Departing Japan *Updated 08/19/2015

Well the morning has come and this means we will be leaving Japan. This will be my last video uploads for Japangoing 2015. Hopefully the videos brought some insight and laughter to you. As I write this tears are falling streaming down my face (its actually sweat from carrying 80 lbs of luggage ;P) and I can't help but smile.

We didn't go to as many locations as our last journey but this one was still just as satisfying.

There were many locations and sights that didn't have a physical reminder like the Imperial palaces and the gundam statue but that's what photos are for. 

Annnnd I'm not going to upload hundreds of photos here. Instead just click the following link to the Facebook album I've be updating this entire time for all the photos Japangoing 2015

Now onto the videos!

Or you can watch all my amateur videos from start to finish here in the following playlist I set up ^_^



Till our next japangoing adventure!

****Updated - Aug. 19 2015****

Just a quick update. We've arrived back home safe and sound after a number of delays at each interval of the flight back. Most of us suffered from some form of jetlag. But I like to believe its due to withdrawal from hot Japanese baths and funky drinks from vending machines. I just wanted to add in my own photos of loot I picked up from the trip. This doesn't include souvenirs that I bought for other people.

• 1 Ghibli Blu-ray
• 3 Keychains
• 2 Buttons
• 2 T-Shirts
• 1 Fox Plushie
• 1 Drink Tumbler
• 1 Box of Moé Ramen
• 1 Can of Moé Fruit Drops
• 1 Gundam Model Kit
• 1 Wind Chime
• 4 Tea Cups
• 1 Mini Expresso Cup
• 1 Teru Teru Bozu
• 1 Anime Poster
• 1 Gundam Coaster
• 18 Manga Tankobons (unpictured)
• 14 Loose Comics (unpictured)
• 1 PC Game (unpictured)
• 4 CDs
• 1 Super Famicon Game
• 1 Phone Strap Charm
• 3 Charms
• 1 Pouch
• 2 Gatchas (1 Mini Gundam Model + 1 Dog Tags)
• 1 AC Adapter
• 1 Yoshi Amiibo
• 1 Postcard
• 1 Phone Strap
• 1 Autograph Board (from Love Live Movie)
• 1 Bag of Tensui Ryokan Goods (All unused - hand towel, comb, etc. etc.) 
• 1 Artbook 
• 1 Can of Coffee (unopened)
• 1 Empty Beer Bottle from Ghibli (family tossed it out because they're stupid and I hate them for it)

 Let's say the tankobons and tea cups proved the most hassle in packing away. One for weight, the other for being fragile. Anyways it all worked out thanks to Cristian lending me his duffle bag to stuff most of my clothes with. Next time, I'll be sure to bring bigger suit case or duffle bag of my own.

One Last Night in Japan

As Colin wrote, today we spent the majority of the day trying to spend every last yen we have. So no videos today about anywhere special. I did make a short Snapchat video when we were in an arcade but aside from that you'll just have to settle for a video of me walking through the apartment again with us in various states of cooking the food we bought and packing the merch we collected. I'll try to make another video tomorrow when we're travel to/through Narita Airport.

Oh and the majority of photos I took are available to be seen on Facebook. All five of us are set as contributors to the "Japangoing 2015" album there so all friends of us can see the photos. Currently Matt and I have been the only ones uploading there but I would expect the others to upload there as well at a later time. Enjoy the videos as usual.

Wrapping Up

Today was mostly shopping in Akiba, so I thought I'd sum up my purchases from the whole trip (not just today's):

• 25 keychains/Gachas
• 19 CDs
• 17 Books/Manga
• 5 Gameboy Games
• 5 Sets of Card Protectors
• 5 Board Games
• 3 Charms
• 3 Magnets
• 3 Bookmarks
• 2 Mugs
• 2 Pairs of Socks + 3 Drink Socks
• 2 Hand Towels
• 1 Shirt
• and 1 Duffle Bag to hold it all

I took 1624 pictures, stayed in 8 different accomodations, and spent 21 days having a lot of fun.

I'll be getting on the plane tomorrow, then travel back through time to get home in only a few hours. See you then.

Sushi for breakfast

Good morning from Tokyo. I'm writing a full proper blog post today. o_O

Reason is because Colin didn't participate in this early little adventure. Cristian, Matt and I decided to venture out to the Tokyo Tsukiji Market to try to net ourselves some super fresh sushi. The market itself is located in near the Ginza district and was a short walk from the subway.



We left the apartment at around 5:30ish in the morning. And was able to see the Tokyo streets quiet and empty for a change.

To our regret the auction was closed for holidays. This was like our sumo misadventure from our last trip all over again. D=

But lucky for us we able to find a restaurant across from the market that was open. The place was called Tokyo Sushi-sen

Matt and Cristian order the recommendation of the day which was an assortment of 10 pieces chosen by the chef. It included sea urchin.

 I ordered the special set which was predetermined. No sea urchin for me. The salmon roe sushi was surprisingly good. No fishy taste. Probably because it was fresh.

 Naturally we ordered some fatty tuna since we were at the market. And yes, it tasted like the best sushi we ever had.

Was a small adventure that didn't quite live up to our hopes but the outcome was still very satisfying. Today will be our last full day in Japan. We hope to hit Akihabara again to do one last shopping session before heading back home.

Giant Robots are every boy's dream

Daiba. Roppongi. Nakano. A bunch of places today. All of them shared a common theme for us. And well I won't spoil it. Watch my videos or read Colin's blog to find out.

The Nerdy Pilgrimage

Today, we went on a journey. Deep into the heart of Tokyo, and deep into our own hearts.

First, we went to Odaiba. It had a lot of interesting statues.

The minions.

The Goddess of Liberty, a Statue of Liberty replica.

Oh, and of course:

This giant Gundam statue.

This is Matt next to its foot, just to give it some scale. It really was massive, and very detailed as well.

Oh, the mall nearby looks like it is having some sort of One Piece event. Let's check it out.

And oh man, it is full size replicas of the entire crew.

And even a scene from Luffy's childhood. I was thoroughly impressed.

The next site we visited was one that most anime fans would recognize as the location of Comiket, Tokyo Big Sight.

There wasn't anything going on there today, but that is probably for the best, or else the lines would have been ridiculous.

Next up, we went to Roppongi to the Mori Art Museum.

Outside, there were more statues:

A giant spider thing.

And a whole lot of Doraemons. There were more than just those pictured here, I'd estimate 30-40 of them total.

We visited the art museum to see the Art of Gundam exhibit that was going on there for the 35th anniversary of Gundam. You couldn't take pictures during most of it, except for one exhibit.

This is a picture of a live-scale Gundam head.

At a cafe nearby, they had lined their wall with ~1000 Gundam figures. 

A closer shot.

After that, we went to Nakano Broadway. It was a mostly nerdy mall that was the original home of Mandarake (a used goods seller). It now has 26 stores within that mall that sell various things, and several other locations in Japan,

This Mandarake sold manga.

This one had a really cool entrance, and sold mostly expensive retro figures.

Notably, this robot was selling for ~$5000.

It was a busy day, but a good day. A lot of money was spent today.

Imperial Geeks

So we're essentially in the final run these next few days. Chances are we'll be devoting to mostly to exploring Akihabara and other geely locations in the Tokyo area. Still we were able to fit in a short visit to the Tokyo Imperial Palace in addition to Akiba. Enjoy the videos

Akiba!

Today we visited Akihabara! Akiba for short, it is a paradise of electronics and nerdy paraphernalia.

We also visited the Imperial Palace, but that was just a detour on our way to withdraw money. Akiba was the main event of today.

We tried to go to the Final Fantasy cafe for dinner, but it is booked solid until after we leave Japan. This is a mascot statue by the entrance.

We settled on the Gundam Cafe instead. There wasn't much in the way of vegetarian food there, but it was still fun.

Today was a little light on pictures, but it was mostly shopping rather than sightseeing today.

Ghibli magic

Today might be our last day trip. After having such a wonderful experience the first time. We just absolutely had to return the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. After today we might just stay within the Tokyo area and che k out the many different and unique districts in the city

Ghibli

Today was a fairly quiet day, at least as far as pictures go.

We visited the Ghibli Museum, which does not allow pictures or video to be taken inside the building; which is unfortunate, because there is a lot of interesting things to see in there.

They screen short films as part of your pass, of about a dozen that they rotate through. We saw a film about rats practising Sumo.

A shot taken on the roof with a giant robot statue.

Afterwards, we explored Asakusa for a while. We walked down the main street of shops, and checked out the surrounding area a bit.

We went to an unusual store called Don Quijote; it has all kinds of things.

Tokyo 3, 2, 1

So today we left Hakone and went to Tokyo.

Firstly, a few more shots of ryokan meals.

I think this was a dinner; vegetarian sushi with a few side dishes.

Breakfast. Mostly the same as yesterday's.

We explored a bit more of Hakone. This was down by the river.

As Bram explained in his post, Hakone is known as Tokyo 3 in the Evangelion anime, and this town seemed to have a lot of Eva-themed things.

This was a car owned by what appeared to be a 60-year old man.

There was also an Eva goods store. Random stuff was bought here.

We left Hakone, and took the train to Tokyo. Its main station was huge, and we lost Bram for a while. We eventually got to our new place.

The place itself is quite nice, but it seems like there are some problems with the upkeep. One of the beds seems to be broken, and the bathroom situation is pretty bad. 

This is the main room, which includes the entrance, kitchen, and dining room. There are also 3 side rooms off to the right.

One of the bedrooms. There were 3 beds in here, and several closets. We stripped one of the beds, because we weren't using it.

Another bedroom. The bed here was stripped because there is something wrong with it, and a bar digs into your back when you lie on it.

The third room. Bram opted to sleep on the Tatami mats, so we converted this room into another bedroom.

We went to a ramen restaurant for dinner. This was a vegetarian salt-ramen dish, which was very good.