Day 4 - The typhoon is coming!

It's Sunday, July 15th. Typhoon No. 4 has been unpredictable. Last night it said it would reach Tokyo on Monday. It seems to have sped up and is now projected to hit at noon today. The whole day is played by ear because of the typhoon. Another rainy day, but a little windy.

Today is the last day in Shinagawa. We load our luggage into the truck that will deliver it to Ikebukuro. I really like the Le Meridian Pacific Tokyo or Hotel Pacific (the more common name). I don't want to leave. It seemed to be a convenient location for everything.



We head to Harajuku. Jayson warns us that because of the typhoon, there won't be the Gothloli's. You could see the disappointment in some. Plus, today is the day they usually go out to the bridge. Hopefully we get a chance to go back to Harajuku. Maybe on our free day.

We had a choice between free time or going to the shrine with Jayson. We opted to have our free time. Harajuku is hard to get around when it's raining. We always had to open and close our umbrellas as we going in and out of the shops.

It's amazing the fashion sense in Japan. It's very different than America (全然 違う!). In Japan, each person wants to stand apart from the rest. It seems that standing out is fashionable here. In America, you are very self-conscious about how you are dressed. There are so many people judging you on how you look. It must be the value of working hard then playing hard in Japan. You work so hard at work or school that after it is done you just want to unwind. In the end, some dress completely different.

As we go through the shops, I noticed that each shop doesn't sell more than two of the same shirt. Most times I've seen only one shirt. I think it's a good idea. Nobody will dress like you, if there is only one of it. It's almost like couture. Is that why Japan is becoming the new fashion capital?

It's time for us to leave Harajuku. As we head into the station, the weather clears. Has the typhoon passed, or is it the calm before the storm? Once the sun peaks through, you see all the Gothloli's appear out of nowhere. That's what you call bad timing. If only we had a little more time, we could have taken pictures of them as they gathered at the bridge.


~Hello Kitty maid found in a shop in Harajuku (かわいい)












It's time to visit Shibuya. There are so many people here (すごい!). It's amazing to see how people maneuver around each other. Jayson said that there are approximately 1,500 people crossing every minute at the intersection. You would never see something like that on Maui. There aren't enough people. This makes Maui seems so insignificant.





Before we head into the the crowd, we stop to see the Hachiko statue. Jayson tells us the story of Hachiko. I remember my grandparents telling me this story when I was in grade school. Hachiko was a loyal dog to his owner, who was a salaryman. Everyday Hachiko would follow his owner to the train station and wait until his return. One day, the owner did not return from work. For 11 years, Hachiko waited for his owner to until he too passed away. It brought back memories of the dog my granndparents had. She was obedient like Hachiko. It's amazing how even the dogs of Japan obey rules. I've noticed many Japanese treating their dogs like it was their child. Is it because of the Buddhist faith? Buddhist believe in reincarnation. Do they believe that their dog is a reincarnation of someone? Or are like the Americans and just think it cute? I've also noticed that there aren't any signs that say to keep your dog on a leash. It could be because the dogs don't run away from their owners and cause trouble. Maybe if Americans can learn from the Japanese in teaching discipline, we wouldn't have dogs being the masters.



The NHK Studio is a far walk from that busy intesection. All that comes to mind when I hear NHK is 紅白歌合戦 (Red and White Festival). There are also the Taiga dramas that are aired on Kiku TV.

There are so many kids there. It's really smart to have a place like this. You can take your kids for a whole day for just 150 yen (child admission). Plus there is an eating area. It's a whole day event, if you want it to be.

After the tour the NHK Studio, we have free time to look around. Of course we go shopping. Shibuya looks like THE place for shopping. Everywhere you look there are clothing shops. After shopping around the area, Bev, Aja and I head to Shibuya 109. It was a madhouse in there. I think it is because of the summer sales. It's amazing how many girls there are in that one building. You hardly see any guys in the building. There are some that are being dragged around by their girlfriends. When I saw that, I wondered if that's what I do to my boyfriend. It's amazing how crazy the Japanese go over sales. It's like in Kamikaze Girls when Momoko's father made a fortune off of Versace rip-offs because it was so cheap for the customers. I noticed that in my grandparents. They go to different stores to get the cheapest price even though they could get everything in one place.




~Advertisements on the Shibuya buildings by the crosswalk. A very smart idea. Thousands of people a day will see your advertisement. I wonder how much it costs to air your commercials there.






Time to check into our new hotel room. It's much smaller than the Hotel Pacific, but there seems to be more around us than Shinagawa. Stores in Ikebukuro close earlier than Shinagawa or am I wrong? Most places close around 8:00 p.m. No 7-Eleven's close by. We have to settle for AM PM or Family Mart. It's not the same though.

We had some spare time, so we tried pachinko. I don't see the fun in it. Maybe it's just because I lost my money. It's amazing some of the people there. It seems like they live there. I couldn't do this. I think it's because of all the smoke in the pachinko parlor.


~Our welcome from the Sunshine City Prince Hotel.













~Found this in the Family Mart in Sunshine City