Today was another fine day in Tokyo City. The weather was beautiful. I nice overcast and a coolish breeze, which made wandering all the more comfortable. We spent the night in a capsule hotel, which was quite the experience. For those of you that dont know what a capsule hotel is, it is what it sounds like. Picutre a hallway of pods stacked 2 high. Inside said pod is a bed, big enough for one person to lie in comfortably, given they aren’t taller than 6 feet. There is also a TV, a radio, light, and alarm clock. There was also a AC vent installed, which was not working, thus making the pod extremely hot. They also supplied a pair of stylish pajamas, razor, towels and toothbrush. everything needed for a tired businessman to spend the night. They also have a dry cleaner on site. The shower room was also a new experience for me. There was a bucket in the shower room to sit on while you wash yourself, and a really hot tub to soak in as well as a very hot dry sauna. All while on the 9th floor of the building which provides a great view of the city.

From the capsule I grabbed some street tempura and we headed to the Ghibli museum. The museum was much more than I thought it would be. Studio Ghibli is a famous Japanese animation studio that created great cartoons such as Laputa: Castle in the sky, princess mononoke and spirited away. The architecture of the museum was very nicely done up. It reminded me of the salvador dali mansion, but more childlike with round walls and pastel colours with a soft stucco finish. When we entered the museam we were very enthusiasticly greeted by the staff and given 3 animation cells which were to be our tickets into the Ghibli theatre. The first room we visited was quite mindblowing. It featured various animation stills of the films and minuture dioramas of their animation studio. Next were some zeotrope animations of their characters (a disc with drawings on it and slits on the opposite side, when you look through the slits, the object looks animated). That was impressive, but next up was probably one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. We peered into a glass tube and saw about 30 sets of statues all surrounding a big tree. After a few seconds the whole platform of characters starts spinning. Next the lights start to flicker at a specific rate. And right before my very eyes the statues start to come to life. I’ve seen animations before, and i understand how they work, but i never thought I would be seeing this. It was as if I was watching a live action stop motion cartoon, but in live action right in front of me. It probably doesnt sound all that exciting in writing, but I highly recommend the trip to the museum (if your in town) just for that exhibit. The rest of the museum was also very magical, but diddn’t make as much of an impact on me like that spinning doohickey did. The museum in whole was very magical. There were some rooms that were built right from childrens story books, we got to wander through goldie locks and the three bear’s house, sat in baby bear’s chair and played with his or hers poridge. There was also a rooftop garden with a giant metal robot (statue), and replicas of some home animation studio (all the signs were in japanese, so I could only assume what I was looking at).

After the museum, we took another one of our famous accidental detours around the town, which was very nice. From there we headed to the Harajuku district. Despite not having a map we found our way, thanks to Deena’s lip reading skills. She noticed some other people across the street asking for directions to Harajuku, so we just followed ever so stealthily behind them.
We navigated our way through very tiny streets, crammed with people and checked out some of the most fasionable people in japan. I kind of felt more like a bum wearing plaid shorts and a t shirt, instead of being dressed up like a vampire (i left my costume at home). There were some really interesting people there, wearing the strangest costumes i’ve seen so far. Some covered with blood, a few wearing eyepatches, and even a girl dressed like strawberry shortcake. Alot of the stores were selling band shirts, the most popular being the sex pistols, the clash and the misfits. I couldn’t find any leftover crack shirts.

Tonight will be our final night in Tokyo (for now). We will be in Nagano tomorrow if all goes well. Playing with macaque ( snow monkies) and enjoying the (hopefully) quiet countryside.

Happy Passover
avi