My initial post was deleted automatically, so trying to post again with removing most of the links except my previous reddit post.
This is the first time I am writing this kind of detailed post. I hope it helps me reflect on the trip and gives me motivation to plan the next one. Although it was a short trip, I thought it was very fulfilling with activities that I wanted to do. Perhaps if I were to visit multiple regions, the trip could be longer.
Here is the previous post I created for the planning:
I was averaging about 20k+ steps every day. For days I did run, it could go up to 25k+ or 30k+. Would need a fair amount of stamina to keep up with this pace daily.
Takeaways:
- If coming to/from Narita airport, it is much easier to buy tickets for the Keisei Skyliner in person in case plans change. (Can buy tickets from the Keisei Skyliner information center or vending machine from Narita airport). On the way back to airport, I purchased a ticket from Nippori Station at a vending machine – able to change the language to English and then filter by departure time / terminal (Terminal 1 or Terminal 2/3). Fuel prices are causing flight prices to go up, so I chose a flight from Narita to save money. Could be about one hour more or so longer compared to Haneda airport.
- For dinner time, it can be challenging to find a restaurant without any reservation especially on a weekend. Tablelog can be useful for making a reservation or even finding restaurants to try.
- When using Google Maps to navigate, pay attention to not just the train line, but also the platform number.
- For doujin events, it is recommended to bring cash, preferably in smaller denominations to exchange for merchandise.
- Remember to check if shops are tax-free if spending 5000+ yen, in order to save 10%. The cashier will typically ask to see your passport to apply the tax-free benefit.
- At the Narita Airport, the staff pointed me to a grey colored machine where I could get a regular name engraved Suica card that I believe charges a 500-yen from whatever amount you deposit. But that way, the balance would not expire so quickly like the Welcome Suica. I do not have an iPhone, so the convenience of having the App is not there.
- For any Vtuber related activities, look at "X" more often starting 2-3 months before your vacation to see what kind of events get announced.
May 11 (Monday) – Arrival
- Arrived at the hotel in Otsuka (Near Ikebukuro) before 5:00 pm then explored the area. Accidentally entered the Sunshine City Mall from the wrong entrance (Got a little spooked that there was not a single soul in sight despite going 3 floors up the stairs).
- Once I found the correct entrance and feeling tired from the flight, I went to Gyukatsu Motomura for dinner. This was a nice meal where I could take my time grilling the beef, which was surprisingly tender.
- Went for a walk afterwards and ended up visiting several anime/vtuber stores before heading back to the hotel to get some rest – Animate, BOOKOFF, Suruga-ya. The Animate store has many floors, and I was able to find both Hololive/Nijisanji merchandise. There is also a collaboration with a Vtuber HACHI at the Animate Cafe (until 5/24) which I did not have time to attend.
May 12 (Tuesday) – Kawagoe Day Trip
- I originally wanted to go to one of the flower parks on this day but decided not to since the flowers I wanted to see were already past the peak.
- Decided to go the long route from Kawagoe Station. Surprisingly, it felt peaceful walking through smaller paths around people's houses – seeing how clean and neat the residential areas were. Made a few quick stops to the Hachimangu Shrine, Nakain, and the Kita-In temple.
- Close to lunch time, arrived at Kurazukuri Street. Picked up a sweet potato soft serve ice cream and walked down the shopping street. Many textile and other stores selling small crafts, there was even a Snoopy shop. For lunch, ended up getting soy ramen from a small restaurant NEWかれいど . Very flavorful broth and the chicken/char sui was tender. It was also nice to see the owner's interactions with students eating lunch there, looked like everyone was in high spirits and getting along well.
- Stopped by the Chiikawa Mogumogu Honpo store on the Kashiya-Yokocho street to get plushie souvenirs for a coworker. Also found a cotton candy shop displaying many Demon Slayer characters made out of colorful paper which was very cool to see!
- For the last stop, went to the Hikawa Shrine, which had lots of Ema's (Wooden plaque) surrounding a short path. I wrote an Ema myself with a small note at the end ("I want to attend a tuki. concert!")
- Went to Shinjuku afterwards for dinner. First stopped by at Tower Records Store, to my surprise on the 6th or 7th floor there was a small audience watching a music group perform. Stayed for a while to listen (I could still see from far even though I didn't have an entry ticket), it looked like many people were excited for the performance.
- Finished off with dinner at HIBI HARE BARE izakaya. There was one group that was not able to enter the restaurant because they came with two very large suitcases. Ordered lots of sushi and tried the sea urchin pudding which literally did taste like the ocean. I received 1 free piece of sushi in a bowl filled with white smoke at the end, which was nice.
May 13 (Wednesday) – Shopping Day
- Started off the morning with going to Shinjuku Gyoen. Found a bench where I could just sit down and relax after the long day yesterday. People were also sitting down on the grass in the shade. The highlight would be the rose garden, so many different varieties and colors. One of the memorable roses had a mix of pink/yellow is called, the Park gave it the name "Peace".
- For lunch, I went to & sandwich. Would have been nice to pack the sandwich to eat at the Shinjuku Gyoen! Stopped by the Animate shop that only had one floor then visited SEKAIDO to pick up stationary gifts for a few cousins.
- Time for Akihabara! Lots of spending there, especially from K-Books that has many secondhand goods. Picked up a few plushies there for Suisei and Towa. Was about to find birthday plushies for both Suisei/Towa and some "lying down" plushies for Suisei. In the same building (Akihabara Radio Kaikan) one floor up at amiami, I found a few Demon Slayer plushies (Tanjiro/Giyu) to gift to one of my friends.
- Continuing the journey to Gamers to pick up a few regular sized plushies for Ayunda Risu and AZKi. But unexpectedly, it started raining very heavily… and of course I forgot my umbrella at the hotel! Had to cut my shopping short. I ran to KOTOBUKIYA to buy a clear white umbrella (Which was too big to pack back home) for about 770 yen. Found a sign that says to go to the cash register to buy Hakos Baelz plushies! (I suppose people keep flipping her upside down). Finalized the shopping with getting a small plushie of Tamanoi Nana from Nijisanji.
May 14 (Thursday) – Mt. Takao Day Trip
- At one of the vending machines at the Shinjuku Station, purchased a Mt.Takao Round trip discount Ticket that includes the train ride to/from the Takaosanguchi Station back to Shinjuku. The ticket also includes a round trip to take the cable car / chair lift. The chair lift was nice for going up slowly to enjoy the views. Just don't drop your phone!
- After getting off the chair lift, stopped by a street vendor to try some fresh dango that was piping hot. When finding a place to sit, I was surprised by the view from above. What I saw was not mountains, but trees forming that uneven terrain with hills and valleys all in lush green color.
- Traversed from Trail 1 to Trail 3 to pay respects at several temples. There were not a lot of people visiting the initial temples, so I was able to enjoy the peacefulness for a while. Later walked up the stairways to the Yakuo-in Temple and saw many kids walking down the opposite side saying "Konnichiwa!" to everyone. Brightened up the day.
- Once I arrived at the summit, I could see other mountain peaks in the distance. One of the sign boards showed how to recognize which one was from Mt. Fuji.
- Walked back down and there were about 4-5 restaurants around the area. Had a chicken katsu bowl at one place and then found ice cream (Black Sesame again!) for a quick snack. Went all the way back down to the station via cable car, which better for going down when feeling tired from the hike.
- For dinner, we went to Pretty Pork Factory in Shinjuku which actually offers either tonkatsu or Shabu Shabu. We went with tonkatsu. Most of the cuts they were selling (Diamond, Amagi Kurobuta, Organic Healthy, etc.) were sold out that they, but I was able to get a lean cut of Diamond. It was very tasty and juicy where the pieces of meat were thick and less on the fatty side. I enjoyed dipping it into sweet sauce or just plain salt. They also offered free refills for cabbage and miso soup.
May 15 (Friday) – Tsukiji and Shopping
- Despite being crowded as expected in the morning, I was still able walk visit streets one by one to see what people were selling. Visited a soft serve place called Marutama and it was the best black sesame ice cream I ever tried in Japan. Later, tried blue fin tuna steak and then had wagyu at one of street stalls which was very tender/juicy. Just a little bit of salt seasoning and it tastes delicious. Finished it off with fresh oysters – had to come back a second time before leaving and the owner gave a small discount.
- Later in the afternoon, I took the train to Shibuya since I had plans to visit Hololive X Axgrit in Shibuya Tsutaya. Definitely surpassed my expectations to see how much effort was put into this pop up with statues of a few holomembers and a whole area dedicated with exhibitions and broadcast. I picked up a mousepad from that collab and buttons + keychain from Suisei's Kireigoto collab. Also got a few T-shirts from Spy X Family featuring Bond and Anya. I saw other collabs going on as well such as Sanrio, Demon Slayer, Nijisanji, and Ascendance of a Bookworm. There is a collab for Sakuro Miko, but only in the Shibuya Tsutaya in Kyoto.
- There is also a Star Wars collab/popup going on in Shibuya Tsutaya. The top floor had a Star Wars themed cafe, while the bottom floor showcased a trailer on TV and had large models for characters like R2-D2, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. There was also a Pokemon lounge on one of the floors. I ended up getting a 1000 pcs jigsaw puzzle for my brother and a Master Yoda T-shirt for my dad.
- After that, I visited the Shibuya Animate Store which was the 4th or 5th floor in one of the buildings – nothing much I was looking for was there although they did have Hololive merch. The last shop was the Tower Records Store, which was actually impressive – CD's / Vinyls from multiple Vtubers and to my surprise there was actually Hololive merch/plushies.
- I planned to go to the Meiji Jingu Shrine after that, but I first stopped by Tiki's Place to relax a bit. The receptionist seated me in an area where I could enjoy the outdoor view of Yoyogi Park. I just sat down for a bit and charged my phone in the meantime while enjoying the peacefulness.
- While walking to the shrine, I saw someone walking many dogs. He said 21 dogs total I was just in shock, wished him and the dogs a nice day/walk. The shrine itself had a very peaceful atmosphere. Even with the two huge camphor trees inside the shrine area, it felt like there was still a large amount of open space. I spent the rest of the time praying and reading the messages on the Ema's (Wooden plaque) that people left behind.
- To end off the day, I joined my aunt/uncle who wanted to eat close by the hotel since their legs were tired. To put it lightly, I tried the worst ramen I ever had which I believe was from a 24-hour restaurant. Had to go find myself a Takoyaki snack afterwards to become satisfied.
May 16 (Saturday) – Music Event
- Originally, this day was planned for Nishizawa Gorge, but I decided to attend a music event called NIGHT HIKE instead for Day 1. It is 5 different venues in Shibuya where music artists are all performing at the same time from 1:30 – 9:00 PM. Then, you are free to go to whoever you want to see.
- Slept in a little bit to recover from yesterday. Then headed over to Shibuya late morning to check in for the music event. After checking in, I headed over to Gyumon for lunch to enjoy another Gyukatsu meal this time with A5 Wagyu. Very pleasant experience in a quiet environment with staff open to answering any questions and slowly grilling the meat.
- Started off NIGHT HIKE at the Spotify O-East venue with "Suisougurashi" as the opener with the live band. There were not many penlights, but the crowd still actively made hand signals along with the music. Shortly after the artist I really wanted to see, "Nanami Urara", came to perform in the "Real" form (in person). Very strong opening with her cover of Amanojuku and the crowd was absolutely hyped up ("Hey! Hey! Hey!"). I was drawn to the aura she displayed from both from dancing and singing. Was able to enjoy some of her originals as well such as "Seventh Heaven", "Kiss and Cry", and "Trigger". Some members in the crowd even had her penlight and "Uralock" T-shirts.
- Next at the 3:30pm time slot was "Amala" at clubasia, a vocaloid producer performing a set as a DJ. Everyone was in the mood for "headbanging" whenever there was a buildup leading up to an intense drop. Especially with how he mixed in his popular song "Daidaidaidaidaikirai".
- Went back to Spotify O-East to watch "Empty Old City", who I discovered a few months ago prior to this event. Suisoh even appeared to perform alongside them for two songs. Everyone was quiet for the most part just focusing on enjoying the performance, especially for the slower songs. Hand signals going up very slowly in tune with the vocals. I was happy they performed my favorite song "Daisy Crown".
- After that at 5:15pm, I went to WOMB to watch "Eye's" DJ set. "Eye" is actually "Suisougurashi", just a different persona. Even though the 4th floor at Womb was very small/crowded, I still able to enjoy it being tall to see from the back. This was one of the more enjoyable sets with nice transitions. She played songs like "World is Mine (CPK! Remix)" and "AiScream!" Even played some of her original songs and sang at the same time.
- After returning from a dinner break, I caught a little bit KOTONOHOUSE's DJ set at clubasia then went to watch one last performance at the WOMB main floor by Hachioj-P. This was mostly a pure vocaloid DJ set that carried all sorts of emotions from "Vampire" to "Change" to "Marshall Maximizer" to "Blue Star". This was a good closing to the event.
May 17 (Sunday) – Hololive Doujin Event / Concert
- In the morning, I joined my aunt / uncle in Asakusa to visit the Sensoji Temple. It was the typical tourist activities along with walking down the Nakamise Shopping Street to find snacks. I ate a few snacks along the way so that I would not be hungry in the afternoon. When walking back towards the station, I saw a few people carrying portable platforms with kids beating drums.
- I happened to find this Hololive doujin event called "holokle" by chance a day before my trip and was happy to find out I would be able to attend. There are many artists who create art for hololive members and this event is where they can apply for a booth to sell their fan-made merchandise. There are also people who are cosplaying at this event and have their own booths.
- For those coming from Haneda airport, I actually had to take the monorail to get to this event, the destination is the Tokyo Ryutsu Center. I was very surprised by the sheer number of people attending this event. From standing in the line outside, to going up the stairs, back down the stairs, back up again, and going into the various hallways, the event organizers were able to make the admission process very efficient by having people snake around all of these areas. Finally, after I paid for admission (2000 yen), I received a catalog that contained a list of all the booths and gained entry to the event area.
- Getting tired from the heat and staying inside the packed warehouse area, two cosplayers asked me to come over to their booth. To my surprise, one of them knew how to speak English fluently and gave me a free hand fan to cool down. I was very happy and found out it was the first time both of us were attending this kind of event.
- To save time, I did check which booths I definitely wanted to visit in advance (Mostly Suisei booths!). But I also did go walk through all the booths in person to take a look at what everyone was selling/displaying. The artists I really wanted to buy goods from were Violet_viora from B19-20 and MIRAI from B-12. I got a good amount of acrylic blocks and they look so beautiful now that I am displaying them by my desk. I also purchased a Suisei nametag from MIRAI, which was able to change her facial expressions based on the angle you look at and also bought a few more keychains from Violet_viora.
- ll_yun_ll at booth B-18 had a really nice acryllic block with Suisei in her mafia outfit. I purchased a few items (key chain / acryllic stand) from tai_inukai at booth A03-04 and sa_ya_1107 from booth A29-30.
- watarukibae at booth Q-3 and ll_yun_ll at booth B-18 also had nice art books that I bought. Other than those specific booths, I was able to find various Suisei keychains from other booths. One big sized chain about the size of my palm and the 10 or 11 key chains were a normal size.
- After wrapping up at the event and getting dinner, I headed over the W:IKE329 venue in Ikebukuro for MEDA's (from RK Music) concert. It in a small area that could fit less than 100 people. The staff in the front gave me a "tokuten" for my premium ticket which was a foldable hardcover piece about the size of a clear file that had MEDA's concert art and signature.
- I brought my penlights along to this concert and looks like most of the crowd had penlights too. I was surprised to see many of them know the chants/cheers for MEDA's original songs. MEDA also performed plenty of cover songs. Listening to many of her past karaoke streams, at some point, I started to get an instinct of when to clap. Such as the beginning of her cover of amazarashi's "Seasons Die One After Another". Most of the songs like "God's Child" or "Jane Doe" or "RE:I AM" were on the slower side and found myself lifting the penlights to match the pace.
- At the end of the concert, MEDA announced a new song to be released on 5/25, and I stayed at the venue for a while to buy merchandise. Ended up getting an acrylic stand, keychain, and F4 acrylic art
May 18 (Monday) – Shopping
- This day was originally planned for Nikko, but towards the end of the trip I wanted to take it easy. After breakfast, started off with an easy day at Yanaka Ginza with my aunt/uncle. It was about 10:30 am, and most shops open at 11:00 am, so we started out with a few open shops and cafes. Found a store selling many cat-based items and bought a handbag for my sister. My uncle visited a few nearby convenience stores and found a chocolate protein bar that he likes from the brand Asahi. I decided to buy a few for mom to help with hiking.
- We went to a small cafe selling coffee/ice cream. My aunt got a matcha latte and I had a second round of black sesame ice cream – this one was almost as good as the one from Tsukiji, could taste more of the sesame seeds.
- More shops opened up afterwards and we took our time looking around until lunch time. For lunch time, we found a restaurant known for the sour lemon drink and decided to try. Shared a Kobe beef skewer and chicken rice bowl.
- I went to Akihabara myself to get "revenge" from the rain from last time. Visited K-Books again to see if there was anything new. Saw a lot of Kamitsubaki stuff from KAF and Isekaijoucho, especially the plush toys. There was also Live Union merchandise from HACHI like plushies and some CD's.
- One of the best stores in Akihabara for hololive items is Fandom Akiba. I thought it was just one floor, but there are actually four floors! More of the rare items were here like autographs, mochidoru plushies, Undone watches, and other birthday/live goods. Prices were actually quite reasonable in general. I ended up getting a Suisei mousepad and Suisei's 7th anniversary coach jacket.
- Also visited Lashinbang and found tokuten's for other artists from RK Music like Hao, Xiden, Mikage, and Yono. Still trying to find where to display them at home! Within the same building at the top floor, there is a store called Astop selling many figures. Noticed some of them were quite expensive.
- Next, I went back to Shinjuku to wrap up the other stores I wanted to visit. Started off with Suruga-ya, which had a much bigger store compared to Akihabara. There were many baskets that were selling items for cheap around 200-300 yen. Also, there was a row with Hololive items which was random for the most part and had autographs. I even saw old merch from Sakamata Chloe. In the same building, I believe one floor below there was a Lashinbang store that sold various Hololive and Nijisanji goods. I didn't buy anything there, but it was still nice to see the variety they had.
- The last shop I visited was BOOKOFF, which was much better than the one in Ikebukuro and Akihabara. I believe the first two floors were clothing stores, then the remaining 3-4 floors were dedicated to BOOKOFF. Many Hololive and Nijisanji items, especially the keychains and can badges. One of the rarer items I saw was Hajime Todoroki's birthday plush, but I decided not to buy it since I already spent so much from Akihabara + the Hololive doujin event
- For dinner, I met up with one of my cousins who is actually studying in Tokyo. Went to "Hama Sushi", which was not that great even though we had a reservation for it. The portions were very small, and the flavor was not close to level of other sushi I tried. Still, it was cool to see conveyer belt sushi for the first time and how quickly the orders made it to the table. My cousin gave me a copy of a "Suisei Quiz" that one of the otaku's at her school made. It is in Japanese, so I will have to translate it somehow and give it a try later.
May 19 (Tuesday) – Shopping
- Last day of Japan… going to definitely miss this place. Wanting to visit smaller neighborhoods/less crowded places, I went to Kichijoji with my aunt/uncle after checking out of the hotel. It was about 40 minutes+ away.
- Started off with some street food in Daiyagai, the area was nice since it was shaded by the roof on a hot day. The Maru Menchi Katsu (minced beef cutlet) from Satou Kichijoji was very tasty. Crispy on the outside with savory flavor inside. Also tried a croquette at another vendor nearby that had small pieces of minced beef as well. We wanted to try ramen with dumplings at one restaurant close by but ended up going somewhere else.
- For lunch, we went to a restaurant with a unique cave-like atmosphere called COFFEE HALL Kugutsusou. My aunt had a cheesecake, which she found delicious and a cafe au lait. My uncle got a thick slice of toast; he also enjoyed it. For myself, I ate a curry rice plate with egg. The flavor of the curry was nice and light while still maintaining a decent amount of thickness.
- Visited the Sunroad street next. My aunt found a lightweight backpack made with material nearby. There was also a Daiso store nearby which sold phone screen protectors at a good price.
- Finally, time to go back home. At the Narita Airport, I visited a tax-free shop and bought 5 packs of Royce chocolate for my mom. The Nama chocolate Ghana Bitter. 5 packs are able enough to fit inside a small cooler pack that the store offers as well.
Future Goals:
- Go during the wintertime to attend the snow festival event in Hokkaido. I want to see the snow sculptures and the light show.
- Plan a trip in the springtime to line up with the Sakura blooming season and go to one of the flower parks (Ashikaga / Hitachi Seaside).
- Attend a tuki. concert.
by upisdown11