tokyo days 10, 11, and 12
I'm going to combine these days, since I don't have as many pictures for each day. Only one more left after that!
Day 10! The day on which I finally went to Harajuku.
First stop: the official Johnny's shop! I'd heard it got crowded quickly and you had to wait in line if you didn't go at an off time, so I went at opening time (10am) on a Thursday and was able to walk right in. ...and more or less walk right out again, because there was immediately a sign posted saying they didn't have any SMAP (or most other senpai groups) at that time. Well, I did wander around and look over the Arashi and Kanjani pics, but I'm not really into them enough right now to buy photos. They also had some Arashi, Kisumai, and other group goods on the floor with the cash register, but yeah, no 40-year-olds :(
Also, for some reason they will only let you take a picture of this particular sign, and not the one near the street. I have no idea why.
Oh, well. On to Takeshita Street! And its many unofficial Johnny's shops.
Well, actually my first stop was the Daiso 100 yen shop. Cute things! Like this dinosaur journal omg they're so cute and they have a dynamic way of running~ Sadly, I did not buy it. I did however buy a couple of silicon onigiri molds (which have been super awesome for taking for lunch~), which conveniently came in pink and yellow, and a pink dish brush because you can't find a decent dish brush for less than $3 here, seriously >:( Also, they had a lavender and earl grey flavored milk tea I hadn't seen before, so I definitely had to try it (#5).
On to an unofficial guide to the unofficial Johnny's shops of Harajuku! That I know of, anyway. Starting on the left side...
First is Idol On Stage, which has photos, laminated posters, and various small goods like uchiwas and keychains for Kinki Kids and younger, plus some non-Johnny's and female idols as well (most of the shops do, actually). No SMAP to be seen.
Next is Idol Shashinkan, which is crazy noisy because most of the space is taken up by purikura machines blaring music and chirpy advertisements. They've got everybody here-- SMAP had photos and posters organized by group and individual (although curiously the order seems to be Nakai-Kimura-Shingo-Tsuyoshi-Goro). There was also a box full of older two-for-300 yen posters, which were pretty nice but didn't catch my eye.
Next up: Gorakudoh! There are two stores here; the first floor (to the right of this photo) sells tickets (for a lot, but maybe less than scalper would? idk), while the second floor sells photos (200 yen each) and secondhand (way overpriced) official goods. I mean that overpriced, seriously-- I've found things for waaay less at Book Off or even the TRIO stores. However, they do have a ton of photos! There were about 12 little books of SMAP photos from the past 10 years or so, including a bunch from the Gift of SMAP tour. (Including the Mako-chan kisses and the Ajinomoto champagne final where Tsu and Mako-chan pour champagne on each other and Nakai looks waaay too happy about this and there's even a pic that looks like he's about to hug Tsu although that probably didn't actually happen XDDD) I... didn't actually buy any. (Although I certainly considered it~) What I did buy was a bunch of 50-yen FC pamphlets! Because things don't get much cheaper than that :D
Crepe break!
Vanilla ice cream banana chocolate, from Angel Heart Crepes. Good til I finished the ice cream and there was nothing but nama cream left. There's always too much nama cream in these things :P
On to the right side! (In order from the entrance of Takeshita, not from the crepe places)
The first place is, as far as I can tell, called Monkey Japan. It's located down the Le Ponte side street, and sells random cheap jewelry, keychains, and other knickknacks with idol pictures. (Cheap as in the quality, not the price.) I saw Kimura and Nakai picture grab bags, but otherwise nothing else SMAP-related.
Next is Harajuku Shashinkan, which has a pretty decent selection of photos and posters. SMAP photos were mainly from the Gift of SMAP tour (more Mako-chan kisses and the champagne final~~~), again organized Nakai-Kimura-Shingo-Tsu-Goro. Huh. They also had a bunch of keychain capsule machines (one SMAP), so if you're dying for a cheaply-made keychain, there you go.
Next is a Johnny's shop of a different breed: Mojipara! It's down the side street around the corner from Burlesque.
As the stairs proclaim, it is a Japanese seal specialty shop. By 'seals,' they mean stickers, and by 'Japanese,' they mean all the characters for every Johnny's name and group ever. It's a shop for making your own uchiwa! :D (And yes, they did have 彅 XD) They also sell blank uchiwa and lots of little decoration stickers, plus common phrases like 'throw a kiss' or 'make a peace sign' or 'fish' (oh Ohno).
Also on this side street is another Gorakudoh goods shop. (You have to take the elevator to the third floor.) I'm not sure what the difference is-- they had mostly the same photos and overpriced official goods. I did find an old Yozora no Mukou single for 50 yen, though, so it's worth a visit to see what you can find!
Those were all the idol shops I could find-- although if you want unofficial Arashi or Kanjani goods, there were tons of shops with T-shirts, pins, rings, earrings, and other accessories with Arashi and Kanjani slogans and symbols on them. I saw a ring with an infinity symbol in Kanjani's seven colors that was kind of cool, but otherwise most of it seemed a little tacky.
Back to my actual day in Harajuku! Somewhere between Johnny's shops, I saw a clothing shop with a bunch of skirts for 1000 yen, and found a nice white-yellow one that was just the sort of style I'd been looking for.
It's nice and light, too, which is perfect for hot summer weather~
After reaching the end of Takeshita, I found a Lotteria to sit in for a bit and drank my lavender and earl grey milk tea with their 100 yen chicken nugget things. Then it was time to go make a crazy fangirl purchase! ...Not in Harajuku, but in Nakano. Yes, Nakano again.
(TOKIO Fukushima ad in the Harajuku station~)
So, the last time I went to Nakano, I searched through their TV magazines looking for a particular Nakai-Tsuyoshi interview. Through much googling, I managed to track down one that I thought was the right one. So, when I got to Nakano, I made a beeline for the 2F TRIO store and scoured through their magazines until I found it: Junon 1998.02!
As you can see by the blurry pic in the upper left corner, it did have a Nakai-Tsuyoshi interview! Just not the one I'd been looking for. I bought it anyway.
Then, since the Mandarake doujinshi shop is oh-so-temptingly right across from that TRIO, I went and bought a Nakatsu (well, technically Tsuyoshi/Nakai) looks doujinshi that I hadn't seen in Ikebukuro. It's pretty cute-- lots of short stories and comics, though it was written in 1996 so that kind of shows in the relationships depicted.
Then, since I hadn't seen it in Harajuku or the 2F TRIO shop, I went to the 3F Johnny's shop (the one with the younger groups) and bought SMAP's FC #100 pamphlet.
The day's haul! :D
Day 11: Super Secret Research Day! In which I did research-related things and thus can't really talk about it in detail. But it was really awesome! :D
I did, however, have a coffee jelly from 7-11, and that was also awesome. Then I went to a gigantic six-floor Daiso!
Things I bought! A frog tray because it is just so darn cute, pink and yellow dish towels, pink and yellow glasses (which are actually glass and not plastic!), pink and yellow chopsticks to put in a pink chopsticks case, and a business card case which is neither pink nor yellow. Although they did have those options. All for about 700 yen! Man, I love 100 yen shops.
Day 12! In which I investigate the bookshops of Jimbocho on a rainy day.
And found happiness along the way! It tasted like peach and raspberry tea.
Anyway, in order to get to Jimbocho, I found it was cheaper for me to go to the Ochanomizu station and walk from there. Which means I got to see all the music instrument stores Ochanomizu is famous for.
Guitars, violins, horns, ukuleles... no cellos that I could see, though.
And before long, Jimbocho!
While there are tons of used bookshops of various categories, I was looking for the ones with Johnny's-related books and magazines. The first place I found was called Bunken Rock Side, mainly specializing in rock but also featuring a corner of idol and TV books and magazines. I'd done my research the previous night (re: spent hours squinting at Japanese websites on my phone) and knew exactly which magazine I was looking for this time, and lo and behold they had it! ...for about 1500 yen. Hmm... I decided to keep browsing, just in case.
The second place I found was the one I'd been aiming for originally, Vintage. (The idol stuff is up the stairs.) Big selection of idol and TV magazines here, too, plus FC and concert pamplets and uchiwas (including some damaged ones set outside the door for cheaper). I didn't see the one I wanted, though, so I moved on.
Meaning, I walked over to the nearby Kudanshita station and rode to Nakano. Again. I'm sure the grumpy-looking girl behind the TRIO counter was thoroughly sick of me at that point, but I strode on in and dug through the magazines once again. Alas, they didn't have the one I was looking for, but they did have one that I was curious about from all my googling, an issue of Potato where Tsuyoshi has an interview but Nakai keeps coming into the room and interrupting it. And for a decent price, so I decided to go for it :D
(And then I had lunch! Yet another katsu sandwich, and tangerine and pineapple tart :D)
And then... I went back to Jimbocho. Can you tell I'm crazy yet?
In the end, I bought the magazine I'd been looking for-- Wink Up 1997.04! (on the left) And oh my god the interview is adorable I swear Nakai is in Mako-chan mode or something. He says he can steal Tsuyoshi's lips anytime. I'm just going to have to translate this~ ;D
On the way back to Ochanomizu station, I stopped by a rack of (new) TV magazines and looked at all the lovely new SMAP photoshoots :3 And bought the Monthly TV Guide one with the super-nice 24-page shoot :333 And also read Tsu's Okiraku column for that month-- now he wants to get married and have a kid? It sounds more like he feels like he should rather than is super-interested in the idea. He also then spends a paragraph worrying about Nakai's health and how he drinks too much.
And then I finally headed home! But wait, first I stopped by the Loft near my host family's train station, because it was still only 4pm or so. And saw these Lip Pack Boyfriend things, presumably to go with your Bathtime Boyfriend things XD
And finally finally, headed home for a mini-party with my host family and some of their relatives. Tasty bentos and tasty cakes for all!
Next: Ikebukuro with faiee!
Day 10! The day on which I finally went to Harajuku.
First stop: the official Johnny's shop! I'd heard it got crowded quickly and you had to wait in line if you didn't go at an off time, so I went at opening time (10am) on a Thursday and was able to walk right in. ...and more or less walk right out again, because there was immediately a sign posted saying they didn't have any SMAP (or most other senpai groups) at that time. Well, I did wander around and look over the Arashi and Kanjani pics, but I'm not really into them enough right now to buy photos. They also had some Arashi, Kisumai, and other group goods on the floor with the cash register, but yeah, no 40-year-olds :(
Also, for some reason they will only let you take a picture of this particular sign, and not the one near the street. I have no idea why.
Oh, well. On to Takeshita Street! And its many unofficial Johnny's shops.
Well, actually my first stop was the Daiso 100 yen shop. Cute things! Like this dinosaur journal omg they're so cute and they have a dynamic way of running~ Sadly, I did not buy it. I did however buy a couple of silicon onigiri molds (which have been super awesome for taking for lunch~), which conveniently came in pink and yellow, and a pink dish brush because you can't find a decent dish brush for less than $3 here, seriously >:( Also, they had a lavender and earl grey flavored milk tea I hadn't seen before, so I definitely had to try it (#5).
On to an unofficial guide to the unofficial Johnny's shops of Harajuku! That I know of, anyway. Starting on the left side...
First is Idol On Stage, which has photos, laminated posters, and various small goods like uchiwas and keychains for Kinki Kids and younger, plus some non-Johnny's and female idols as well (most of the shops do, actually). No SMAP to be seen.
Next is Idol Shashinkan, which is crazy noisy because most of the space is taken up by purikura machines blaring music and chirpy advertisements. They've got everybody here-- SMAP had photos and posters organized by group and individual (although curiously the order seems to be Nakai-Kimura-Shingo-Tsuyoshi-Goro). There was also a box full of older two-for-300 yen posters, which were pretty nice but didn't catch my eye.
Next up: Gorakudoh! There are two stores here; the first floor (to the right of this photo) sells tickets (for a lot, but maybe less than scalper would? idk), while the second floor sells photos (200 yen each) and secondhand (way overpriced) official goods. I mean that overpriced, seriously-- I've found things for waaay less at Book Off or even the TRIO stores. However, they do have a ton of photos! There were about 12 little books of SMAP photos from the past 10 years or so, including a bunch from the Gift of SMAP tour. (Including the Mako-chan kisses and the Ajinomoto champagne final where Tsu and Mako-chan pour champagne on each other and Nakai looks waaay too happy about this and there's even a pic that looks like he's about to hug Tsu although that probably didn't actually happen XDDD) I... didn't actually buy any. (Although I certainly considered it~) What I did buy was a bunch of 50-yen FC pamphlets! Because things don't get much cheaper than that :D
Crepe break!
Vanilla ice cream banana chocolate, from Angel Heart Crepes. Good til I finished the ice cream and there was nothing but nama cream left. There's always too much nama cream in these things :P
On to the right side! (In order from the entrance of Takeshita, not from the crepe places)
The first place is, as far as I can tell, called Monkey Japan. It's located down the Le Ponte side street, and sells random cheap jewelry, keychains, and other knickknacks with idol pictures. (Cheap as in the quality, not the price.) I saw Kimura and Nakai picture grab bags, but otherwise nothing else SMAP-related.
Next is Harajuku Shashinkan, which has a pretty decent selection of photos and posters. SMAP photos were mainly from the Gift of SMAP tour (more Mako-chan kisses and the champagne final~~~), again organized Nakai-Kimura-Shingo-Tsu-Goro. Huh. They also had a bunch of keychain capsule machines (one SMAP), so if you're dying for a cheaply-made keychain, there you go.
Next is a Johnny's shop of a different breed: Mojipara! It's down the side street around the corner from Burlesque.
As the stairs proclaim, it is a Japanese seal specialty shop. By 'seals,' they mean stickers, and by 'Japanese,' they mean all the characters for every Johnny's name and group ever. It's a shop for making your own uchiwa! :D (And yes, they did have 彅 XD) They also sell blank uchiwa and lots of little decoration stickers, plus common phrases like 'throw a kiss' or 'make a peace sign' or 'fish' (oh Ohno).
Also on this side street is another Gorakudoh goods shop. (You have to take the elevator to the third floor.) I'm not sure what the difference is-- they had mostly the same photos and overpriced official goods. I did find an old Yozora no Mukou single for 50 yen, though, so it's worth a visit to see what you can find!
Those were all the idol shops I could find-- although if you want unofficial Arashi or Kanjani goods, there were tons of shops with T-shirts, pins, rings, earrings, and other accessories with Arashi and Kanjani slogans and symbols on them. I saw a ring with an infinity symbol in Kanjani's seven colors that was kind of cool, but otherwise most of it seemed a little tacky.
Back to my actual day in Harajuku! Somewhere between Johnny's shops, I saw a clothing shop with a bunch of skirts for 1000 yen, and found a nice white-yellow one that was just the sort of style I'd been looking for.
It's nice and light, too, which is perfect for hot summer weather~
After reaching the end of Takeshita, I found a Lotteria to sit in for a bit and drank my lavender and earl grey milk tea with their 100 yen chicken nugget things. Then it was time to go make a crazy fangirl purchase! ...Not in Harajuku, but in Nakano. Yes, Nakano again.
(TOKIO Fukushima ad in the Harajuku station~)
So, the last time I went to Nakano, I searched through their TV magazines looking for a particular Nakai-Tsuyoshi interview. Through much googling, I managed to track down one that I thought was the right one. So, when I got to Nakano, I made a beeline for the 2F TRIO store and scoured through their magazines until I found it: Junon 1998.02!
As you can see by the blurry pic in the upper left corner, it did have a Nakai-Tsuyoshi interview! Just not the one I'd been looking for. I bought it anyway.
Then, since the Mandarake doujinshi shop is oh-so-temptingly right across from that TRIO, I went and bought a Nakatsu (well, technically Tsuyoshi/Nakai) looks doujinshi that I hadn't seen in Ikebukuro. It's pretty cute-- lots of short stories and comics, though it was written in 1996 so that kind of shows in the relationships depicted.
Then, since I hadn't seen it in Harajuku or the 2F TRIO shop, I went to the 3F Johnny's shop (the one with the younger groups) and bought SMAP's FC #100 pamphlet.
The day's haul! :D
Day 11: Super Secret Research Day! In which I did research-related things and thus can't really talk about it in detail. But it was really awesome! :D
I did, however, have a coffee jelly from 7-11, and that was also awesome. Then I went to a gigantic six-floor Daiso!
Things I bought! A frog tray because it is just so darn cute, pink and yellow dish towels, pink and yellow glasses (which are actually glass and not plastic!), pink and yellow chopsticks to put in a pink chopsticks case, and a business card case which is neither pink nor yellow. Although they did have those options. All for about 700 yen! Man, I love 100 yen shops.
Day 12! In which I investigate the bookshops of Jimbocho on a rainy day.
And found happiness along the way! It tasted like peach and raspberry tea.
Anyway, in order to get to Jimbocho, I found it was cheaper for me to go to the Ochanomizu station and walk from there. Which means I got to see all the music instrument stores Ochanomizu is famous for.
Guitars, violins, horns, ukuleles... no cellos that I could see, though.
And before long, Jimbocho!
While there are tons of used bookshops of various categories, I was looking for the ones with Johnny's-related books and magazines. The first place I found was called Bunken Rock Side, mainly specializing in rock but also featuring a corner of idol and TV books and magazines. I'd done my research the previous night (re: spent hours squinting at Japanese websites on my phone) and knew exactly which magazine I was looking for this time, and lo and behold they had it! ...for about 1500 yen. Hmm... I decided to keep browsing, just in case.
The second place I found was the one I'd been aiming for originally, Vintage. (The idol stuff is up the stairs.) Big selection of idol and TV magazines here, too, plus FC and concert pamplets and uchiwas (including some damaged ones set outside the door for cheaper). I didn't see the one I wanted, though, so I moved on.
Meaning, I walked over to the nearby Kudanshita station and rode to Nakano. Again. I'm sure the grumpy-looking girl behind the TRIO counter was thoroughly sick of me at that point, but I strode on in and dug through the magazines once again. Alas, they didn't have the one I was looking for, but they did have one that I was curious about from all my googling, an issue of Potato where Tsuyoshi has an interview but Nakai keeps coming into the room and interrupting it. And for a decent price, so I decided to go for it :D
(And then I had lunch! Yet another katsu sandwich, and tangerine and pineapple tart :D)
And then... I went back to Jimbocho. Can you tell I'm crazy yet?
In the end, I bought the magazine I'd been looking for-- Wink Up 1997.04! (on the left) And oh my god the interview is adorable I swear Nakai is in Mako-chan mode or something. He says he can steal Tsuyoshi's lips anytime. I'm just going to have to translate this~ ;D
On the way back to Ochanomizu station, I stopped by a rack of (new) TV magazines and looked at all the lovely new SMAP photoshoots :3 And bought the Monthly TV Guide one with the super-nice 24-page shoot :333 And also read Tsu's Okiraku column for that month-- now he wants to get married and have a kid? It sounds more like he feels like he should rather than is super-interested in the idea. He also then spends a paragraph worrying about Nakai's health and how he drinks too much.
And then I finally headed home! But wait, first I stopped by the Loft near my host family's train station, because it was still only 4pm or so. And saw these Lip Pack Boyfriend things, presumably to go with your Bathtime Boyfriend things XD
And finally finally, headed home for a mini-party with my host family and some of their relatives. Tasty bentos and tasty cakes for all!
Next: Ikebukuro with faiee!