for some smaller souvenirs that would actually fit in my suitcase.

After our day of shopping it was time for dinner and coffee, then some much needed sleep to prepare for the next day…

After five patient days of “girl shopping” it was finally my turn yesterday to make the requisite pilgrimage to the electronics mecca otherwise known as Akihabara. And this was the closest I could find to the number one item on my shopping list—a USB duck vacuum.

The ducky pictured above merely lights up when plugged into your computer’s USB port; that might be worth $50 CAD to someone, but not me. Ditto for the USB sushi…

(^_^)