Posts in "Places to visit in Japan"

The next Tokyo CGM Night will be held at the blood donation facility Akiba:F which you may recall is actually a crash landed spacecraft which is currently stuck in the side of a building. The outer hull has a Trans-Ion Kryptonian shield around it mea...

Was out n about in Akihabara last week giving a lecture at Digital Hollywood University. I dont go that often of late but when I do, everything seems so different. Many shops disappear while many new ones spring up. One of the things that I'm happy...

Today we are going on a tour of Tokyo - not all of Tokyo mind you but on one of my favorite routes from Lalaport in Toyosu down the river on to Asakusa - a nice blend of the modern and the traditional past.

When I first came to Japan, I asked my comrades where they recommend me visit. One of the places they said was Harajuku [原宿[はらじゅく]] because it had a load of school girls ^^; There is lots to see and do at Harajuku - especially on a Sunday. Y...

Takeshita Dori [竹下通り] - a pedestrianized street (between the hours of 11am and 6pm) in Harajuku Tokyo that is filled with restaurants, cafes, fashion and accessory stores and a lot of people. Most of the stores are aimed at the younger generation...

Located in the Chuo ward in Tokyo, Ginza is where one would go to find department stores, fashion boutiques, restaurants and brand names such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. On a Sunday or national holiday, the main wide street that runs through...

Venus Fort - designed to resemble a 17th - 18th century European city, the place opened back in 1999 inside Palette Town and the original concept was that it was to be a theme park for ladies. These days however, Venus Fort is filled with not only s...

Around this time every year, a Halloween parade takes place in at the La Cittadella [ラ チッタデッラ] in Kawasaki. A load of festivities and events take place attended by a load of Halloween costumers. I'm stuck indoors editing Culture Japan but luc...

You've probably seen a few photos of Lalaport in the A Week in Tokyo series and those who keep tabs on my Twitter or Facebook will have seen me live broadcasting from my iPhone at Lalaport too. Have been meaning to make a separate post on Lalaport b...

Took some time out to visit an outlet mall in Machida called Grandberry Mall. Have only been to one outlet mall on my previous visit to Los Angeles and was my first time to visit one in Japan. Zooming ahead in time in late afternoon to have some...

Last year we had a look at the steps needed to become a ninja. Today we take a look at what it takes to become a ninja girl otherwise known as Kunoichi (くノ一). The training ground is same as last year - Edo Wonderland in Nikko. But before I contin...

Back at Edo Wonderland in Nikko to build up upon my current Ninja skills - can anybody guess the name of this leaning ninja skill? Brought along Elly with me to train her as Kunoichi.

The iconic Shibuya 109 building. The name originates from the Tokyu Group who built the facility. "Tokyu" [東急] (とうきゅう) is converted to the reading for "10" as "To" and "9" as "Kyu". Its also called "Ichi Maru Kyu". Back in 1979 when the facil...

Went to check out the Futako Tamagawa Rise shopping complex that opened earlier on this year - filled with restaurants, fashion, entertainment and is a nice place to walk around on a Sunday afternoon.

Otaroad [オタロード] - Osaka's equivalent of Akihabara. There seems to be quite a large population of otaku in Osaka and because Otaroad is on a much smaller scale than Akihabara, most of the shops seem to have a load of human traffic most of the tim...

If you are planning a trip to Japan then you may want to try fitting in a visit to Osaka which is located roughly around the middle of Japan. We took a bullet train and got to Osaka from Tokyo in about 3 hours. Despite rain for the two days that w...

I need to hop onto a plane in a mo that will start my trip from Tokyo > France (Nice) > Frankfurt > LA > Tokyo and am in the middle of writing up a bunch of posts that I'll release later. I cant even remember how many I wrote today ^^; As I was p...

Hokkaido is the second largest island in Japan and is located right at the end in the North. Hokkaido is covered with snow for nearly half a year and when we went at the end of August it was already quite chilly. Today we look at the Biei and Furano...

Located in the town of Ikaho is the Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum which wifey and I visited a while back. One thing that has obviously helped me learn more about Japanese culture is having a fair command of the lingo. Another thing that I've been v...

Located in the West of Tokyo is a ward called Nakano which is home to the Bushiroad Headquarters, Nakano Sunplaza and the Nakano Broadway shopping complex. Folks in the West of Tokyo who need to get hold of anime, manga, idol, figures, doll and douji...

Took these photos when filming for Culture Japan TV last Summer but didn't get the chance to upload until now ^^; @ Home is one of the more popular maid cafes in Akibahara. They got two branches which always have queues of folks waiting to om nom wh...

Mandarake - the company with many shops located around Tokyo that sells a ton of second hand otaku goodies - manga, anime, figures, dolls, trading cards, gatcha and a load of other merchandise. We previously took a look at the history of Mandarake...

Today we have a gander at photos taken out n about Akihabara the other day. From reading the History of Akihabara, you know how the area became filled with electronic stores and moesome shops n restaurants. Whenever there is a gathering of so much...

There are still a few places left in Tokyo where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the modern city and go to experience more of the traditional Edo side. Kawagoe is located outside of Tokyo but not too far away and then there is Asakusa....