One of many pointless things.......we should start a new thread!



It's raining and warm........The cherry blossoms look very happy!

Be prepared for several pages.

Let me get y'all started: http://www.chindogu.com/

Pickles, you just HAD to think that one up did you?!!! :P

Sanosuke!

Only on the internet......

So I guess me renting the 3000 yen per night budget villa in Kuju would be "chindogu" ?

We have full bloom right now, and oddly my roses, rasberries, tulips are also all in bloom at the same time .

We went to Yakusuni Shrine and walked along the moat yesterday; fantastic. We also rented a paddle boat to see the Sakura from the moat. We then headed to Aoyama Cemetary which was also fantastic. Today, we are headed to Shinjuku Gyoen followed by a trip to Ueno park to see all the blossoms along with the lanterns this evening. I am afraid with all the wind and rain back in the forecast, the blossoms are not going to last too long in Tokyo.

Marc

I won't be in Japan again until April 6, so I'm afraid I'm going to miss the sakura this year, especially considering the forecast.

Hopefully there will still be something left at least.

I have splurged my United miles (5 years of MP silver) on a trip to Japan with my daughter finishing her senior year in high school. She has been hooked on anime and manga for years. We are flying from Rochester NY to Chicago then business class on ANA (NH11) from ORD to NRT (arriving April 6). Then 4 days in Tokyo, a day on Iriomote, a night in Ishigaki, 2 days in Kyoto (April 12 & 13), a day with a friend in Kobe then a bullet train to Tokyo for a last night & morning. Then flying to Toronto (NRT to YYZ) April 15 on Air Canada (AC2) in their International Executive First Class. Final flight is a puddle jumper from Toronto to Rochester.

We will staying at the Asakusa View Hotel in Tokyo and the Kyoto Garden Hotel in Kyoto.

This will be a mix of visits to temples/shrines, Otaku (anime fan) sites and technology (Sony store). Any great suggestions...she isn't big into museums.

Thanks, Paul

Paul,
The major stop for her will be Akihabara of course, I am sure she would know about it. Also, if she is a big Miyazaki fan, then she must go to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. It's about a 30 min ride from Tokyo. If you go to Ghibli, you can buy a ticket before you arrive in Japan as you must have a reservation to visit. You can buy them from JTB. Also, in Kyoto there is now a Manga Museum.

http://www.junq.co.uk/shopping.html
http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/gbl.asp
http://www.kyotomm.com/english/

Applefan - thanks for the links. We have slightly dated book "Cruising the Anime City - An Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo" printed in 2004. The sites have more up-to-date information. I hadn't heard of the new Manga Museum in Kyoto. Maybe they can take our slightly used English copies

We can hope there are a few cherry blossoms left near Tokyo. This trip was scheduled during my daughter's week off school and we couldn't be too choosy about dates. We have been in Washington, DC when the trees there were in full bloom and really enjoyed it.

--Paul

IMHO, your chances are 50/50 given the Tokyo weather this week:

http://www.weathercity.com/jp/tokyo/index.php

Don't miss the Gamers store in Akihabara for anime/manga. It's about a 30 second walk south of the Electric Town exit from the south-side of Akihabara JR station. Plan on at least one hour for the store since it has three floors of manga/anime. It helps if you can read some Japanese. English is generally not a big problem.