THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 7, 2003: Friday Japan: November 8, 2003: Saturday Took our first train ride: Out to Harajuku, Tokyo. Met Patricia’s boyfriend Yuichi outside Meiji Shrine. Went shopping on Takeshita Street. Had lunch at Jonathan’s. Took sticker pictures (purikura). Went to Japanese-style karaoke. Took a train to Shinjuku. Saw Takashimaya Times Square at night, went shopping. Played at a game center and won a prize. Drank coffee at Segafredo. Took the train back to Higashimatsuyama.

 

In the morning I got to take a Japanese-style shower in my sister’s bathroom, and after that she made us french toast (shown above). We ate at her cute little table and got ourselves ready to go out, after arranging with her next-door neighbor to be home to collect our lost bag. Now it was time for our first train ride: To Harajuku, Tokyo.

 

  

The trains are a bit complex, at least to the untrained eye. Because no one in our party except my sister can read Japanese, we couldn’t even buy our tickets on our own; it’s all automated through a machine. My sister bought tickets for Harajuku (we still didn’t have any yen), and we fed them into the proper machines and rode the trains.

 

 

Cultural Note: Trains are usually very crowded. If you want to get a seat, stand in front of someone you think might get off, and if you’re holding the ring in front of them when they leave, you get their seat!

This particular train was very crowded, and we took standing positions holding the rings for the almost hour-long ride. We talked to some little girls who offered us candy, and finally we arrived in Harajuku, where we were to meet my sister’s boyfriend Yuichi outside the Meiji Shrine. (We’d planned to check out the shrine at some point too, but today we didn’t have time.)

 

 

We met up with Yuichi and decided to go shopping on Takeshita Street, where I was told people sometimes dress up like video game and anime characters and walk around being weird. We only saw a few people like that–apparently the weirdos come out at night mostly–but we did have fun going to shops. There were some funny names on these stores, like “Snobbery” or “Nudy Boy.” My favorite happens to be the hundred yen store.

A hundred yen is a little less value than a dollar, so I got some cheap souvenirs and the place was five floors high. We were on a strict time schedule because of Yuichi having to go back to work soonish, so we opted to quit shopping and have lunch, which we did at a place called Jonathan’s. It was a bit Denny’s-ish because it had a large variety of food (some of which was not remotely Japanese), and we all had a nice sit-down meal, catching up and chowing down. I had miso soup and some rice.

 

 

Cultural Note: At Japanese restaurants you don’t tip; it is generally included in the price of the meal. Most menus are totally in Japanese (though some have pictures), so it’s best to have someone with you who can read it!

 

    Next it was time for “purikura,” or sticker pictures. This is one of my sister’s favorite things to do, and she has tons of these little things in her collection. All four of us got in the booth, choosing a machine called “Cameraman” (I think it’s Yuichi’s favorite); after you choose which character you are on the display, it calls you by your name and tells you where to stand for the different picture shots. Afterwards, you decorate them.

 

 

Cultural Note: “Purikura” stands for “Print Club.” Lots of words are sort of English slang.

 

Anyway, after all this fun, Yuichi went back to work, and it was time for us to try karaoke.

 

 

Karaoke in Japan is good. You get your own room, and there are plenty of English songs to sing (the directory is almost like a phone book!). In this nice establishment, the lights go down and the walls light up when you sing, and also each person gets a drink with their patronage. Much fun was had.

 

 

 

SONGS WE SANG: “Butterfly” by Smile.dk (Me) “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor (Me) “Building a Mystery” by Sarah McLachlan (Me and Patricia) “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion (Me and Mom) “Thank You” by Dido (Patricia) “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush (Me) “Thank U” by Alanis Morissette (Me) “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt (Me and Patricia) “First Love” by Utada Hikaru (Patricia) “All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. (Me, I did it in Russian for fun) “Cherish” by Madonna (All three of us)

 

We finished up our karaoke and went to a discount bookstore called “BookOff,” and I bought a used Ranma ½ manga there, for Jeaux to enjoy.

 

Now my sister wanted us to go see the Tokyo lights, so it was time to go back on the train. We were getting a little tired (being that we also had a really long plane ride the night before), but that time at least we were able to get seats. We arrived in Shinjuku and it was dark.

 

 We walked around and took some pictures of lights and us being in Tokyo, and eventually found the international ATM we’d been looking for for so long. My mom finally got some yen, and so we decided to go shopping!

 

We went into a place called Tokyu Hands, but we were running out of time and everything was closing. I managed to buy a postcard for my work pals, which incidentally I ended up sending but it arrived several days after I got back to Gainesville, I checked work’s mail and found my own postcard. Wahh.

 

 

Cultural Note: In Japanese stores there is almost always some kind of dish or plate onto which you place your money. The cashier gives back change by putting it on the same surface. Strangely enough, some places elaborately wrap purchases (especially if they seem like they might be gifts), while others actually hand you a bag, you bag your purchases yourself.

 

 

A game center was also there, and my sister played a claw drop, winning a Doraemon on the first try. She gave it to my mother because it is dressed like a hockey player and my cousins like hockey. Unfortunately there was no Dance Dance Revolution game there. It has apparently gone out of style somewhat. Too bad, I wanted to try it.

We got into a bit of a bad mood because we got word that the delivery of our suitcase hadn’t been successful, and we didn’t know what we were going to do. We stopped at my sister’s favorite café, which is called Segafredo. We had some coffee and rested our feet.

 

We had a rather exhausting ride back on the train, annoyed and depressed about the suitcase (since it contained gifts that we were supposed to give to Patricia’s teacher upon meeting her tomorrow); and now here’s the really bizarre part. When we got back to her house, the luggage was just inside, sitting in the genkan. Despite the fact that all Patricia had on her cell phone was a confused message from the delivery people about her and her neighbor not being home, the luggage was THERE! So we unpacked it and prepared the gift basket for presentation to her teacher and all was well. Weirdly enough, we still don’t know how it got in the apartment.

 

We went to bed shortly after arriving home, because we were planning to catch an early train and meet with Patricia’s teacher for a full day of fun.