Today we targetted a less walking intensive day after the chaos of Shibuya and Shinjuku yesterday. There was talk of an afternoon break at the hotel. That never eventuated but it was on the whole more leisurely.
We slept in until 9am this morning, which aligned us well given everything opens 10-11am. We spent most of the day in a precinct called Akihabara. I think Akihabara is the losers answer to Shibuya. Everything is tech related, cars aren’t allowed on the main street on Sundays so that everyone has plenty of space, and the shop sounds are much quieter than Shibuya/Shinjuku. Essentially, sperg friendly.
Declan’s stress today has been money. For some reason he thinks I am spending too much. The purchase of a A$3 gatcha faces heavy scrutiny. I only convince Declan that I am allowed to buy it when I point out he spends that amount of arcade games every day. Gatcha turns out to be extremely disappointing, photo below.
We are both interested in the concept of a maid hotel. Neither of us have a good understanding of what that is. I like the performative aspect and I think Declan likes the welcoming aspect. However, all are up like six flights of stairs (with maids dressed up at street level with fliers to try and attract you), which makes me think there’s a more sordid truth to these cafes. Both of us aren’t brave enough to traverse the stairs, so we’ll just have to watch a YouTube video later.
We’ve been doing a lot of walking between suburbs while we’ve been here. The hottest day has been 28degrees whereas today was a much more pleasant 23degrees. It hasn’t rained at all. This is fortunate given much of our activities are connected by hour long stretches of walking.
CR: Our hotel room is pleasant. It is not luxurious but it is not tiny. Cost was A$500 per night, which I found to be equivalent to the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore, which is a much more luxe experience. I believe the time of year we are visiting and the relatively last minute booking meant we were subjected to particularly high rates. The hotel is situated in Shiba, a less touristy area of Tokyo. Main attractions and suburbs are a 15-30minute train ride away. It also features the narrowest couch I have ever seen. The hotel has Danish Hour 8-9pm. Here you can go to level 14 and have a complimentary glass of wine and a rather crappy Danish. A very strange pairing and a very strange time to offer Danishs. Are these left over Danishs that a random shop couldn’t sell?DW: I really like the layout of all these little restaurants. There is an area in the middle where the staff work surrounded by benches on all sides. A separate kitchen (also open) is at the back forming an L shape. It is interesting to see what everyone ordered and you can observe the social cues you should be following. CR: This was one of the few places open for breakfast. You got a set menu of grilled fish, rice and pickles for about A$7. I added on raw egg, which you whisk in a seperate bowl with your chopsticks and then pour over rice for extra flavour.CR: I hope Barry appreciated Declan promoting his Blackheath log-splitting business on Japan’s rail network.DW: As Japan is a high trust society I encouraged Caitlin to return the umbrella she had inadvertently hooked in her bag through the proper channels. The trick is there are multiple train companies each with entirely independent systems of bureaucracy.CR: This is a shark computer. Declan claimed he wasn’t interested but his voice betrayed excitement. If this had been Steve Backshall branded I would have purchased it.CR: This is our ramen lunch. We chose this place due to its sick samuri branding. Cool places are pretty similar cost to Sydney, marginally cheaper. Lunch for two was around A$40.CR: This is my shit gatcha. Wish I got the platypus.DW: Akihabra (Akiba) is a more interesting version of Shibuya. Maid cafés, dudes looking like anime characters walking around and stores selling video games on floor 1, “junk” in the basement and adult films on floor 2. CR: The advertisment of the nurse with her tits out could easily be a reputable doctor’s surgery. Very hard to tell what is service and what is porn in Akihabra.DW: There were a bunch of military LARPing (live action role playing) shops in one area of Akiba. The clarifying notice feels like they needed to address a concern from a previous customer. All the “toy” guns are solid metal and would be so illegal in Australia.CR: The general rule in Japan is the cuter the cafe’s accoutrements, the more expensive the coffee. If your coffee is prepared in a beaker then that’s an extra 100 Yen on top too.CR: Most shops cover multiple small boxy floors, linked by narrow, steep stairwells.CR: Deko-san is drawn to the machine.DW: Me and my buddy Solid Snake getting our 100 JPY stockpile getting absolutely destroyed by Chun-Li’s thighs.DW: Some of the video game stores had a really nice atmosphere and are obviously run by people who are passionate. There is nothing like it in Australia. CR: I can’t imagine this is where Pauline shopped when in Tokyo.DW: There are two types of coffee stores: chains (we have yet to explore properly) hole on the wall places. Coffee is basically only black with a big focus on your bean selection. It feels more akin to wine culture than coffee culture in Australia in this regard. CR: In my mind this photo would be more flattering. My pink fleece was a total mistake. Japanese fashion is extremely monochromatic. I look stupid.CR: Dinner at an izakaya. If you don’t recognise what these skewers are, don’t worry, neither did we. When we ordered, the waiter/chef grimaced and rubbed his belly and said “sorry, these are… Inside Organs”. We assured him that it was okay. The izakaya only sat 10 customers at a time and was down a long flight of narrow stairs. The two men that ran the venue were young and clearly friends. We are seated at the kitchen front here.DW: I operate on the risk-based principle that if everyone else is ordering it and you can find it in lots of restaurants then it’s definitely safer than driving a car, so go for it. CR: Declan is making us sound more adventurous than we are. When we ordered the chicken, we actually had no idea it would be raw. I felt a bit funny about eating raw chicken, but it wasn’t as confronting as the lethal-livered blowfish from two nights ago so I proceeded to eat. It wasn’t my favourite. The skin (seared) was quite tough and chewy.
Bonus content:
There has been a breakdown between the blog creators, CR and DW. It is threatening to destroy their creative, professional and emotional union. DW claims that CR is only interested in experiences to take photos and that she takes too many close up photos that don’t explain the larger context.
For a small period over coffee this morning the blog team disbanded due to creative differences.
CR understands this aesthetic argument but refuses to submit to censorship attempts. CR believes close up of raw chicken is of interest to broader audience. CR also makes the claim that Japan was not her preferred holiday destination and therefore if she wants to engage with it through the medium of tourist-photo, this is not a big deal. CR acknowledges that last point is controversial and did not voice to DW face-to-face.
To clarify, I do not and never have believed Caitlin is only doing experiences for photos. I believe Caitlin understands how I feel. My concern is with using photos as a log of events instead of a story. A torrent of photos of food doesn’t capture an experience (in the broader sense of the term) and I believe that is what the blog is intended to be. It is not a 1:1 retelling of a day, it is a collection of sights, sounds and observations that are emblematic of the adventure. Creative direction is needed as these things are deeply personal. The context and surroundings around the photo is just as important. A smaller selection is more effective at capturing an experience as you are forced to review and select what you believe is important and representative.
I must admit I thought gatcha was a typo and you were talking about matcha! I have now educated myself. I am sure it is no surprise Declan but as a reader I am all for lots of photos. You have a lot more foundation knowledge that you take for granted and it is nice for us to have pictures of some things you may take for granted. I know this then brings up the question of whether the blog is for the reader or not but I am going to pretend it is. I am a little concerned at this early disharmony but know you will work through it. I think Caitlin is an excellent girlfriend for tagging along at all of those places. I would still be taking photos of the cherry blossoms. Blog is a great read as per usual. Thank you xx
I am glad you are enjoying the photos mum, they are a lot of fun to take, even if for some reason this trip Declan is in my ear saying ‘dont take a photo of that’.
I will accept my excellent girlfriend token. There is indeed a lot of tagging along.
I think Japan is triggering all my not so deep stress points. There is so much to experience in such small places I feel like I would suffer from sensory overload. I have also worked out that as a tall person of reasonable proportions I would struggle to actually sit in or walk around many of the cafes and shops. I liked caits poem under the gatcha. Does Declan actually know all the arcade games he is playing or is it a lucky dip of completely new experiences. I make no comment on the creative process of blog creation other than saying I am a satisfied customer of the content.
Declan thinks you would fit fine in the shops. I personally think it could be uncomfortable if it was a busy shop.
The notebook in which I wrote the poem was a big stress point in our relationship to date. There was a closed boutique paper shop that had beautiful notebooks and I wanted a small one to take notes while in Japan. Despite notebook shop being shut, this longing I expressed triggered a lot of consumption fear in Declan. He did tell me at one point I had enough notebooks in Sydney and prohibited purchases of notebooks in Japan. I did not think he was allowed to make such declaration and it made me nervous for future souvenirs I might want to purchase.
The next day we found my little notebook in a department store. I forced the purchase. It was about A$2. We still discuss little notebook purchase to the current day (23rd April).
Declan response to arcade game query:
– knows of many not all.
– has played few in arcade game format
– has played similar genre games in other formats before and is familiar with mechanics. So has base level competency.
– destroyed CR in pong.
– CR claims this is because he pongs all the time.
– in terms of choice of which game, this time he chose based on it possibly being two player. However we found out upon beginning I also had to pay 100yen. So therefore it was not at random. Yet he does admit familiarity with the genre of street fighting so therefore may have introduce some bias not limited to it purportedly being two player.
We are all consumers. Declan consumes video games and you consume notebooks so I am confused about why there is a distinction between the two items.
Bonus content:
There has been a breakdown between the blog creators, CR and DW. It is threatening to destroy their creative, professional and emotional union. DW claims that CR is only interested in experiences to take photos and that she takes too many close up photos that don’t explain the larger context.
For a small period over coffee this morning the blog team disbanded due to creative differences.
CR understands this aesthetic argument but refuses to submit to censorship attempts. CR believes close up of raw chicken is of interest to broader audience. CR also makes the claim that Japan was not her preferred holiday destination and therefore if she wants to engage with it through the medium of tourist-photo, this is not a big deal. CR acknowledges that last point is controversial and did not voice to DW face-to-face.
To clarify, I do not and never have believed Caitlin is only doing experiences for photos. I believe Caitlin understands how I feel. My concern is with using photos as a log of events instead of a story. A torrent of photos of food doesn’t capture an experience (in the broader sense of the term) and I believe that is what the blog is intended to be. It is not a 1:1 retelling of a day, it is a collection of sights, sounds and observations that are emblematic of the adventure. Creative direction is needed as these things are deeply personal. The context and surroundings around the photo is just as important. A smaller selection is more effective at capturing an experience as you are forced to review and select what you believe is important and representative.
I must admit I thought gatcha was a typo and you were talking about matcha! I have now educated myself. I am sure it is no surprise Declan but as a reader I am all for lots of photos. You have a lot more foundation knowledge that you take for granted and it is nice for us to have pictures of some things you may take for granted. I know this then brings up the question of whether the blog is for the reader or not but I am going to pretend it is. I am a little concerned at this early disharmony but know you will work through it. I think Caitlin is an excellent girlfriend for tagging along at all of those places. I would still be taking photos of the cherry blossoms. Blog is a great read as per usual. Thank you xx
I am glad you are enjoying the photos mum, they are a lot of fun to take, even if for some reason this trip Declan is in my ear saying ‘dont take a photo of that’.
I will accept my excellent girlfriend token. There is indeed a lot of tagging along.
I think Japan is triggering all my not so deep stress points. There is so much to experience in such small places I feel like I would suffer from sensory overload. I have also worked out that as a tall person of reasonable proportions I would struggle to actually sit in or walk around many of the cafes and shops. I liked caits poem under the gatcha. Does Declan actually know all the arcade games he is playing or is it a lucky dip of completely new experiences. I make no comment on the creative process of blog creation other than saying I am a satisfied customer of the content.
Declan thinks you would fit fine in the shops. I personally think it could be uncomfortable if it was a busy shop.
The notebook in which I wrote the poem was a big stress point in our relationship to date. There was a closed boutique paper shop that had beautiful notebooks and I wanted a small one to take notes while in Japan. Despite notebook shop being shut, this longing I expressed triggered a lot of consumption fear in Declan. He did tell me at one point I had enough notebooks in Sydney and prohibited purchases of notebooks in Japan. I did not think he was allowed to make such declaration and it made me nervous for future souvenirs I might want to purchase.
The next day we found my little notebook in a department store. I forced the purchase. It was about A$2. We still discuss little notebook purchase to the current day (23rd April).
Declan response to arcade game query:
– knows of many not all.
– has played few in arcade game format
– has played similar genre games in other formats before and is familiar with mechanics. So has base level competency.
– destroyed CR in pong.
– CR claims this is because he pongs all the time.
– in terms of choice of which game, this time he chose based on it possibly being two player. However we found out upon beginning I also had to pay 100yen. So therefore it was not at random. Yet he does admit familiarity with the genre of street fighting so therefore may have introduce some bias not limited to it purportedly being two player.
We are all consumers. Declan consumes video games and you consume notebooks so I am confused about why there is a distinction between the two items.