#anime japan

春 [Spring]

What a long day!

Jet lag is still upon me so I woke up around 4 am. Surfed the web a bit and then went out to grab some breakfast and scout the area (which I ended up not doing the evening before). There’s a cute little shrine right across from my place (pic 1) and plenty of interesting restaurants.

A little later I headed out for the day, my destination: Odaiba. This area in Tokyo bay is one of my favorite, with lots of shops and attractions. Today I headed for the Tokyo Big Sight (2) convention center which housed the second and final day of Anime Japan.

Oh boy. I soooort of underestimated this event. There were thousands of people waiting in line, so I had to wait for about 1.5 hours to even get inside. And then, sadly, it wasn’t really what I expected :( I barely know any current anime so few areas even caught my interest and sadly they didn’t have very desirable merch. I wandered around a bit and looked at the cosplayers (3 & 4) then headed out early.

It was a waste of time and money for me, but I feel okay about it. Part of travelling alone is deciding everything yourself so while I don’t have to compromise on anything, I also carry the burden of failed plans myself.

Anyway, since the weather was nice and it was only about 11:30, I headed towards my second goal, the Oedo Onsen Monogatari. It’s a mostly indoor Onsen theme park, also in (on/at?) Odaiba. And it was really nice :3

Everyone gets to pick a Yukata to walk around in, giving the whole inner area with lots of shops and food stalls the feeling of a traditional summer festival. The bath area was great as well, several hot baths, an outdoor bath and various saunas.

My favorite part was the garden area, though. By then the weather was really nice - mild and sunny, and the garden was full of blooming cherry trees. You could just sit there, dangle your feet in a shallow foot bath and enjoy being in such a serene place in the middle of busy Tokyo (5, 6 & 7).

In a little house within the garden, they offered “fish therapy”, another foot bath full of little fish that nibble at your skin to eat dead cells. It was a little expensive, but I’ve always wanted to try this and it turned out to be super fun. The fish were neither shy nor already full, as they swarmed to my feet just seconds after I put them into the water. It was surprisingly tickling, having them vacuum across my skin, and very fun to watch. At times it felt like my feet were asleep because they were just nibbling everywhere (8). Afterward my feet did feel smoother, but not remarkably so. Still, it was a really fun experience.

The last picture shows the nice view of Tokyo bay that you get from one of the waterside malls. I strolled around there for a while but headed back to my place soon after. Jet lag and walking around a lot have taken their toll. But I think it was a really pleasant first day and I am excited for what is to come. See you tomorrow!