Day 203 - 21st of March

11:41am　普通電車

天気：風が吹いている

I’m on the local train with Jazz (Jacinthe), Julie, Rachael, Alvaro, Priscilla, and Hugo, and we’re making our way to Den, den town for the Nipponbashi Street festa. It’s incredibly windy today, but the sun is out and it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain; coming up to Hirakatashi now…

11:50am　特急

Now we’re on the limited express to Kyobashi, and from there we’re going to take the subway to Nagohoribashi, and then change lines to get to Ebisucho…

4:12pm　地下鉄

We’re on the subway from Nipponbashi to 北浜 (Kitahama); going to try a different way back home. Kitahama is on the Keihan line, so we can transfer there for Makino; much more direct…

4:27pm　準急

Now we’re on the semi-express to Kyobashi. Julie is going to transfer there for Nishijo, to meet with a friend. The train has stopped for no apparent reason; we’re underground at the moment… well now we’re going again. It’s just Hugo, Jazz, Rachael, Julie and I; Alvaro and Priscilla went off shortly after we got to Den, den town, which was absolutely packed with people. As soon as we got there we were in the midst of cosplay heaven; Rachael was in her element. The whole day, she was running about taking photos of anime and manga characters, most of which I didn’t know; trying to keep up with her was a lot of fun actually. Weaving our way through the crowds, and continuously bumping into people, or getting bumped into was actually very exhausting. First off, we went to watch the parade. It took a while for things to get started, and the first half an hour was mostly stuff happening on a stage right up the end of the street; couldn’t really see much. Getting hungry, I bought some onigiri from a nearby shop, and it was really good. The parade eventually kicked off at about 1:30, and we got to see a marching band (which I later found out to be the Osaka Police Band), a heap of cosplayers, samurai, maids, and some of the sponsors; there was an absolutely adorable giraffe mascot!

4:42pm　京橋

We’re changing over at Kyobashi now… the parade was over soon after it had begun. We decided that we would slowly make out way back up the street and get the subway back from Nipponbashi. Julie wanted to do some shopping, and Jazz decided to go with her. Hugo, Rachael, and I on the other hand went to Makkas for some lunch. It took a while to get there since Rachael kept on getting distracted by all the cosplayers, and when we did get to the front of the store, I had an interesting experience. An old man with a budgie came over and let me hold it, putting some seed in my hand; it was so cool. Then he put it on my head (luckily I was wearing my beanie), as Rachael and Hugo floundered to take photos. Finally in Makkas, I just got some fries, and we managed to get a table on the second floor, getting excited every time cosplayers could walk past; they need food too. After eating, we continued looking for characters, and I was so happy whenever I saw a character from Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy; we even got to see England, and Japan from Hetalia. Throughout the day, we crossed paths with people from uni, including professor Hester, who looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself, taking photos with his fancy camera. We eventually met up with Julie and Jazz, and after a bit more looking around, and a few purchases at one of my favourite shops there, we made our way further up the street to Nipponbashi station. Coming up to Hirakatashi now…

5:01pm　準急

Now we’re on the train back to Makino. When I get home, I’m definitely going to have a quick nap. Then I have to get ready to go out again; I’m meeting up with Alex, and her Aunt and Nan in Kyoto. I’m going to see if I can find a karaoke place close to the station, so we don’t have to come all the way back to Makino; hopefully I can gather enough energy for the night ahead…

7:01pm　牧野

I’m at Makino station; I rode here in the freezing cold. I’ve just been on the phone with Alex, trying to sort out what we’re going to do tonight. I really don’t want to have to go all the way to Kyoto just to meet her and then bring her back here. She says her Aunt and Nan aren’t that fussed anyway. I suggested that she just meet me here alone, so she’s going to talk to them about it, so hopefully she calls back soon; I guess I’ll go and find somewhere to eat dinner…

7:09pm　牧野

Well it looks like I’m going to Kyoto, to go to karaoke with Alex and her Aunt for an hour, and then Alex and I are coming back here for the rest of the night at karaoke… it’s going to be a long night!

10:23pm　特急

I’m on the express back to Tambabashi with Alex. We met in the central area of Kyoto station and practically threw ourselves at each other; it’s so good to be together again. After unravelling ourselves, she took me to where they were staying (Keihan hotel – how ironic) and I was soon introduced to her aunt, Sandy; I remember her Nan from the going away party. Sandy was hanging out to go to karaoke, but Nan had decided to just stay put. We rugged up (except for Alex of course), and then made our way back out into the night. I didn’t really know where I was going, but luckily Alex spotted a Karaoke place nearby, and we decided to just go for that. It was a little pricy, but we were only staying for an hour, so it was okay. For Sandy, it was all over too fast; she had just started to get into it too. But Alex and I were hanging to get going, so we walked her back to the hotel, and then finally got to start catching up. Before I was even thinking about more karaoke, I had to eat, so we walked a little way down the street to a restaurant chain called なか卯 (Nakao – I think I’d been to one of these before). It used the vending machine ticket system, and there was even buttons for whether you would be eating in, or taking out; so efficient. I ordered gyudon, and Alex just got some karaage. We talked for a while, and then finally got going, eager to start our all night karaoke session…

11:37pm　牧野－カラオケ

We’ve been at karaoke for about 20 minutes now, and I feel great; my voice is so much better now. For some reason, I just couldn’t project when we were at the other place; I don’t know if it was the cold or just nerves. Anyway, here we go…

Day 134 - 11th of January

10:36am　普通
天気：曇り
I forgot to bring my journal, so I’m writing this in my iPod. I’m on the local train to Hirakata, where I’ll be switching over for a rapid express to Kyobashi. From there, I’ll take the subway to Shinsaibashi. I know it’s a bit of a late start, but I had a terrible night’s sleep, so we’ll see how I go… I’m not sure if it’s some sort of holiday today, but when I went over to the bank, it charged me overtime. Anyway, I think today will be a lot of fun; hopefully find some interesting things.

11:18am　地下鉄
I’m just getting on the subway at Kyobashi. I love the sound of the warning signals in the subway; so pretty. I’ve decided to go to 長堀橋 (Nagahoribashi), which is one stop from Shinsaibashi, and walk down to 恵美須町 (Ebisucho), through Den den town.

6:15pm　地下鉄
I’m on the subway back to Kyobashi now; still standing. I haven’t sat down since lunch at about 2; found a really great, cheap ramen shop in Den den town. Well no, I lie, I did sit down (on the floor) in the Yamaha music shop in Shinsaibashi, before purchasing two Studio Ghibli piano solo books; that was about 30 minutes ago. Today has been… long; so much walking around! I basically made a big “U”, going from Nagahoribashi, down through to Den den town to Ebisucho, before going across to Namba, and then up to Shinsaibashi; actually it was more like a backwards “Y”, since I went all the way down to Ebisucho, but anyway. I spent most of my time in Den den town, which was amazing; total overload of stuff! My bag is now filled to the brim with goodies…

6:46pm　特急
Now I’m on the limited express back to Hirakata, and I’m still not sitting down; so sad… so as I was saying, my bag is filled with goods; I can’t recall everything I bought to be honest. I found lots of Final Fantasy paraphernalia and some Hetalia stuff too. I was really tempted to buy a model (either from Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts) actually, but decided against it this time. My biggest purchase was a DS lite; yes, I finally got one. It’s crimson and black. I did a lot of shopping around for it, and got one for a decent price; unfortunately the one time I found them for really cheap (like half the retail price), they were sold out. I was determined to buy one today though, so I just went ahead and did it. As for games, I bought Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (really cheap), and Pokémon: Heart Gold (best price I could find); very happy.

Yes, Den den town was amazing, but it was also a lot of the same. It basically went like this: Electronics, CDs, manga, adult shop, video games, second hand goods, furniture, DVDs, manga, CDs, models, records, adult shop, electronics, adult shop, second hand goods, CDs, electronics, video games, manga… with a sprinkling of restaurants and duty-free shops, two Makkas, and at least six convenience stores. Yeah, there were a lot of adult shops (mostly selling DVDs and comics) in plain sight, all the way along the right side of the street, which I walked down first; many of the multi-storey shops had adult sections in their top floors as well. I was pretty indifferent to it; a whole lot of all-too-busty females and yaoi…

7:04pm　枚方市駅
In the station now, waiting for the train to Makino…


7:06pm　準急
Yay, I’m sitting down; in the train… I walked all the way down the right side of Den den town, and reached Ebisucho, where I wondered down a street under the Hanshin Expressway, past stalls, to find myself amidst a festival; how lucky. I’ll have to look up what it was all about; there were so many people and stalls. After walking around the shrine that was hosting the festival, I found a taiyaki stand, bought two custard filled, and walked a bit further south to the 通天閣 (tsutenkaku)…

The tsutenkaku (lit. tower reaching heaven), was a really great sight to see. I really wish I could have seen it at night though; maybe next time. I was disappointed you couldn’t actually climb it (as far as I could tell), but I thought it was cool how a road past underneath it. So to date, I have seen 4 towers in Japan; 5 if you count the Umeda Sky Building. I walked back from the tower, and back up the other side of Den den town. The limits of the “town” are clearly defined by the decorative pipe-like structures of different colours that bordered the walkways. There wasn’t as much on this side, so I went back to the other side for a while, looking for a good price for the DS. There were some video game shops, a few with heaps of retro games and consoles; I’m sure dad would’ve loved it. And in all of them, I was beckoned by Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and Final Fantasy XIII, bellowing from the speakers, and playing on the flat screen TVs. I really want a PSP now; might be my next big purchase!

I finally left Den den town at around 5; it was almost night. I got to see it with the lights, which wasn’t all that fantastic. I walked back up and across to namba, just taking in the sights and the night life. The 南海難波駅 (Nankai Namba station) was very beautiful; European influenced architecture. And across the way, there was what looked to be a Kabuki theatre. It was closed off for construction though, so I wasn’t entirely sure. I soon found myself in familiar territory, and went to find the hotel the Devoys had stayed at, in Dotonbori. Happy with a shot of the 4 statues out the front, I continued on and soon found myself in Shinsaibashi. I was actually really surprised how close everything was in terms of walking; I guess the subway stops aren’t that far apart when I think about it. I didn’t have that much money left, and I didn’t really see anything of interest anyway, until I found the Yamaha shop. It was a 4 storey shop and wow, there were so many instruments. It also had a great selection of sheet music, so I took me a while to choose the books I wanted; high grade, and jazz arrangements. My feet now sore, and bag felling very heavy, I decided it was time to head home… the walk back from Makino wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t that cold. I noticed a banner on the way back, with information about the Ebisu festival celebrations in Makino; so that was it.

The 十日戎 (tooka ebisu), is a festival that celebrates Ebisu, one of the 七福神 (shishifukujin – seven lucky gods), and a patron of business and commerce. For this reason, he is particularly popular in Osaka, being the merchant capital. It’s a three day festival, from the 9th to the 11th, with the 10th being the main day (tooka means 10th of the month). The shrine I went to is called the 今宮戎 (Imamiyaebisu), which is apparently the place to go during the festival. I consider myself really lucky to be there, especially considering that fact that I had no prior knowledge of it; I basically stumbled upon it. I mean, I could have gone any day, but I managed to pick a day when a huge festival was on; so cool. And it was huge! The amount of people pouring in, making offerings to Ebisu was incredible; there was a continuous clinging sound from all the money being thrown into the shrine.

The priests were giving out bamboo fronds, and people would then proceed to buy charms to hang from them; I first noticed them when I saw a man walking around with one in Den den town. I found out that these are called 吉兆笹 (kichousasa – “lucky bamboo grass”), and are decorated with models of 鯛 (sea bream), 小判 (koban – former Japanese oval gold coin), and 米俵 (komedawara – bags of rice), which represent flourishing success in business. I’ll definitely have to come back and get one, when I get into the market. Today though, I was just happy to look on. I noticed that there were lots of people coming into the shrine with their old bamboo fronds, presumably from last year; they had browned. There was actually a bin in the shrine, called 古笹納所 (furusasanasho – “old fronds offerings”), and inside there was indeed the old fronds, charms and all; I hope that the charms are recycled. Apart for food, there were an abundance of stalls that were also selling ornaments featuring Ebisu himself, with his benevolent smiling face. I wish I’d brought my video camera, but at least I got some decent photos.

Getting back to the seminar house, I found my room still Ryan-less, chucked my bag down, and went up to have dinner. Katie was back from Singapore, and I talked with her and Ash until they went back to their room. I decided to just make another pizza, since I hadn’t gotten any meat out of the fridge. With the crust defrosted, I went about making it, and talked with Jacinthe. She was making a cake, and I helped her with it. The recipe was really simple, but the end result was amazing; I love Jacinthe’s cooking! After that, I went back down and unpacked my bag. Soon, everything was strewn across my futon; bags, plastic, books, and other miscellanea. When I opened the DS box, I realised there was already an adapter included, and, of course, I had bought one separately for it; so stupid of me. So now I have two, which I won’t be able to use in Australia anyway; might come in handy later on in life I guess. Apart from that, I’m really happy with my other purposes, and would really like going back again. I had a lot of fun just browsing; there was just so much stuff. Most of it, I wasn’t interested in buying, but it was still cool to look at; especially all the models. I’m kinda glad I’m not really into manga or anime; otherwise I’m sure I would have spent a heck of a lot more money there.