The Otaku Mum

Akihabara – An Otaku Paradise

I wrote last week about Tokyo Disneyland and described it as The Happiest Place in Tokyo. And I stand by that, if you grew up watching Disney movies on a loop then you will LOVE Disneyland. But if you grew up with a Gameboy or PlayStation controller in one hand and a Nobuo Uematsu soundtrack blasting through your headphones – Akihabara will be an amazing mixture of nostalgia and pure joy.

Akihabara or Electric Town is a busy shopping hub featuring electronic goods, Otaku goods, Pachinko parlors and maid cafes. If you’re a bit nerdy, you’ll find something you love.

Most areas we went to in Tokyo we only spent a half day in at most but we went back to Akihabara at least 4 times.

So why did we fall in love with Akihabara? Let me share my top 5 places to visit there.

5. SquareEnix Cafe

Final Fantasy VII was my absolute favourite game as a kid. I’ve clocked it a whole bunch of times. I’ve got the new one on pre-order. I also played VI, VIII, IX, X, X-2….. But VII gives me all the warm and fuzzy nostalgic feelings. The story, the characters, the soundtrack, the blocky as graphics, it is my jam. So when I found out about SquareEnix Cafe – I had to go.

The first time we went they were actually fully booked, but it was 3pm on a Saturday so… rookie mistake. We went again at 9am on a Tuesday morning and got in right away.

The drinks were okay, the dumplings were delicious, the pancakes were nice but the sauce that came with them straight up tasted like grape Hubba Bubba and is incredible! The food was very pricey, so if you’re not a straight up SquareEnix fan I would grab a bite to eat somewhere else.

4. Yobadashi

So Yobadashi stores are every where in Japan, they’re huge department stores where you can buy anything from batteries to model trains to chopsticks to pianos – it has everything. It also has a restaurant in the basement and the toy floor is incredible.

If you’re tired from walking around all day you can sit in a massage chair for a free massage. If you’re shopping for a souvenir for someone and want to go beyond Daiso or Don Quijote, this is the place for you.

3. Magikarp Taiyaki

Not a spot but this is pretty cool. Taiyaki is a common sweet snack in Japan shaped like a fish and filled with sweet red bean paste or anko. In Akihabara they are shaped like our favourite practically useless Pokemon.

It was super delicious and also came in chocolate for those not a fan of anko.

2. Super Potato

An absolute treasure trove of retro games and games consoles. Two floors of shopping and an arcade on the top floor. This is where we really spent our hard earned yen.

I picked up an incredible Game Boy Colour and a whole host of games. I could have bought the whole shop and we must have visited three times in a week.

I also got a top score on Tetris upstairs, winning (literally).

1. Shosen Book Tower

Remembering that this is my top 5, Shosen Book Tower to me is heaven on earth. Floor after floor of books and books and more books. As someone who is learning Japanese and well, loves books. This was always going to be my number 1.

I even scored a couple of textbooks for uni at a really reduced price which is a huge bonus.

The view from the top floor is incredible but be warned, that is where the adult books are so maybe don’t take kids up there.

There are lots of other things to do in Akihabara but these are my favourites. We didn’t do karaoke or maid cafes as we had the kids with us. There are some tourist traps as well, the dog cafe we went to didn’t make me feel super good.

There are a lot of food options in Akihabara but not a lot of vegetarian options so keep that in mind if you’re that way inclined.

There are lots of little shops and gatchapon spots dotted all over the place too.

We love Akihabara and will be looking for accommodation near there next time we visit Tokyo.

P.S I also came first at MarioKart in the SEGA building in Akihabara, never let that memory die.

The Happiest Place on Earth – or at least, in Tokyo

I remember as a kid, I think I was about 5, being told about Disneyland. I remember being told about the rides and the characters all walking around. And I remember this burning desire to GO TO DISNEYLAND. And so at *thirtysomething* – I went.

I had been forewarned that Tokyo Disneyland is very busy. And truth be told, it is pretty busy. But I was also told it was SO BUSY YOU’LL NEVER GET ON A SINGLE RIDE ZOMG!! IT TAKES 30 MINUTES JUST TO GET POPCORN!!! And… it wasn’t THAT intense. But we did do some research before we went and that made it a little easier.

Image may contain: one or more people and outdoor — Entry to Tokyo Disneyland, just as the park opens

The best thing we did was choose the day we went carefully. We used the crowd calculator to pick the perfect day. It takes into consideration new ride and merchandise dates, holidays and weather to give a pretty accurate estimate of the crowds. We went on a weekday during the school term in winter with no new rides opening or merch being released. The result was our wait times were pretty low and we found the crowds very manageable.

We arrived right when the park opened and grabbed our first fast pass at Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek. This is a TDL exclusive, so one we did not want to miss out on. While we were waiting for that we jumped in the line for Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters and then Star Tours. We didn’t actually grab another fastpass after this as we found the ride wait times were actually shorter than the time you’d have to wait for the fastpass to expire. The longest we waited all day was 60 minutes for Splash Mountain. Even that wait wasn’t so bad as it was in the shade with plenty of water stops on the way.

Image may contain: 1 person, outdoor — Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters

Image may contain: 3 people, indoor — Star Tours

We actually found a lot of rides had little to no wait time at all! We walked right onto the Jungle Cruise, walked right into the front row of the Stitch show, and had no issues getting a good view for the Christmas Parade. The only complaint really was that the coffee was… so so. But as an Aussie coffee snob, I didn’t have much joy with Japanese coffee.

I ticked off a lifelong goal of going on the It’s a Small World ride, I’ve now had the song stuck in my head for the last month but it was so worth it. I can now hand on my heart say that this is my very favourite Disney ride.

The Christmas decorations at Tokyo Disneyland were next level. I would highly recommend going on the Haunted Mansion if you’re there at Christmas time as the decorations there are just spectacular – you’ll love it if you love Nightmare Before Christmas.

They do get really into themed dress at TDL. I was given the tip to wear a Disney shirt so you don’t feel out of place and I agree with this. I wore my Mulan BlackMilk Touchdown and felt right at home. But don’t worry if you don’t have anything, you can always buy something cute at the park. I bought Fantasia Ears and a 101 Dalmations hat and scarf combo, oops!

And don’t forget your popcorn bucket! We got a couple and the popcorn was so delicious. They also travelled home with us to Australia with no issues.

We found the easiest way to manage our time in the park was to forget about fastpasses and just go from area to area. We actually went on every ride we wanted to, we were in the park for about 12 hours and left when the kids were tired and had enough. We didn’t stay at the resort, we were staying in an airbnb and caught the train to the park from Ueno station. We didn’t go to Disneysea – but will next time for sure.

In short, I recommend using the crowd calculator, picking a day that isn’t so busy, getting fastpass if it’s busy, and just having a magical time.

Image may contain: outdoor — Christmas Decorations at Tokyo Disneyland, 2019

If you’re after more information on Tokyo Disneyland I watched this video by PaolofromTokyo many times before we went and I found it very helpful.

We’ll be going back to Disneyland again, hopefully really soon.

Image may contain: Elizabeth Reimers, smiling — Pooh’s Honey Hunt

Vegetarian in Tokyo

Hello, my name’s Amanda and I am vegetarian.

We travelled to Tokyo for two weeks in December 2019 and being vegetarian brought along a few challenges.

I will say upfront that I am not vegan. I do eat dairy, honey and eggs. I do avoid meat and fish based broths. I do love mochi! My kids and husband are not vegetarian.

So, if you’re vegetarian and planning a trip to Japan you’ve probably heard all sorts of things ranging from “zomg it’s almost impossible!” To… “it’s fine, you’ll eat great.” And I think it is really somewhere in between. And while it wasn’t as simple to find a meal for me as it was for my omnivorous family, I never went hungry.

Convenience stores quickly became my friend. If in doubt, duck into a Lawsons, FamilyMart or 7-11 and pick up a snack or snacks. I absolutely fell in love with pickled plum onigiri and steamed pizza rolls. Wash it down with a can of coffee and we’re good to go.

Western style chain restaurants generally had a vegetarian option, or at least a meat free option. Wendy’s had an awesome pumpkin soup that I ate a fair few times. And loved!

One afternoon I walked around Akihabara for about an hour looking for somewhere to eat that was vego friendly and had a spare seat, I wanted something traditional but ended up going with Denny’s. I ordered what I thought was a plain pasta with sauce and it came out covered in ham. I picked the meat off but it was a little disappointing. I found ingredients lists were few and far between and sometimes it was all just a leap of faith.

Some small eating spots are adding more options and I had the BEST veggie burger I have ever had in my life at Shogun Burger in Shinjuku. It was pricey but so so worth it.

Places serving breakfast usually have great meat free options like pancakes, toast, fruit, eggs. If it’s a set that means it’s a meal and comes with a drink.

The place I found hardest to get a decent veggo meal was Tokyo Disneyland. HEAPS of snack food but meals all seemed to include meat. I had ice cream, chips, churros and pop corn over the course of a 12 hour day. It was a great day but I had to stop at FamilyMart on the way home for a meal.

Truth is vegetarian and vegan diets are not too widespread in Japan with only a small percentage of the population adopting this lifestyle so the market for eating like this isn’t huge. However with more and more tourists coming over, hopefully there will be more options for me next time I go.

I highly recommend the Happy Cow app for finding vegetarian and vegan eats. Lots of places in Tokyo are added there and it’s in English. It even has reviews and menus.

I also recommend being able to say the following –

肉も魚も食べません

Niku mo sakana mo tabemasen

This means I do not eat meat or fish. It will help when asking what’s in what you’re about to eat.

I’ll write more about specific places to eat in Tokyo in a future post. But for now I hope this has given you the confidence to explore Tokyo and all it’s delicious meat-free eats.

Can you travel in Tokyo and not speak any Japanese?

The answer is Yes! – but… (let me explain)

We spent two weeks in Tokyo in December 2019. Our party of four spoke a range of Japanese from able to hold a very basic conversation to hello, thank you and numbers. The result? A good time was had by all.

But would it be possible to tour around Japan, or more specifically Tokyo, with no knowledge of Japanese?

I really think the answer is yes, but the minute you go off the beaten tourist ridden path it may become difficult.

At major tourist attractions like Tokyo Skytree or Disneyland, and tourist areas like Harajuku – most shop attendants and attraction staff speak at least a small amount of English. Some people even take jobs at these places to practice their English. A lot of the information is in at least Japanese and English. You should find no problems navigating the attractions in your guidebook. But the real adventure begins when you take yourself away from the crowd and if you speak zero Japanese it may be difficult or frustrating, but not impossible.

There are a few things you can do to get by.

1. Learn some very basic Japanese.

It seems like an impossible task but set aside a few minutes each day when planning your trip and you’d be surprised how much you learn. I love the app Drops for learning vocab, there are thousands of lessons on Spotify to listen to on your commute, and if you want to do a few Skype lessons with a reason person, iTalki can set you up with a tutor for as little as $1 an hour.

2. Apps!

The Google Translate App lets you scan an image and translate it on the fly. It’s like magic! You can also write what you want to say and instantly play it to the person you want to say it to.

Google Maps will help you get around the hectic train and subway lines.

Drops and iTalki, I have previously mentioned as being great for learning the language. There are tonnes of others but these two are my pick.

3. Plan your travel plan in your hotel and make sure everyone knows the plan

Sounds like a no-brainer but if you can’t ask for directions you really need a plan that ensures you don’t get lost. Sticking together, making sure everyone knows where to go and where to meet, checking and double checking what is happening and when.

4. Know where to find help

All around Tokyo you will find tourist information booths and the people there usually speak pretty good English. They usually know how to help or can point you in the right direction.

5. Say less, only the important words

It felt really rude to point at a bunch of strawberry and kiwi skewers and say “one!” while holding up one finger but the reality is every time we said “excuse me can I have one of those please” we’d get confused looks. Saying lots of words pretty fast sounds like one big long word to a native Japanese speaker and so they have no idea what you’re trying to say. On the flip side, it is not uncommon for one word to be a perfectly good sentence on it’s own in Japanese like “samui!” (cold) or “oishii!” (delicious).

Saying one word and pointing or emoting (eg toilet?) often yielded the best result.

So the reality is yes, you can travel Tokyo with limited or no Japanese. You can have an amazing time in Tokyo with little or no Japanese but you do miss out on talking to the locals a little bit. They may be a little shy with their English. And navigating may be a little frustrating.

I am currently working on my Japanese language skills for when we go back.

Who Am I?

Hello!

My name is Amanda. I’m 32, live in Australia, I have 2 children, I work part time, I am studying Japanese and History at university in hopes of becoming a high school teacher, I am an assistant instructor of karate and… I’m 100% an Otaku. Yep. Totally and unashamedly obsessed with Pop Culture.

We just got back from a 10 day trip to Tokyo and I cannot wait to go back. But. I also have to be an adult and save up to buy a house *sad face*

So. This blog is where I will write about the trip we just took, other trips we’ve been on, future travel plans, daily life stuff, movie and TV reviews, craft stuff (I especially enjoy snarky and nerdy cross stitch) and everything in between.

I hope you enjoy the ride with me.