Archive for the Tokyo Journal Category


Yuri Revolution, Day 4

April 12th, 2005

Sorry for the delayed update – yesterday was awfully busy. All that sitting and grinning and being happy wore me out…but I digress.

The morning began with meeting the gang in the lobby. We had a fair crowd: Bruce, Zeyl, Wing, Erin, Laura, Kelli, Donna and Serge.

We hit the streets of Ikebukuro for a short walk, and then, like the good host I am, I had to bail. Donna, Serge, Bruce and I had a date with Death.

Takarazuka is an all-female musical revue troop (for the geeks out there, it’s the kind of thing Sakura Taisen is based on) that has been in existence since the 1920s. Getting tickets is hard, but Rica got us a few and the show was SO good, I forgive her for killing me the other day!

I recommend you click the above link for the story and pictures (because I couldn’t of course take pictures during the show….) but you HAVE to read the story! Who *knew* that the fall of the Hapsburgs was because Death had the hots for a woman??? I sure didn’t! I’m going to track down my history teacher and complain, because that’s a damn site better a story than boring old socio-politcal forces and changing economics!

I did manage to take a picture of the nice policeman who gave us directions at Hibiya Park:

And the outside of the Theater (all the ladies loitering are probably scalpers):

And this statue at the corner of the building:

But it will take me several separate entries to truly gush about the show. It was perfect! It was everything I’d ever hoped a Takarazuka show would be. Nao Ayaki as Death was great – she moved so cool that Donna and I kept trying to mimic it unsuccessfully – and the music and songs were brilliant. Even Luigi, the stereotypical Italian cum Greek Chorus was fantastic.

Really – my toes wiggled through the whole show it was so good.

And everywhere Death went, “he” was accompanied by a dozen Deathlings (which Donna called the “Deathkateers”. I kept singing, “He’s Mister Death Miser” tunes when they came out – and if you know the reference, you’ll understand what they looked like.

When I get home, I’ll scan in some pictures, just to show you some good bits.

In any case, it was brilliant. It was also 3 hours long. By the time we got back to Ikebukuro, I was wiped but, as it happens, almost everyone had fled. So Donna, Serge, Bruce, P and I went for Italian at the Italian Tomato (I had a spinach pasta dish which was pretty good) we crashed in our room for Doctor Who and Live Action Sailor Moon, then I kicked everyone out and was asleep by ten.

Today (Day 5) was supposed to have been sunny, but is once again rainy, so I think we won’t bother with Tokyo Tower. I’m going to start at Akasakusa and try to get to Kappabashi…and then we’ll see. :-)





Day 3, Part 2

April 11th, 2005

P and I were in the hotel lobby, while I waited for Rica and Takami to meet me, and the next thing we knew, everyone else was there!

The rest of the gang decided to hit up Shibuya while I went out to Koujimachi to do a sound and video check at A|Z Cafe. P decided to go to Odaiba to go to a stationery store (that turned out to be long gone, oh well.)

The A|Z Cafe is really a nice little place – very comfortable and friendly. The sound/vid check went off without a hitch, which is worriesome. lol

We sat and discussed the schedule and other details, then had lunch. Eating is a bit of a trial right now – I’m still jetlagging pretty hard. But the food was amazingly good and I did pretty well, although they didn’t think so. :-(

I ordered the fried oyster balls in miso sauce. If you get a chance to try that at the A|Z cafe, I strongly recommend them!


This is, from left to right, Kajimura-san, the owner of the Cafe, Takami and Rica, all working hard while I sat and stared.

Everything is good to go for Yuricon 2005 in Toky – all we need is people to come!

My eyes were smimming in my head when we left. JUST as I crashed onto the bed of the hotel room, P walked in. Figures. So now we’re relaxing in the room, watching a dubbed and subtitled silent western. Seriously.

Oh, weather today is cold and rainy with intermittent earthquakes. (Weird…I was *just* typing “just kidding” when a temblor hit. What a freaky feeling!)

Tonight’s plan is to do snacks and watch Doctor Who. And to *finally* let me crash and burn!

Tomorrow, we begin the tour. I wonder how it will turn out? LOL





Day 2, Part 2 – Day 3, Part1

April 11th, 2005

Well…all I can say is that Rica Tashima is evil. No rest for me, as I found out after the early morning stroll around Ikebukro.

We talked business for a few hours, then she had me come with her to pick a friend up at Shinjuku. Only…I thought I’d be gone for half an hour – I was gone for four. I didn’t have my bag, so no camera, so no pictures of any of the things I saw yesterday, including the bar in Suginami city with the random Gundam statues in the window.

I was supposed to meet someone last night, but I couldn’t do it. I had warned her that my second night and third day is when I crash from jet lag. She didn’t care. I begged off the metting and she took us out to a manjuyaki restaruant for really good food that I only tasted, because I was too tired to eat.

I was asleep by 9PM, and awoken at 7AM by an earthquake – or, more accurately, the wife waking me and pointing out that there was an earthquake. 6.1 at the origin, felt like 3 or so here. Mostly it felt like a boat rocking…a very strange feeling on the 16th floor of a hotel.

We all gathered together for breakfast at a local cafe and a stroll through the rain.

Donna, Serge, P, and Sparkle on “Romance Street”.

This little guy is gesturing for you to come into the restaurant.

We wandered among the closed pachinko parlors and soaplands and nudie bars, and now I have to pack the computer up – I’m off to the A|Z Cafe to meet the owner and do a sound/video check.

The rest of the folks will be wandering about for the day, while I do business. Lucky dogs.





Yuri Revolution, Day 2

April 10th, 2005

Day 2

Woke up after a few hours of decent sleep after a dream of sleeping on the ground, watching a crazy person cleaning up and threatening us.

We cobbled a breakfast together of oatmeal and cheese and tea for me, while the sun burns through the mists outside.

I did forget to mention that we watched and interminably long episode (probably a movie) of Crayon Shin-chan last night which was hysterical and awesomely bad all at once. We all agreed that TV was a problem, because it was so distracting – the temptation is to never leave the room.

Which reminds me – I must go see what’s playing. It’s Sunday morning!

On no! It’s Futari ha PreCure!. This show is evil and it haunts me.. Must go suffer.

YES!! Have I ever mentioned how wonderful Japanese TV is? My morning begins with PreCure and has now segued into a woman sing “Those Were The Days” in Japanese. You can’t beat this with a stick.

Inexplicably, we’re all sort of heading in the right direction at the right time, so we’re gonna meet in the lobby in 20 and look for brekkie then take a “Yay! We’re back in Ikebukuro!” walk.

This is outside the hotel this morning.

Here is a random window with plastic parfaits as we walked around.

Snub of the day – QE2 didn�t attend Charles’ and Carmillas marriage ceremony. Woops.

Anyway – we’re off! BBL

This is the outside of our hotel. The staff has more class than I’ll ever really have…)

Caught up with Gideon and Lorelei (Gideon and Sparkle’s baby) in the lobby, then waited for the rest of the crew to join us. The first order of business was breakfast, so we headed down towards the Sunshine 60 mall, and looked for a place to eat. After being side tracked by punk socks and plastic food, we ended up in a caf� eating eggs and ham, or spaghetti and talking about Stephen Chow movies and Doctor Who. No geeks here, uh-uh.

We have *no* idea what this is….

We decided to hit up the street by Sunshine 60 that has K-Books and Lashinban and Animate for a quick shopping spree. I called Rica and we set a date for 1:30 to talk business. (I’m in the hotel room now, enjoying a cold bottle of Blendy caf� au lait waiting for her, and listening to gail force winds buffet the hotel.)

It’s gorgeous out today. Sunny and warm with a brisk (ha!) breeze – a real allergy nightmare. Thank you Pfizer for decent allergy meds.

Well, Rica’s here – business talk. Be back later.





Yuri Revolution, Day 1, part 2

April 9th, 2005

Day 1, Tuscany

Oddly enough, Tuscany was the cover article of the National Geographic available at the airport.

I am sitting at the desk in my room, looking over my shoulder at Ikebukuro at night, drinking Pocari Sweat (it functions similarly to Gatorade and when it is 4AM one’s normal time and one has hours of stuff to do before sleep, one needs all the electrolytes one can get.)

Our plane was named the Robert F. Six. I commented that it sounded like a good name, one that would not plummet out of the sky – and so it didn’t. I honor the memory of Robert F. and the five others who came before our fine vehicle.

For our last meal in the US, we chose to eat at a local Indian restaurant that we like. After parking the car, we found that we had time already on the meter. I stepped out of the car and found money on the ground and P. (my wife) found a nail. I interpreted the signs to mean that we would have good fortune, good timing and good luck. So far, my prediction has been solid.

As I type this, Tsubasa Chronicle is on. TV. None of the original voice actors are being used…damn shame.

This trip has been a little scary so far, because everything has been perfect. That never happens. P and I have the *worst* travel karma in the whole world, bar none. If there’s a way for the airline or hotel reservation to be screwed up, then screwed up it shall be!

And yet, with the exception of the teeny-weeny little side trip I took at security, where they singled me out for special screening, all has been creepily smooth. The plane boarded early, the plane was almost empty, so we had plenty of room, and the food wasn’t nearly as abysmal as we expected based on past experience. (But we expect that that is as much because we packed food for ourselves. If we hadn’t been able to pack food, the food would have been inedible, I’m sure.

The trip to the hotel was smooth, the reservation was (gasp!) correct, thus breaking a 20-year tradition of no hotel ever having my reservation listed.

And, while we were leaving a message for Donna and Serge to call us, they walked in the door.

Now P, D and S are out buying food, and I, Sparkle and Gideon will be following shortly. Room party!


From the left, Sparkle, P, Donna and Serge. Expect to see  alot of pictures of these folks…

Rica came over as we sat, bringing copies of the Yuricon ’05 program book – it looks great!

As people started to wilt, they left. But, even though all I wanted to do was sleep, no! It was off to the WANA Trap! Ladies event.. Yay.

So Rica and I left the wife to sleep, and trundled through the overcrowded streets of Shinjuku, as thousands of young people went out to have “fun.”

We met Takami (a Yuricon staffer and Rica’s good friend) at the Hanazono Jinja.

(A Jinja is a Shinto shrine. This one is notable for being a cute shrine in the middle of a vey busy part of town. Throughout the night, they kept trying to explain jinja-related things to me, but I kept saying that I knew and when asked how, laughed and said that I was a fan of Hana no Asuka-gumi. LOL But seriously, I like the Hanazono shrine and I’ve promised it 500yen, so when we go back on Friday, I’ll give it to the kami (resident god) then.)

WANA was being held in a teeny little bar/club – there seemed to be 25 people or so. I was told that there had been another ladies event the night before which is why it was empty. So I drank my lemon squash and watch all the kiddies dance, and felt very old and tired. We gave the organizer some chocolate as a gift, and a signed copy of Rica ‘tte Kanji!? and she was so happy she tried to pick up Rica. (Who had already fended off advances from a lovely, yet, young, lady early that evening. I felt like a fifth wheel.) I don’t remember having that kind of energy even when I was 20.

Eventually the caffeine wore of and we all left. I made my way back on the one of the last trains to Ikebukuro, in a crowd that would have been terrifying if I cared about such things. I can see how groping is such a problem in these cases. There was one little beady-eyed guy near me and I kept an eye on him in case he tried anything funny on the girl who stood near him, but then I forgot. lol

Went to bed, tossed and turned for a few hours and took Ambien.

And so, day one endeth after 39 hours or so.