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Fri 2nd May – Yokohama

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DW:

Very chill day today. The rain was due to set in after midday and it certainly did. We walked around a bit more of Yokohama in the morning and checked out some odd stores. I don’t think we bought anything at all. It’s mostly semi-pornographic 1/8th sized replica dolls of manga I have never heard of. There’s only so many of these a man can own.

After midday we just had a coffee and ambled around before having a nap to mentally prepare ourselves for the flight home. Not many photos for today, but that reflects the wind-down on our end.

CR:

Ah Nippon. It’s the land of sleepy salarymen, cute kids and crowded subways. It’s the only place in the world where the waitress will wait, looming over your table, until you order your first drink directly upon being seated. The wonders we have experienced: custom stamps at destinations; receipts galore; gatcha gardens; fish for every meal and, don’t forget, the glorious, endless pamphlets. You’ve never felt cleaner than after a shower in a molded, windowless box. Oh and the sounds. Don’t think because you’re not allowed to talk in public that there aren’t sounds: helpful speakers on the ground telling you to watch your step over ramps; the doorman emphatically punching out an Arigato Gozymus to every worker that comes through the door; and last but not least, the public service announcements in Japanese blasted from megaphones on remote coastal sections that definitely do not sound like tsunami warnings. I’ll miss your scalding black coffee and your spongey croissants. I’ll forever cherish memories of the continent of plastics I consumed on your lands. Farewell rising sun.

DW: Yokohama is kind of like a Tokyo extension. It’s a bit less refined, a bit less clean and filled somehow with a few more tourists in certain areas, but it’s hitting similar notes.
CR: I experience Yokohama through the binary classification of In Yakuza Like a Dragon or Not In Yakuza Like a Dragon.
DW: This section is not in Yakuza Like a Dragon.
DW: This is what the inside of an “amusement hall” sounds like. It’s comical.
DW: While enduring the propaganda of the MHI Industrial Museum I had to show everyone I was the best aerospace engineer. This is me destroying the disassembly minigame shortly before setting the daily record.
CR: I report that this photo was taken under duress. This was Declan’s second run through after he didn’t achieve the daily top score first go because he was at ‘incorrect height’. I am glad he won this one eventually because he got absolutely schooled by a Japanese man on deep sea naval navigation.
DW: It is important in the modern economy to specialise. That man was obvious a deep sea navigation engineer with years of experience.
DW: Caitlin said I wasn’t allowed to go to the Pingu themed pop up cafe, so this was the unthemed slightly cheaper and infinitely lamer alternate. She claimed I wasn’t really a Pingu fan and was just looking for something to do. It’s like she doesn’t even know me. Pingu fandom is one of my key identifying traits as anyone you actually knows me will tell her. Noot noot!
CR: I made the mistake of telling Declan I hadn’t yet spent mum and dad’s A$150. It is now Declan’s mission to waste this money in the most inefficient way possible.
DW: Despite trying all day I couldn’t overcome my resistance against the concept of meaningless overpriced plastic trinkets. Now if they were trinkets of something I knew about, that would be different.
DW: It poured for a few hours in the afternoon so we came back and I definitely did not have a nap.
CR: We have three hours back at the hotel to chill as we wait out the rain. We finished the 2.5hour Mass Effect YouTube video from 8 years ago. Declan definitely does not nap.
DW: For those playing along at home: https://youtu.be/hct5WeBmsUM?si=Lu-2GqkK_yDTKKxm
DW: The much talked about Ferris wheel rise from yesterday is followed up with a gondola ride this evening. Caitlin’s is nearly in a comatose state from sheer excitement.
CR: I was pretty sad when I realised this only goes for a total of 5 minutes. A substandard experience when compared to the delights of the ferris wheel last night.
DW: I was permitted 300 JPY for one gatcha. I got a little snake (I wanted the little bear or the little whale). Gatcha culture is still a bit of a mystery to us. A half translated line above a bank of machines states “Japanese toys are small, that’s why they’re interesting” captured the essence as far as I can tell. I understand the skinner box nature of cranking the handle and getting a variable prize, but I don’t have a feel for how big or who the target market actually is.
CR: Declan tries to milk me for more gatcha funds but after the absolute hiding I got at the beginning of the trip for Felix the Shit Gatcha, he’s only allowed the equivalent amount I spent.
DW: It was a tough day for all. The umbrella casualties alone are in the tens of thousands.
CR: This is when you know it’s time to call it a day and go to bed. Flight back home at 8.30am tomorrow.

Categories:Japan 2025

Cait

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2 Responses

  1. Caitlin, such a rookie mistake disclosing to Declan about the unspent funds.

    You could have repurposed that for dinner when you return home.

    I am completely lost with the gaming references and got 1 minute into the YouTube clip and gave up.

    Doing silly touristy activities like the gondola at the start of a trip is fun and goofy but at the end of trip seems a bit sad and naff.

    Your blog has reinforced to me that there many Japanese customs and cultural activities that will always be beyond my comprehension.

    Saddest photo of the trip is the large stuffed toy in the bin. There are so many possible backstories as to how that came to be I feel you could use that as a starting point for many different styles of movies. It could be the main plot point in a spy movie, a comedy, a love story, a tragedy or a cute children’s movie. It also seems out of place with the mainstream obsession with tiny toys.

  2. Sayonara and thank you both for another wonderful blog. I really enjoy them and the thought and humour you put into them. Well done!! Arigato Gozaimasu bow bow bow (break eye contact)….