Japan trip part two

When we finally arrived in Tokyo after that exhausting travel chaos we were well into what would have been our first full day in Tokyo.

We stayed at an Airbnb in Shinjuku which was great and a very good location for us. We didn’t have time to do much on our arrival day, but we did head out to see the surroundings and pick up some konbini snacks to have for dinner.

We did manage to tick two things off our list which was seeing the Godzilla head at Kabukichō, and check out Closet Child Shinjuku. They had quite a lot of interesting things for sale, but nothing that was really on my wishlist and I try to avoid impulse buys even if they are affordable and second hand.

The second day, now our only full day in Tokyo, was probably my favourite day of the trip. This was the only day I felt really well (I was ok the day we arrived as well, but obviously very tired from the trip), and we did manage to do and see quite a lot of things.

The day started off well spotting this giant crab sign! I love these giant crabs so much and I had really been hoping to see one.

We took the train to Harajuku and spent the morning walking around Meiji Jingu in the beautiful sunshine and having a really lovely time.

Once the shops opened up we headed to Laforet and some other shops I wanted to see in the vicinity. I’m going to say this about everything in Tokyo but I wish I’d had time to explore more! Laforet was fantastic, but I pretty much only went to the one floor that had my “must see” shops.

When I was in the Sailor Moon shop an American (I assume) person, who definitely didn’t work there, approached and asked to take my picture. I was really confused and didn’t really get what they meant, but apparently they just wanted to take a photo of me with this backdrop, with my own camera? I’m still confused :D Anyway, now I have this nice Sailor Moon photo.

If you know me you know that I do my best to only buy clothes second hand, but I had decided to make an exception for this trip. All of my favourite currently active clothing brands are based in Japan and this trip may well be a once in a lifetime experience. However, apart from a few little souvenirs I pretty much only ended up buying socks, which is one of the things I make a permanent exception for anyway :D

I bought some things (things being socks) at Alice and the Pirates and Metamorphose and the shop staff were all incredibly nice. Special mention to the staff at Atelier Pierrot where I didn’t buy anything but they were just really nice anyway.

One of my fears going to Japan was that I would freeze up and be too self conscious to speak any Japanese, but luckily that didn’t happen. I only know the tiniest bit of Japanese, but I still felt really proud of myself to be able to have some small conversations beyond hello and thank you.

After Laforet we headed to Baby the Stars Shine Bright’s Harajuku location. They didn’t have any of the things I was hoping to find, but it was really cool to see the shop.

We got back on the train to head to Ikebukuro, where I really had wanted to go to many different shops, but since we had to do this all in one day we had to prioritise, and decided to just see the Pokemon Center and Donguri Republic (The Studio Ghibli shop).

We spent a fair bit of time trying to understand how to navigate the shopping center they were both located in, but suddenly we found ourselves in the right spot.

After Ikebukuro we went for dinner at Sushiro which we loved.

Probably the most unfortunate thing about this trip was that due to being sick most days I was hardly able to eat anything.

Japanese food is my favourite ever, and I’m equally fond of fancy and non-fancy things. With my combination of chronic stomach problems and social phobia, which work together as a vicious circle, I knew that going to something like a more high end sushi place where you sit by the counter and feel pressure to finish everything you’re served would unfortunately never be an option for me. I had planned to eat at lots of casual places and have street food and interesting konbini food however, but this day ended up being almost the only one I was well enough to eat a proper meal.

Finally we stopped by this shrine on our walk back to the airbnb. The building in the background was so cool looking!

Since we had so little time in Tokyo I did feel like I was slightly hurrying through what we did see and didn’t fully take the time to enjoy everything. I really hope I get the chance to go back and maybe just stay in Tokyo for a full trip someday. I would have loved to explore so much more.