How would you spend 20 summer days in Japan? Here’s a log of highlights from my latest trip, day by day. Follow along this Blaugust as I recount my adventurous July!
Apologies for the brief lapse in daily posting; I was traveling for an ATEEZ concert over the weekend!
Coincidentally, the fifth of my Japan trip was also a rest day of sorts. After the high of the #RUNSEOKJIN concert and exploring Ginza, we chilled for most of the day in the Ochanomizu and Ueno areas again.
The header photo shows my bookstore pickup of the day: Atsuko Asano’s long awaited continuation of the No.6 sci-fi BL novel series, No.6: Reunion (released May 28, 2025), which is set two years after the original story! I can’t read a lick of it since it’s in Japanese, but it’s precious to be able to buy her latest novel from a bookstore in Japan after having heldNezuShi close to my heart for over 12 years. Plus, toi8’s art is so, so nostalgic~~
Later in the evening, we had our own “reunion” with my friend’s mom at a traditional sit-down style izakaya. At least, I think this place was an izakaya . . . Various lightly fried and skewered dishes were served across several rounds, culminating in a rich dinner experience where my tastebuds were put to the test. Safe to say that I devoured every skewer handed my way!
More interesting stuff happens tomorrow, so look forward to it! Thanks for reading.
How would you spend 20 summer days in Japan? Here’s a log of highlights from my latest trip, day by day. Follow along this Blaugust as I recount my adventurous July!
It’s time for some local travel!
When I say local, of course I still mean Tokyo. On day 4, we explored two vastly different types of “city” in the greater metropolis area: humble Ochanomizu and bustling, wealthy Ginza.
We start Ochanomizu with some cafe drinking and bookstore browsing. In the first photo on the far left, you’ll see the 7-volume omnibus series for Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s Neon Genesis Evangelion. This was all the proof I needed to know that I had found my calling in Tokyo. The right photo depicts a wall of anime art books with the entire bottom being dedicated to Ghibli and the “classic” manga, I believe.
Quiet and unassuming as it seems, Ochanomizu (particularly the cafe overlooking the Shin-Ochanomizu Station area) actually ended up being my pick for where I’d like to have spent my last day in Japan, and you’ll see us return here a couple times after the first. It felt like home away from home, plus it has the beautiful Kanda Shrine.
Ginza is a different beast, though. On one street, it’s old money luxury with towering designer stores and modern architectural marvels. It’s the perfect city for a gram photo, but I like my urban areas a little more like the second photo here—tad on the grungy side yet somehow even more welcoming and genuine. Luckily, Ginza has both, and the two coincide like Canada’s decadent Old and marvelous New areas of Montreal.
What brought us out in the first place, you might be asking? None other than a K-pop concert. That’s right, even in Japan I’ll find a way to cling myself to my biases—and in this rare case, my ULT, Kim Seokjin of BTS! I had the time of my life catching the theatrical live screening of #RUNSEOKJIN_EP.TOUR in Japan in huge Toho Cinemas Hibiya. It was so, SO bizarre to think that just a couple shinkansen hours down the way, JIN was performing to a sold-out audience in Osaka Dome. (Huh, Tokyo and Osaka, such different worlds . . . what in the Tale of Two Cities is up with this day?? Anyway, take it from me: It was “the best of kinds” kind of day.)
Together with J-ARMYS (who are so cute btw), we lit up the stars with live music and laughter. I was not expecting a Japanese audience to show up to a theater with lightsticks in hand, but they did! So enthusiastic!
We’ll come back to Ochanomizu tomorrow. But for now, it’s goodnight from me (and HELLO sweet dreams of tour-mode JIN)! Thanks for reading.
How would you spend 20 summer days in Japan? Here’s a log of highlights from my latest trip, day by day. Follow along this Blaugust as I recount my adventurous July!
As an aniblogger who grew up on Kiki’s Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky, I don’t think I could live with myself if I made it all the way to Tokyo and didn’t visit the Studio Ghibli Museum.
Nestled in the quiet greenery of Inokashira Park, the museum is by far the gem of Mitaka Ward. You’re led down the streets by a few lampposts with modest signage until suddenly a line of trees guide you to the colorful waves of the building’s exterior. Naturally, a huge Totoro mans the faux ticket booth.
With my friend having booked our tickets in advance (only $7 USD per person!), we arrived by 9:30 AM for our 10:00 entry. It was one of the coolest days of the entire trip with the entire sky overcast and misting occasionally. This made the luscious summer flora of the museum grounds pop vibrantly in all of my photos, of which I only have of the exterior. (Photos, understandably, are not permitted inside the museum.)
And the inside, ah, it’s really like waltzing through an old Victorian mansion! Famously, there’s no designated path through the exhibits; instead, guests are encouraged to navigate via their own curiosity and whimsy. There’s a whole history of animation to be unpacked with each room. I was especially pleased with all of the gorgeous background art and image boards that, until this point, I’d only managed to admire in art books. Another highlight (aside from, well, everything) was the special Boy and the Heron Background ArtExhibition, which is apparently the tail-end of a larger Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka exhibition that we were lucky enough to catch before all of the artwork was packed up and returned to the studio.
For some reason, I feared we’d end up mowing through the painstakingly crafted exhibit rooms all too quickly. So, I was happily surprised upon checking the time to realize that only an hour and a half had passed! And we still had to try out the Straw Hat Cafe, stroll the outside rooftop, and score some loot at the MAMMA AIUTO! gift shop.
From the gift shop, I was able to pick up a plush keychain of the Koneko Bus, the titular creature featured in the Mei and the Baby Cat Bus (2002) short that OF COURSE WE WATCHED since it was the special July screening. There are some 10 or 12 Studio Ghibli shorts which loop on a monthly rotation. I like to think we caught the best one. My friend and I now have matching keychains to commemorate this day. 🙂
Oh, and I also picked up an assortment of Ghibli postcards for myself and as souvenirs for family, a soundtrack CD for the Baby Cat Bus short, a couple museum-centric guidebooks, and a long 4 or 5-foot reproduction poster that rolls out to depict Miyazaki’s original watercolor mockup of the museum and its many majestic rooms. In all honestly, I could’ve bought more–perhaps I should’ve. bought. more–but I’m happy with my treasures, most of all the memory of this incredibly imaginative, cute, and lively place where the playful kids could roam about freely and adults could dream again of sweet, bygone days.
Tomorrow, I’ll return to a vastly different yet all too familiar magic shop (*cough cough BTS reference*). Look forward to it!
Takuto's Anime Cafe 