My Life in Japan

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sanrio Puroland!! Fun with Hello Kitty and the Gang!!

Hello Kitty welcomes us to her home.

Sanrio's Hello Kitty (or as she's often referred to in Japan "Kitty chan") is one of the most recognised and beloved of all characters from Japan, famous on an international scale. Many foreigners, however are not aware of just how many friends she has. Well, she has enough to make a not-so-small indoor theme park where she and all her friends from Sanrio prance around in Disney-style parades and have their own version of "A Small World." Much like Disney, Sanrio Puroland offers attractions and shows featuring all the Sanrio characters. The shows are truly impressive and boast Takarazuka-style choreography and costumes at the finale.
There are also a numerous amount of Sanrio goods and food and beverage themed items available. There is a dining area that serves Kitty chan obento and desserts like Sanrio character shaped tayaki. I was able to buy Kuromi chan ears, as she is my favorite Sanrio character, and later Kei and I posed for Sanrio themed purikura (print club)! At the end of the day we played in a Sanrio arcade full of games! After you've collected enough tickets you can trade them in for special character prizes that are not for sale at Sanrio Gift Gate Stores.

Kitty chan in Sanrio's Wizard of OZ themed show.

Kitty chan ala Takarazuka.

Guys and Girls Restroom sign Kitty style. Dear Daniel
and Kitty chan respectively.

Hungry? Delight in a yummy Hello Kitty obento in
the shape of her ribbon!

Visiting Kitty chan in her beautiful home!
We were wearing matching Hello Kitty
rings!

"Kitty chan? Can I borrow your mirror?"

Sanrio Puroland offers character ears much like
Disney, as well as character themed purikura.

The Sugar Bunnies in a Cinamoroll
hot air balloon in Sanrio Puroland attraction.

My favorite Sanrio character, Kuromi in
a Sanrio attraction similar to Disney's
"A Small World." Kuromi is Melody chan's
sister.

Tokyo Disney Land and Sea

Tokyo Disney's One Man's Dream 2 with Mickey
and Minnie.

Since I was a Walt Disney World (Orlando, Florida) cast member before moving to Tokyo, I love to marvel at the differences each park has to offer! As I suspected, Japan's Disney theme parks have extremely kawaii (cute) version of the merchandise we sell in the West. Minnie ears a have Japanese idol style jewelled earrings and Marie and "Miss Bunny" from Bambi have a lot of themed goods. "Miss Bunny" wasn't even given a name in Disney's Bambi, but she's cute, so in Japan she is very popular with Disney fans. I myself bought Haunted Mansion "Maid" style Minnie ears and pink jewelled ones on my first visit to Tokyo Disney Land in 2009.

Of course there are some differences in attractions and shows in the Tokyo parks. I was lucky enough to see One Man's Dream 2 when I visited, and it was absolutely beautiful! It began in black and white like in "Steam Boat Willy" days and gradually became colorful! I was struck by how many Western performers there were in the show!

Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Aurora is my
favorite Disney princess!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at
Disney Sea!

Aye Aye Cap'n Mickey!

Three years a go I went to Disney Sea in Halloween night and it was so fun and beautiful! The park is built around a large "sea" in the center. It is a bit like Epcot's World Showcase as every area is themed as a different part of the world. It has a Tower of Terror like Hollywood Studios, although the premise is completely different! It isn't based on the Twilight Zone, because Japan never had that show; it would have no significance. Instead, the story is centered around a rich man who loved to travel the world and collect rare artefacts, but he brings back an evil tiki statue and the demon kills him and curses his home. I am personally a fan of the original Twilight Zone theme, but it was still fun! I also went on the Indiana Jones and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with my boyfriend Kei (he took these pictures), neither of which we have in the Florida parks. It was a truly magical Halloween!

Reading the special Halloween menu at a Disney Sea
restaurant.

Weekend Life

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.Academic Disclaimer: This blog is a class project for my Visual Anthropology class; as such it is for educational purposes only. All photos posted here are taken by myself unless otherwise noted. Hatsune Miku is a product of Vocaloid and SEGA.

There are so many ways to entertain myself in my neighbourhood I often find it hard to have a truly productive weekend. If you find fun productive, than sure..I'm a super hard worker! I like to hang out around Sunshine City and Sunshine Street for the most part; this is for the arcades, gacha gacha, cafes and fashion. This is what an average (leisurely) weekend is like for me!

カップのフチコ(Cup no Fuchiko) climbing into my mouth,

I went to Animate near Sunshine Street to check for any new Kuroshitsuji goods and look at some fun fashion and art magazines and I found a whole magazine dedicated to Cup no Fuchiko! Inside there were bunches of photos taken by Fuchiko fans of her posing on flower petals and hanging out of noses and sitting in cups floating in the water, etc. It came with a special Fuchiko who, instead of wearing one solid color plus white undergarments, is wearing two and has a little red heart on her pink vest. I wanted to take my own photo for the book!

With my friend Donguri at 299 Ikebukuro. He's taking
a cat nap. Haha.

I went to go see my friend Donguri (Donguri means "acorn) at 299 (nikukyu) to do some studying, look at my magazines and play with the kitties; however, not much studying got accomplished. It was a Sunday and there are so many guests that Donguri and many of the other 16 resident felines were quite sleepy.

Car advertising Hatsune Miku Snow
Princess.

On my way back home I stopped at Family Mart for some yummy coffee and nikuman (manjyu with meaty insides) and next to Family Mart I saw this really cool car advertising Hatsune Miku! It had so many Miku nuigurumi (plushies) in the front window! (It doesn't have a real license plate number so I thought it would be O.K. to snap a photo and post it here!) I get to see many advertisement trucks and cars living in Ikebukuro, but this one is a favorite! What a relaxing weekend!

Japanese Themed Yuenchi: Edo Wonderland, Toei Movie Studio

Performer in Jubei show at Edo Wonderland.

Performer at Jubei show at Edo Wonderland.

Japan offers a wide variety of theme parks (yuenchi) that are completely unique to its culture. Many of its theme parks are historically focused and reanimate Warring states Sengoku or Edo Japan (for example). Using the theme park a stage, the staff then use costumes and use the staff as performers to create the effect that the guests have traveled back in time to pre-industrial Japan. In Nikko's Edo Wonderland, performers suddenly fill the streets to tell the story of popular folk hero Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi. After a brief confrontation scene between clans, the performers urge passersby to follow them to the stage for then final showdown.

Toei Movie Studio in Kyoto offers a
dress up and photo service.
Here I am posing as a member of
the Shinsengumi during Japan's
Bakumatsu jidai.

Toei Movie Studio in Kyoto is another example of an amazing history-themed park. Kyoto, which used to be Japan's capital city before the reign of Emperor Meiji is the perfect location of this theme park/movie set. Toei is the stage for many Japanese TV dramas and films and as such is completely old school Japan themed. Many history classes and students come to visit and I had my photo taken with many who were interested to see a foreigner dressed like a member of the Shinsengumi. I was also able to watch a sample drama on a sound stage including a fight between a member of the Shinsengumi and a ninja; sadly for me the ninja emerged victorious.

Ninja stealthily crawls across the sky as I leave
Toei Movie Studio.

Gacha Gacha Got Me CRAZY!!

Cup no Fuchiko on my arrange latte,

Cup no Fuchiko on my Doutour hotdog.

For me, one of the best parts of living in Japan is the gacha gacha. For foreigners who are unfamiliar with the term, they are basically much "gum ball machines" with much cooler albeit more expensive prizes. These machines are named gacha gacha for the sound made when hey circular handle is turned and the prize is produced in the prize slot. These machines can include figurines, keitai (cell phone) straps, stickers, pins or badges, stamps and many other small prizes. Some gacha gacha, depending on the prize, can cost up to 400 yen (about $4.00). My current favorite is コップのフチ子 (Cup no Fuchiko). The Japanese word Fuchi means to be on the edge and ko means little and is often added to the end of girls names in Japan. Fuchiko is a Japanese OL (Office Lady). Office Ladies are a common "gendered" role in the work place for Japanese female workers who are most likely not looking for a lifetime position at their respective company.

Gacha gachas are found all over Japan in areas such as tourist locations, arcades, malls, train or subway stations, department stores or lining streets of trendy areas. Here are some interesting ones I've seen around Ikebukuro recently.

Bikini pants for your Smartphone! The
Japanese katakana reads : "Smart Pants."

Cat/Woman hybrid in the style of Capcom's
"Felicia" character (see Street Fighter). This
little kitty is designed to sit on the edge of
your computer screen, similarly to how
Fuchiko is designed to sit on the edge of
your cup.

In My "Hood": Higashi-Ikebukuro the Center for Female Otaku

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License Academic Disclaimer: This blog is a class project for my Visual Anthropology class; as such it is for educational purposes only. All photos posted here were taken taken by myself unless otherwise noted.

Otome Road in Higashi-Ikebukuro.

Ikebukuro is a true gem for those who are involved in Japan's otaku-subculture. Higashi-Ikebukuro features Otome Road, which caters mostly to the needs of female anime and manga lovers. Since I moved here it has been home to two different Animate stores, which specialise in offering DVDs, Cosplay, games, CDs, manga, figurines and every other kind of anime/manga related goods a fan could possibly need. It also is host to multiple K-Books stores which allow fans to sell their old DVDs, CDs, games and other goods as well as purchase. These shops are special because they sell Doujinshi (amateur manga) and also goods that are not regularly for sale (i.e. UFO catcher, or "crane machine" goods). Around the corner from K-Books, there is a cafe called "Swallowtail" which is a popular Shitsuji or "Butler" cafe. Just like the "Maid" genre is a fan favorite for male otaku, many female otaku enjoy the "Butler" genre. Inside, guests can select from available choices of how they would like to be addressed by their butler. For example "Ojyou-san", meaning "young miss" or if there are male guests, "Botchan" or "Danna-sama". Sunshine Street, which is closer to Ikebukuro's JR Station is also otaku-centered as is contains many game arcades, Maid Cafes and yet more anime/manga related shops.

Outside Sunshine City's Otome Road entrance.

Ikebukuro is also a center for fashion as it is home to one of Tokyo's most popular malls. Sunshine City. Sunshine is directly across from Otome Road and includes many trendy cafes and boutiques. It also has its own aquarium, hotel and two indoor theme parks (yuenchi), Namjya Town (Namco), and J-World, which just opened this year. J-World is a theme park dedicated to Shonen Jump comics which published comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin and Naruto. Appropriately, Animate Girls Festival is held in Sunshine's convention complex once a year. Animate Girl's Festival is a convention where both men and women can come in cosplay and visit shops and displays from different anime, game and manga companies. There is also always a special room for Yaoi (boy on boy comics) panels, which is very popular among female otaku.

ANIME LIVES!! My adventures with Musical Kuroshitsuji and Hatsune Miku.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Academic Disclaimer: This blog is a class project for my Visual Anthropology class; as such it is for educational purposes only. All photos posted here were taken taken by myself unless otherwise noted. Rights regarding who owns Kuroshitsuji and Hatsune Miku are provided within the blog entry.

Japan's otaku-subculture can hardly be labeled "sub" anymore. In the case of my recent adventures to see the revival of Kuroshitsuji The Most Beautiful Death in the World musical (originally performed in 2010, which I also went to see live), and Hatsune Miku in her debut opera THE END, beloved anime characters are taken from their fictitious virtual realms and catapulted into reality.

Kuroshitsuji The Most Beautiful Death in the
World 2013 Revival Poster at Asakusa
ACT Theatre

Based on Yana Toboso's (Square-Enix manga and Aniplex anime) Kuroshitsuji, Kuroshitsuji Musical offers you the chance to follow your favorite characters (plus some new ones exclusive to the musical) in similar events offered by the manga or anime in live action. Many of the characters were originals from the very first and/or second Kuroshitsuji musicals, and the characters of Ciel and Sebastian are always played by recognisable celebrities. Sebastian Michaellis, for example has been played by popular R&B/Pop artist Matsushita Yuya during all three events. For those who cannot afford to see the event live, there are limited engagements of live viewings in special theatres in trendy parts of Japan.

Hatsune Miku posing in Luis Vuitton by Marc
Jacobs before the opening of her debuted
opera THE END.

Hatsune Miku of Vocaloid and Project Mirai (SEGA) has had many concerts (or raibu, "lives") for her otaku following but this two night engagement catered to a wider variety of individuals. Rather than singing her usual cheery songs in an environment where her fans could wave around glow sticks, THE END was staged in an auditorium of Shibuya's Bunkamura Theatre. In this case, Miku was performing in an opera in which there was digital furniture and surroundings and two other cast members accompanying her. Fans and those who were being introduced to Miku for the first time had the chance to get to know her more intimately than they would at one of her usual "live" engagements. The opera was centered around Miku's existential crisis after she learns that she may one day die. Considering that she isn't human, she never imagined death concerned her. The music was written and digitally produced on stage by Keiichiro Shibuya. Shibuya had just lost his wife when he wrote the opera and used Miku as an instrument to express his pain. Since the fear of death, if not fear than at least the perception and acknowledgement of death is one that we all share. In this way, even though Miku was clearly nothing more than a digital image projected onto the screen before the audience, there was no denying that she affected us in a very real way.

Ikebukuro's Animate provides paper for
fans to write birthday wishes for
their beloved anime and manga
characters.

Fans write birthday wishes for anime character
at Ikebukuro's Animate shop.