Ginger Ale Tales

Photo Book

Purchases

Clothing + Accessories • Emerald green crop sweater (not pictured) – Uniqlo in Ikebukuro • Disney sweater (not pictured) – Uniqlo in Osaka • Navy knee-length skirt (not pictured) – Uniqlo in Ikebukuro • Off-shoulder sweater (not pictured) – Harajuku • Floral Skirt (not pictured) – Liz Lisa in Shibuya 109 • Brown Skirt (not pictured) – Harajuku • Chocker (not pictured) – Ikebukuro • Tree branch bobby pins (not pictured) – Harajuku • White pleather hat (not pictured) – Ikebukuro • Grey suede hat (not pictured) – Sunshine City Mall • Grey beanie (not pictured) – Uniqlo in Ikebukuro

Decorative • Totoro picture frame (top-left) – Donguri • Inari wooden statue (middle-left) – Fushimi Inari shrine • Inari ceramic statue (middle-left) – Sasuke Inari shrine • Deer ceramic statue (middle-left) – shrine in Nara

Kitchenware • Ceramic bowls (middle) – 100 Yen store • Mint spatula (middle) – Daiso at Aeon mall • Donald Duck Chopsticks (middle-right) – Tokyo Disneyland • Stitch Chopsticks (middle-right) – Tokyo Disneyland • Big Hero 6 Mug (bottom-left) – Disney Store • Kingdom Hearts Mug (bottom-left) – Artnia Cafe • Origami Crane chopstick holder (bottom-right) – Kappabashi street • Fuji-san chopstick holder (bottom-right) – Daiso at Aeon mall • Japanese style knife (not pictured) – Kappabashi street

Other • Kingdom Hearts II Manga Vol 1 + 2 (top-left) – Bookstore at Aeon mall • Face washing headband (not pictured) – Daiso at Aeon mall • Big Hero 6 Tsumtsum keychain (not pictured) – Disney Store • Pikachu phone case (not pictured) – Mega Poke Centre

Sayonara

Harajuku

Harajuku is a famous section of Shibuya due to its extreme fashion aimed at teenagers. Walking down Takeshita-dori you will see an immense amount of people and shops. Though many of the stores can still be kind of pricey, you are more likely able to find more affordable, unique items here. If you would like to find some funny, sex souvenirs, check out Condomania which is a small condom store.

While in Harajuku, make sure you stop by Gyoza Lou for the most affordable and delicious gyoza ever! Prices start at ¥290 and you have the basic choice of steamed or fried along with some options for toppings such as onions for a bit of an up-charge. Each order contains 6 gyoza.

Tokyo Disneysea

Tokyo Disneysea is currently my favourite disney park. As of now I have only experienced Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneysea. The park itself is primarily aimed at adults and contains more of the intense rides, including the Tower of Terror. Areas of the park thematically represent several disney movies including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Indiana Jones, and Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

Tokyo Disney celebrated Halloween this year from September 9th to October 31st. During these celebrations patrons are allowed to wear Disney themed costumes during the first and last week of the event. Knowing this we purposefully planned to go near the end of our trip and packed our Ariel and Prince Eric costumes (I forgot to wear my bow! ;n;). This event made the experience so much fun as we took photos with other cosplayers and had our picture taken numerous amounts of times (we were asked over one hundred times, but people were taking photos of us with Lilo and Stitch and while we took photos with others). Despite this we were still able to go on all our favourite rides multiple times by grabbing new fast passes every time we were able. Due to our fastpass a-game, we only had to wait in the normal line line once which wasn’t even too bad as it was a cooler Wednesday. If you’re going to Japan in the fall, I definitely would recommend planning for this as it was so much fun being a celebrity for a day!

Shibuya

Shibuya is awesome when you’ve never been there before or you are wanting to shop. When first exiting the station you will be greeted with a statue and mural of Hachiko, along with the famous Shibuya crossing. If you would like an overhead look of the crossing, you can go to the upper floor of the starbucks across the street. Do note that this is a super touristy thing to do (which we did, sorry).

Tokyo Disneyland

Though not initially planned, we ended up going to Disneyland with our friends Yuito, Kento, and Kan. As I have never been to Disneyland in the states, I am unable to compare it to Tokyo Disneyland. If you have the option, avoid going on weekend at all costs. Our only option with our friends was a Sunday and it was ridiculously busy. Fast passes were all claimed by around 13:30, lines were all a minimum wait time of over an hour, and even with the fast pass you’d have to wait about 30 minutes. Despite spending the entire day at the park, we were only able to go on about 4 or 5 rides, however, being able to catch up and hang out with my friends again made it worth it. Before we left they gifted us with a bottle of sake that the three had pitched in to buy - we have yet to drink it.

Osanbashi Pier + China Town

”Ōsanbashi Pier is the main international passenger pier at the Port of Yokohama. Ōsanbashi is the oldest pier in Yokohama, originally constructed between 1889 and 1896.” (source)

1 Chome-1-4, Kaigandori, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture 231-0002, Japan

”Yokohama Chinatown is Japan's largest chinatown, located in central Yokohama. A large number of Chinese stores and restaurants can be found in the narrow and colorful streets of Chinatown. Various events and festivals such as Chinese New Year around the beginning of February are also held at chinatown.” (source)

Yamashitacho, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture 231-0023, Japan

Cup Noodle Museum

”The Cup Noodles Museum is a fun and interactive museum that shows the history of instant ramen noodles using a combination of whimsical exhibits and hands on workshops. It was opened by the Nissin Food company, whose founder invented instant ramen noodles in 1958 as a fast and convenient food. It is the second cup noodles museum to open in Japan; the first is the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka..” (source)

If you love ramen and especially instant ramen in a cup, this museum is a great place to waste a bit of time. After meeting up with another friend, Kento (whom I had initially hosted during the high school exchange), we went to the museum to waste some time while waiting for another friend, Kan (whom I had also hosted), to join us. Using fun illustrations, animations, and interactive exhibits, you are able to learn a bit about the history of the invention and development of cup noodle. My favorite part of this experience is that for a small fee, you are able to create your own cup noodle by decorating the container, choosing your flavours, and adding toppings of your choice.

Usagi MiMi Cafe

Animal cafes are an abundance in Japan but unfortunately a lot of them are not very good to their animals. Cafes with exotic animals can be especially bad, for example, at owl cafes the owls are typically chained to the posts they are forced to stand on. Taking this into consideration, I did my best to research cafes that actually care for their animals and eventually discovered Usagi MiMi Cafe.

The cafe was located down the same road as Tokyu Hands that I had mentioned in my post about Sunshine City Mall within Ikebukuro. After a short 5-minute walk from our AirBnB we arrived at a fairly sketchy building with an even sketchier elevator (every floor passed it would give an aggressive jerk down).Upon arriving to the correct floor, you knock on the heavily labeled door and will be let in quickly if there is room. You are given the option of 30-minutes or one hour with the bunnies at a small cost of $10-$15 (CAD). The staff members there all seemed to know a good chunk of English, so the rules are easy to understand.

After paying for the service you then wash and sterilize your hands, put on your aprons (to protect your clothing), and are asked to sit in one of three play areas. In order to ensure the bunnies safety, you are required to remain seated while they hop about, you are given a small cup of food to help bribe them to you, and the staff are willing to take photos of you. Once ready, one of the staff members will release anywhere between 5-15 bunnies to hop around at once. The bunnies all seemed happy and healthy when I visited, they were friendly with each other, and with the added incentive of food, they were very friendly toward us too.

To avoid stressing the animals out, the bunnies that are allowed to romp around are rotated. When we went there was only us and a father with his kid which may have impacted the amount of bunnies allowed to hop around at once. Based on what I’ve read about other Usagi cafes, MiMi has the friendliest bunnies and the best bang for your buck.

Visiting Family

Gion-Yama Hiking Trail

”This is the shortest trail, and the closest one from JR Kamakura Station among all the Kamakura hiking trails. The trail traverses the ridges of Gion-yama Hills, starting from stone steps at the back of the Yagumo-jinja Shrine and ending at the site where Tosho-ji Temple used to be. It takes about only one hour and is relatively easy. The trail has a great view of Mt. Fuji, the bay and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.” (source)

Our final stop before dinner was a small hiking trail. Having created such a full intinerary, we chose one of the shorter courses available. Due to it being off the beaten path and the entrance hard to initially find, we spent probably as much time finding it as we did hiking it. The hike is well worth it as the view of Kamakura and the beaches is absolutely breath-taking, the terrain consistently changes creating an interesting hike and work-out, and we only saw one other person on the trail for the entire time we were on it!

Yuigahama Beach

”Located adjacent to each other, Yuigahama and Zaimokuza are Kamakura's two most popular beaches due to their convenient location and good facilities. As a result, both get very crowded during the summer season. The two beaches collectively span about one kilometer of coastline, providing a lot of space for sunbathing and swimming. Beach huts and rental shops are open during the season and provide visitors with shade, changing and shower rooms, food and drinks.” (source)

After spending a good portion of the day walking and exploring, we needed a break. We stopped at the nearby conbini, bought some icecream, and sat down on the beach to watch the coast line and the few people that were around. As it was the off season in October, it wasn’t very crowded and was quite enjoyable for a break. However, if you are visiting in July/August be aware that you may struggle to find room on the beach.

Sasuke Inari Shrine

”Sasuke Inari Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Kamakura and the site of the Hidden Village of Kamakura. It is located very near the Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine. According to Kamakura Historian Shimizu Ginzo, the hidden village that was adjacent to the shrine was the dwelling of a band of people that were the antecedents to the Ninja. The remoteness and easy defensibility provided the necessary seclusion to conduct their activities which included elimination of enemies of the Kamakura Shogunate.” (source)

Due to its commonly presented design and relationship to foxes, Inari Ōkami is my favourite of the Shinto gods. As such, I needed to go to the small shrine within Kamakura! When using our portable wi-fi and google maps, we were directed on an overly complicated hike where we almost got lost - we later learned there was a road way we could have taken that maps neglected to tell us. Despite it’s small size, this was probably my favourite of our shrine and temple visits. Everything appeared very aged and not as well maintained as the other shrines, nature had begun to grow over and it created an awesome effect of man-made vs nature. The lack of people also greatly attracted me, we saw maybe 5-10 people while here, including who I assume was the kannushi whom sells various items to possibly help fund the shrine (?).

Hōkoku-ji

”Hōkoku-ji is an old temple in the Kenchō-ji school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism located in Kamakura, Japan. Famous for its bamboo garden, it is also known as "Bamboo Temple".” (source)

Hōkoku-ji is one of my favourite temples due to the beautiful bamboo grove and the usual minimal amounts of people. It is quite peaceful and nice to just slowly walk around enjoy, especially due to the minimal amounts of tourists. We used google maps and took about 30 minutes to walk here from Kamakura station and then took the bus back in order to save time.

Kōtoku-in

”Kōtoku-in is a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo-shū sect in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The temple is renowned for its "Great Buddha", a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha which is one of the most famous icons of Japan.” (source)

Visiting the giant Buddha is a really cool but brief experience. It is located within quite large temple grounds but unfortunately for me, there was not much of interest after visiting with the large statue. What is really cool is that for a very small fee, you can enter within the hollow statue of Buddha and see him from the inside as pictured. We went on a Friday, so it was quite crowded.

Hase-dera

”Hase-dera, commonly called the Hase-kannon is one of the Buddhist temples in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, famous for housing a massive wooden statue of Kannon. The temple originally belonged to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, but eventually became an independent temple of the Jōdo shū.” (source)

Kamakura is one of my favourite places to visit, partially because of the lack of tourists and partially due to me having spent a full two-weeks living here. While in Kamakura, you should only experience tour groups at the more famous temples, including Hase-dera. Hase-dera is a cool area with a small restaurant where you can explore the grounds, crouch through a cave, and hike up a steep hill in order to witness a breath-taking view of the city.