Back to Shimokitazawa with a new friend.

Last Friday was a day to remember. As it was the Friday of my midterms week, I was dying to do anything fun and enjoyable. My friend in America introduced me to someone who lives in Tokyo, and I thought it would be fun to go back to Shimokitazawa with someone who knew what they were looking at, and could help me find this damned bookstore that I'd been missing.

It turns out the book store I was looking for was right there the whole time. I actually DID see it, but it was not what I thought it was.

When I saw the sign that said "Exciting Book Store" I thought it meant porn. And the neon lights didn't exactly make me think of a place to get fine reading materials.

Anyways, we went in, and the place certainly lived up to it's sign. It had some really interesting signs and displays and crazy looking books. They didn't have that magazine with the Theremin kit in it, though. It turns out that not only are they sold out, but they're backordered until January. Seems like the Theremin is more popular in this country than I thought.


After a bit there was some light drizzle, but nothing to stop us from really enjoying ourselves. We did some walking and saw some stuff. I am truly amazed at how many of those painted metal gates they have in this town.

And not only that, but they are masterfully done.



Some of them were very cartoony and fun...

While others were quite elaborate and pretty spooky.

It was a lot of fun walking and talking. Then we headed towards my favorite antique shops for some clarification. I'm not sure, but I think the dragon head I posted about earlier is only around $250. I might be wrong, though.

In passing, I saw this really interesting shop filled with collectibles.

They didn't want pictures inside, so I didn't take them, but it was filled with all sorts of oddball collectibles from around the world, but mainly from Japan. I'm sure it was neither the biggest or the best collectibles shop in Tokyo, but personally, I like off the beaten path places better. I did get these two collector's cards. I know they're not rare, but they were incredible.

I want to use that one on the front of my main page, but I'm not sure how to do it.

Oh, and here's what I see around here sometimes, but I never get a chance to take a picture:
Yes, I know that's Osaka castle and not in Tokyo, but still interesting nonetheless.

As a side note, everytime I see this:

I still think of this:

Which is a bit silly, because I see Tokyo tower almost every day.

Anyways back to my Shimokitazawa...

After a while, it started pouring down rain. It was damned wet, so I spotted a sign around town which lead to many questions:

First off, what is this place? What is the "Hip Music"? What is the "Something"?

After proceeding down some stairs, we found out that STOMP was a really tiny and fun bar, and the "Hip Music" was actually really good blues and jazz and the "Something" was apparently alcohol and some damned good sashimi (slices of raw fish). I had a great time.

Unfortunately, as it got later, the rain only got heavier and once we got indoors we went to Shibuya, where in order to do something fun we would have to get out into the pouring rain which wasn't much of an option.

Sadly, the fun evening came to an end, but I learned a few things and made a new friend, so it was quite worth it.

An unexpected weekend.

I feel I should explain a few things real quick. First off, stores are a bit different here. There is this store near my house called Jusco. The first floor is pretty much your normal grocery store. Normal for Japan, I should say as you can buy all sorts of weird sea creatures and they have vats of fish and ice where you just pick the ones you want and go. But, that's not so unusual around here, I guess.

The second and third floors sell all sorts of daily odds and ends you might need. They sell clothes, umbrellas, bikes, televisions, fans, slippers, school supplies, a small pharmacy, extension cords, and well, a bit of everything. They even have all of your elephant washing accessories!

Next time you need to clean an elephant, pick up your supplies at your local neighborhood Jusco.

I should also mention that sometimes, not very often, but sometimes food is a challenge. I know I mentioned before when I went to a restaurant and the menu was entirely in Japanese, more specifically Kanji, the Chinese characters which are really hard to read as they're meaning based, not sound based. Earlier in the week, I went to a Chinese restaurant because I really do like Chinese food a lot, and I had the same problem as earlier. They didn't have a picture menu either, so I had to do the whole 'step outside and point' thing again, which while mildly embarrassing, certainly gave me great results.

While not the most filling meal I've ever had, damn was it good. It also made me happy to learn that the staff was mostly, if not entirely Chinese, just like any Chinese restaurant staff should be whenever possible.

Another thing I tend to notice is the cars around here. The selection and variety of Japanese cars I see here is quite amazing. There are very few Japanese cars that are the same models as American cars (as in I hardly ever see a Honda Accord, for example), and they have entire lines of cars not available in America. A very popular example is the Toyota Crown which is a completely different line of luxury cars by Toyota from the Lexus (also owned by Toyota). Speaking of Lexus, the other day I saw this on my way to school:

First off, what is that thing? Is it a large 4 wheeled scooter or a tiny, tiny car? Secondly, does it fold up? I couldn't tell. Finally, why does it have a Lexus logo? When I think Lexus, I think luxury car, not, um, that thing. All that being said, it looks like an ideal solution in Tokyo. Safer and more comfortable than a scooter and significantly smaller than a real car, I could see using this, especially if it holds two people.


Now that is all said, I'm going to talk about my weekend now.


Last weekend was a bit unusual. I wouldn't call it a bad weekend, but it certainly didn't live up
to the expectations I had earlier in the week. All the fun things I intended on doing didn't really pan out to be that great and all the stuff that I didn't plan on turned out the best.

On Thursday, two of my dorm friends were talking about this thrift store in Meguro. As I have stated my desire to find a cheap bass, I decided it would be interesting to check out. They warned me that it was hard to find, but common sense hasn't stopped me before, so off I went. I went to Meguro once to change trains and I walked around a bit, but it didn't really leave an impression on me. Now that I've seen more, I can say it's an interesting neighborhood.



So, I started wandering, and my friend was sure right. I couldn't find it. In fact, I didn't see much of anything. This caught my eye, though:

For that matter, it caught everyone's eye. A bright pink Porsche is probably the gaudiest car I've seen in this country, and like I said, there are a lot of different cars. I believe it was a left-hand drive car, which I see a lot.

It's hard to see, but there's a 'new driver' tag on the back of it. In Japan, when you fist start driving you get a magnet for your car that signifies that you are a beginner driver. I think it's actually quite logical. However, this does tell me that some girl (I assume) got their parents to buy them a bright pink Porsche just like Barbie as their first car. Wow.

Anyways, I couldn't find the shop, and I actually didn't find anything all that great or interesting in Meguro, except a road with a bunch of hotels, some love hotels some just regular.

Feeling a little bummed out, I returned home having accomplished very little and with no plans on a Friday night. There was a festival a few train stops down, and at first I really didn't feel like going. I heard people saying that the festival was highly recommended by our dorm manager Aki, which was enough to get me to go.


I was sure I glad I went.


My only regret is that I didn't bring my real camera. My phone did okay, being a phone, but dark pictures turn out pretty grainy on this thing.

I had only been to this neighborhood once before and all I did there is eat dinner and walk home. I originally thought it was a pretty lackluster neighborhood with nothing worth seeing besides a few restaurants and shops, but nothing really all that memorable. Friday night, I was completely proved wrong.

Once I exited the train station, what I remembered as an empty street was completely filled with people.

This was really crowded, especially for what I thought was just a sleepy little area by a train station. It's hard to make out, but you can see that down this road, there are stalls on both sides selling all types of food and toys or games for kids to play.

It was quite a lively happening.

If you've never been to a Japanese festival, there are a couple things I've seen with every one that I've been to. First off is the crowds. People love these things, and I'm seeing why. They're a lot of fun. Secondly is the food/beer. There is a lot of variety in the food available, ranging from very traditional fare, like takoyaki or octopus and squid on a stick, to very modern or foreign food like pita gyros and French fries. It was all good and just thinking about it makes me hungry. Thirdly, the music you hear is amazing. It's usually very high pitched wooden flutes and loud thundering drums. It can be heard everywhere and is truly amazing. If you check my one and only youtube video, you can hear it, but that doesn't express 1/10th of what it's like to be there.

I didn't understand the point of this festival, which is quite normal for me as I guess I just don't 'get' them. Does this stop me from enjoying them? Of course not.

Anyways, they had quite a few of these going around.

If anybody knows what's going on, feel free to enlighten me in the comments.

Anyways, we followed the food booths for a while, and we came across this bridge and a massive amount of stairs.

This place was certainly old. I have no idea how old, but I'm pretty sure it was pre-WWII, if not shortly after. These steps were not very flat and even, worn down after years of use it seemed. Again, I was there for a party, not a history lesson, so I was fine not knowing how old it was. I might find out later. You can notice in the above picture that half the stairs are completely filled with people and the other half they have those big lantern like things I showed before and people who were twirling these decorated poles with tassels on the end.

But what was at the top of these stairs? Considering this was a very unassuming neighborhood, I had pretty low expectations. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was absolutely blown away.

I've had very few moments of complete and utter shock and amazement in Japan. This most certainly was one of them. I'd compare it to Kamakura or Asakusa, but this was right in my neighborhood! Also, I didn't expect it at all, while when I went to Kamakura and Asakusa, I had an idea of what I'd be seeing. This is sort of like expecting to eat a modest fast food meal and getting treated to a 4 star gourmet feast.

Also, the crowd was amazing. There were SO many people! I couldn't believe it. And it seemed like everyone was having a great time.

Because it was so crowded, they let us in the main part of the building by groups. Seeing as how I normally can't take photos in places like this, and other people were snapping away, I went ahead and grabbed a few shots.

When I show you these temples and shrines from the outside, most of them have something like this inside. There usually isn't a room full of people, but this night there was. They were all chanting too. It was hauntingly beautiful.

In the picture above, the bottom center you can see the poster for this festival. The thing in the picture is what they were swinging around. I couldn't get a good picture, but that's what it looks like.

Well, it seemed like everyone went down the other side of this hill when they were done, so we followed suit.

These lanterns were quite atmospheric. It was pretty surreal and amazingly delightful. I didn't even notice I took a picture of that cute girl on the right. Hello!

Here are some more lanterns.

So, that was my Friday. It was quite an exciting and interesting time.


Saturday, I did my radio show, and I was absolutely determined to find this damned thrift store. After I got a map from my friend, I went back to Meguro, and I was very surprised as to what I found.

It seems that if I turned left instead of Right I would have found an exciting and vibrant neighborhood.

This place was really interesting. Not at all what I first thought. There was quite a large hill that I went up and down to get to this store. The walk was quite interesting.

Most neighborhoods I've been to seem to have some sort of theme. Like "This is the historic neighborhood" or "This is the fancy area". Meguro seemed to have no theme at all, with some really fancy shops next to some really old and dumpy stores. I think that added to it's charm.

As I was walking across the street I saw a Takoyaki stand. It seemed to have quite a large crowd around it, and upon closer inspection it had what looked like autographs from celebrities who have eaten there.

For those of you who don't know, takoyaki is essentially little balls of octopus and dough. I had a friend bug me about it because I haven't had any 'real' takoyaki since I got here, the closest being some obviously reheated balls at a cheap izakaya. I was about to eat here just to have the 'real' stuff, but I wasn't that hungry and honestly, I'm not a big takoyaki fan. At least not a big enough fan to eat 6 of them when I'm not hungry. Sorry.

As I kept walking down this strange, strange street, I see this:

What is that? Well I'm pretty sure it's a high school. I couldn't believe that a high school had such a dramatic entrance.

Well, after what felt like an incredibly long walk, I found the store. I always feel odd taking pictures inside shops, but to give you an idea, here's what the outside looked like.

It was crammed with all sorts of used goods. They had used clothes, collectibles, toys, electronics, tons of used records, CDs, and porn. It was quite surreal the amount of crap they had for a store that wasn't that big. What they DIDN'T have is a used bass, as my friend had stated. Oh well, I kind of wanted to go back to Shimokitazawa anyways in hopes they'd have one, so I headed back.

As it always seems, now that I knew where I was going, it didn't seem that long of a walk after all.

I did see this on the way back.

Yup, that's a tank full of Fugu, also known as blowfish. They are considered a delicacy in Japan and are quite expensive. The main reason for this is is they contain a large amount of poison and can be lethal if handled improperly.

I also saw this site on my way back to the station.

I liked this view.

Another incredibly bizarre thing I saw was these machines right here:

There were 4 Playboy electronic poker machines, looking like they were from the late 80's. What the hell were they doing here? For that matter, what the hell were they doing anywhere outside of Nevada? Why were there 4 of them? Were they for sale? I couldn't find a price, and since gambling is quasi-illegal here, I don't see much use for them. Well, it's not worth pondering too long. Off I went again.

I am a little hesitant to write about my adventures in Shimokitazawa. One of it's unique charms is the lack of tourists. It seems like even Tokyo people don't know much about this gem of a neighborhood. I'm afraid that the more people find out about this place, the more crowded and homogenized it will become.

That being said, I know my blog isn't THAT popular, and I am really fascinated with this place, so I guess I can say more.

Saturday night in Shimokitazawa seemed very energetic and lively. I had a great time wandering the streets and enjoying the energy. I kind of wanted to get a drink and interact with the locals, but I wanted to buy that bass, and I had no idea when they closed.

I went to the shop around 6:45 and they were still open. I don't know how I missed it before, but this shop had a polar bear in the corner. By that I mean a real stuffed polar bear. It was huge and kind of scary and sad at the same time. It looked quite old so I'm sure it was killed and stuffed a long time ago. Anyways, I wasn't there for a polar bear, so I got my crappy bass for 6300 yen (about $53.50) and a crappy amp for 2525 yen (about $21.50), and headed home. The bass had no case, which for that price is no surprise, but it made my trip home quite awkward and uncomfortable.

It also killed any chance I had at hanging out, as I'd have to lug around a bass and amp where ever I went. I did get to see this incredibly fun band playing underneath the train station. I was going to buy a beer, but instead I got their CD.

Their name was F hole Rag Orchestre. Their website with non-blurry pictures is at
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~fhole/

They had a banjo and a trumpet and an upright bass among other things. They had quite a fun sound, and I'm glad I picked up their EP.

Anyways, after lugging my new prizes home, I got a chance to soak in what I just purchased.

The amp, as previously stated, most certainly is crappy. I mean, it gets the job done and I think I paid a fair price for it, so there's not much I can really say about it.

The bass on the other hand, I'm actually quite impressed with it's quality.

For those of you keeping score at home, this is a Aria Pro II RSB series bass from 1986 made in Japan. After a little research, Aria made guitars and basses and were most famous for high quality knock offs. they're still around and they still make instruments, but they are not now, nor were they ever very well known. They apparently make good instruments and are way above the quality of the shit you'd find at Wal-Mart around christmas. For the price I paid, I was expecting a functional piece of garbage, but instead I got a fairly high quality instrument.

Oh yeah, and I know it only has 3 strings. I strung it around left handed and one of the strings wasn't long enough. The other 3 are pretty old and beat up, so I'm planning to buy a new set this weekend.

After I got back, I bumped into three friends who were on their way to the festival I saw yesterday. Although I was there yesterday and I had spent hours walking, I was hungry and the thought of festival food made me salivate, so I happily joined them.

But I wasn't exactly as happy to eat octopus on a stick as my companion was.

The candy apple was tasty, though.

I must say, I love the look of my friend in the background. It's simply classic.

The fair was much more subdued on Saturday and there were no people beating on drums or giant floats. Just people wandering the streets enjoying themselves.

While walking up the previously mentioned ancient stairs, I caught this really cute girl making a cotton candy mustache.

If you're reading this and this is you, say hi. Let's hang out.

Well, that pretty much was my weekend. Sunday I spent trapped in my room studying for midterms and playing on my new 3 stringed friend.

I thought I would end on a cute note, as this was the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time: A kid in a bear suit at the festival.

Dissapointing banks and good neighborhoods.

I know I take a lot of pictures of Shibuya, but I like this one.

Tuesday was the last day of my 4 day weekend. It was also the first day I've had off that was a normal day, as in not just a holiday. I don't have a Japanese bank yet, and I thought this would be the perfect time to open an account, since banks close at 3 PM around here for some reason. So, after some research, I decided I wanted to get an account with Citibank, because they're in the US and Japan. After arriving, I learned there was a 2100 yen charge a month, unless I had over 200,000 yen in my account. So, essentially, they'd charge me $20 a month unless I had over $1700 in my account. It didn't say that anywhere on their website, so I was pretty pissed off.

After a bit of wandering around angrily, I saw a Freshness Burger. I had just read someone else's blog about Japanese restaurants, and they made the comment that Freshness Burger was really good, but they "Wish it wasn't a chain." Upon reading it, I was a little confused as to why someone would wish that an organization that delivers high quality products would wish that they were small, despite the fact that the quality was still high and the only difference was the amount of convenience.

Anyways, I was quite curious, so I went in. Holy crap. That was a damned good burger.


Despite the giant burger out front, my actual meal was quite tiny, as is the style around here. It was so damned good, though. It was one of the best burgers I've had and the best fast food burger hands down. It wasn't cheap, though. The place had a really small town independent burger shop feel. They even had ketchup and mustard dispensers along with a large variety of hot sauces. People in Japan don't usually have ketchup with their fries and when they do, they only use a tiny bit, so getting enough ketchup is somewhat of an uphill struggle here, so I was quite happy to have as much as I wanted.

My beverage was 'lime soda', which was simply lime juice and soda water with a container of liquid sweetener. It was really good.

Anyways, I can't say enough good things about Freshness Burger, except for their price. I paid more than I wanted to for a lunch that didn't even fill me up.

I'd been hearing about Shimokitazawa, so I wanted to check it out. A couple things I learned is it apparently is the "college student" neighborhood. It also has a lot of old buildings. I was also looking for a magazine with a Theremin kit, which I never found. Even though I didn't get the one thing I came there for, I was really glad I came.

This wasn't touristy at all, the streets were filled with interesting shops and restaurants and the whole town had a very good energy.

This wasn't like anywhere else I'd been in Tokyo. If anything, it kind of reminded me of Osaka. It was very clear that I was in Japan in this town, which is something I forget sometimes in Shinjuku or Shibuya. You can see part of a sign that says "Dora" to the right. That was one of the many Dorama stores. They sold books, movies, video games, CDs, and used stuff, depending on the store.

This neighborhood was really interesting. And, for a pleasant change, it wasn't ritzy! As in, I could actually afford things in this area. I've been getting upset because I want to buy normal household goods and clothes and I keep finding Louis Vuitton and Burberry stores. This place seemed to be the place to go, with 1000 yen shirts and 1500 yen jeans (about $9 and $13).

This neighborhood seemed to just go on forever. Even some of the major areas I've been to seem to be relatively small, but the interesting part of Shimokitazawa was dense and just kept going. I followed this one street entirely too far, and I saw this store:

It was an antique store, with another antique store behind me. It seemed to be pretty popular too. This is around 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. I walked by again, and I just thought "Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

Holy crap, I did just see what I thought I saw!

This place had a damned DRAGON HEAD for sale. Thinking about it, it's not THAT odd. I mean, I am Japan, and this is an antique store. But to actually see it is a bit of a shock. I'm sure whatever it cost, it would be worth 5 times as much in America.

The other shop across the street was really cool too. I hesitate to call it an 'antique shop', because they sold lots of older and newer things.

Both of these shops had a lot of Asian style furniture and lamps.

It's a bit silly, but I was quite surprised at the goods they sold. They were very old artifacts that were very much Japanese. They also had metal signs in Japanese for products and just tons of odd nicknacks and items from a bygone era. I'm sure it's the same experience as if I was from Japan and I went into an American antique shop.

Also, the place that sold newer items had a really cheap bass and some cheap amps. I've been missing playing bass since I got here, and I want to pick up a completely crappy cheap bass, and they had one that sucked, but was way cheaper than the maximum of what I was willing to pay, and significantly cheaper than the cost of shipping my bass. If it wasn't for my poor dealings with the bank and the fact that I'm quite low on Japanese cash (although I have a decent amount of American cash and once I get a bank, I'll be able to get my financial aid), I left empty handed.

There were some construction workers doing something or other here too. The interesting thing I've noticed is the brooms they use.

It's a bit hard to see, but he has a straw broom in his hand. This is not the first time I've seen them using one of those for construction cleaning purposes. It seems a bit ridiculous to have one of those, as I think they're more expensive and I'm sure they're less durable than a good plastic broom.

So, I saw a Mr. Donut sign and I thought I'd grab a snack, as I was still hungry from my tiny burger.

I don't know what is about Mr. Donut, but I have a disproportionate fondness for this chain. I've only been there a few times and their food is good and all, but for some reason, they just warm my heart. Anyways, I got a honey churro and a strawberry milk donut. The strawberry milk donut was just as promised, but the churro was quite odd. The first bite, I thought it was awful, but the more I chewed, the better it got. I really want one right now.

Anyways, back to the town. It was quite colorful and energetic, despite the cloudy, gloomy weather. This sign reminded me of my old roommate Emily.

I would say this place is like a cleaner, nicer, and larger version of Little 5 Points or Haight area, but that would be totally understating it. It was like those areas if they were friendly, cleaner, and safer. It had a very unique and distinctly Japanese feel to it, while at the same time felt quite modern and international.

I'm not sure what this place was all about, I think a place for bands to play, but it looked quite rad.

And I simply loved this sign:

What more could you want? Well, apparently 4PM on Tuesday was not the time for booze or jazz.
I was shocked to see this shop:

And actually a little disappointed.

Another thing about this neighborhood is there were these amazing paintings all over the place.

This was underneath the train tracks.

Here's a detail of the 'roof'.

I had read that shop owners started painting their metal grates to stop graffiti. I don't know if it worked, but the results were amazing.




I'm not sure what these shops were and why they were closed, but I assume they're restaurants and bars or izakayas that don't cater to the afternoon crowd. At least I hope so, anybody that put that much effort into their gate deserves to stay in business.

It was really interesting to see them all. There were tons of wall murals and paintings too. Some were just graffiti, but some were really detailed works of art.


There were also plenty of record stores, some with their own unique artwork too.

And here's another odd site I saw. A recording studio.

I think this was like a public rental studio. As in, you paid to use it, and could do what you wanted, as opposed to being owned by a recording company and you pay them for their services.

I really like this place.

I know I'm repeating myself, but it was really lively and fun. Another thing that I liked is I didn't see a lot of foreigners. I know it's quite hypocritical when I say I like a place because of the lack of foreigners, because if I'm there, there is at least one and I'm adding to the foreign population, but it's nice to go to places that aren't filled with tourists and gawkers viewing everything as a novelity.

Speaking of viewing everything as a novelty (yeah, hypocritical, I know) I saw this gate that was the entrance to a small but quite lovely garden.

The gate seemed to be a little useless because you could just as easily walk around. Yeah, I know that the gate was there probably decades before the section of wall went missing. Either way, it looked quite lovely. The houses in this area were quite obviously older than those in my neighborhood or most of the other places I've been.

I really like Shimokitazawa. I felt really comfortable in this area, like I was not at all out of place, like I belonged. In a country where I obviously stick out where ever I go, this feeling was a lovely change. When it comes time to move, I'm going to look here for a place to live.