chochajin: (Hanakimi: cool judge)
chochajin ([personal profile] chochajin) wrote2008-01-16 12:09 am

[Japan Photos]: Ikebukuro + Sakuragichou

Eeeeerm .... actually I don´t really have time for this, but ............... my journal is half-dead lately and I just can´t stand NOT posting anything at all for a longer period of time XDDDD

Plus .. I really should post ALL of my Japan photos BEFORE I go to Japan again XDDDDD ... otherwise there will be no end to it ever! XD

Here we go~

Ikebukuro West Gate Park:





This is what you see a little while after you´ve left the Ikebukuro JR station (Sunshine City exit).



You probably already recognized this in the last photo, right? YAH SANRIO SHOP!! (*___*)
I´m not THAT into Sanrio stuff, but I wanted to go in and check it out and HOMG! .... so much (pink) ... cute stuff! A lot of Hello Kitty stuff, but much more than that!
Pajamas, ball pens, notebooks, plushies ... EVERYTHING! I just bought some cute ball pens and a calendar. If I ever have time again XD .. I´ll scan that calendar and share the cute pics with everyone, k?! (^^')



Anyway .... we walk towards the Sunshine building. This is the route you have to take if you want to get to TEH ANIME // MANGA FANDOM PARADISE!!!! (*__*) ...



Random shot on our way ... XD



Cinema Sunshine (*___*) .... come to think of it ... we didn´t manage to go and watch a movie ;__; .... (@[livejournal.com profile] hesaki: No, I still don´t regret that we missed Hero - da movie XD)



*lol* Those (cute XD) guys were EVERYWHERE screaming like there was no tomorrow XD ..... poor things!
It was hilarious! Something like this doesn´t exist in Germany ... we do have "Marktschreier" but that´s only at local farmer´s markets and stuff XD



Random shot.



Random shot #2 (yes that was in Bukuro, not in Akiba! XD)



Tussen Broads + Gigolo XD





And there it is! Sunshine City! ^-^; ..... but ... that´s probably not really interesting, I know what you are longing for! Be patient please! .. XD



Cute map at the Sunshine building ^-^



Anyway if you want to go to TEH FANDOM PARADISE you always have to walk just ... straight ahead.
Behind the Sunshine building you´ll see this *points up* Just cross the road and then walk straight again and you´re almost there :D



Tadaaaa~ Mandarake, Ikebukuro (it´s on the left site of the road).



I was there only 2 times, but I bought A LOT! ... mainly Dragonball, Captain Tsubasa, Naruto and Death Note doujinshi XD ... but also one Arashi and a bit FMA, HxH and Yu Yu Hakusho doujis (*__*)v
*lol* While I was looking through the JE doujinshis ... an Arashi song played in the background (can´t remember which one though XD)
If you can´t read Japanese at all, it might be helpful to bring someone who CAN! Because there are tons of racks with the names of the series you can find there on it (most of the time in Japanese!)



Anyway .. if you somehow MANAGE to leave Mandarake again XD (and if you still have money left!), just cross the traffic lights and you´ll see this on your right side. Turn right into that street and even MORE stores will appear in front of you.
WARNING DANGER DANGER DANGER! XD



K-Books!!!!! (and behind it animate! *___*)
There was a looooooooooooooooot of Prince of Tennis stuff (especially of the musicals) .... luckily I´m not into PoT THAT much anymore, so I managed to survive this XD .. but I bought tons of other cute stuff there nevertheless XD
And let´s NOT talk about animate! .. Animate is EVIL!!! XD





And that´s it at night. Nice, nee? ^^



And if you turn around you´ll see this :)



Some other night shots of Ikebukuro (*___*)
I think that was on my last day in Japan ;______; ..... after that I went to dinner with Yumi-chan and her family .. but more about this another time! ^^;



The infamous NOVA language school XD .. (they´re EVERYWHERE ... or rather .. they WERE!) aaaaaaaaand a Nagase Tomoya-chan commercial ^^



Ikebukuro JR Station (Bye, bye Bukuro! I´ll be back :D ... XD)



Ikebukuro Station is REALLY huge! And has tons of interesting department stores and stuff.
I loved that colors in the water, so we took a photo of it (*___*)




Sakuragichou:



We visited Sakuragichou (桜木町) more or less right after we came to Tokyo. It´s really totally awesome there.
Lots of interesting buildings!







Sorry ... I just love these buildings, I can´t help it.



Teh famous Ferris wheel with teh clock in teh middle XD
Perhaps you´ve already seen this one in some dramas or animes?! ^^



A .... lot ... of ... taxis! XD



After a short tour with a really cute bus (sorry no photos, they were all .. crappy D:) we arrived at China Town :D







It was really interesting. Again a lot of gorgeous buildings, yummie food, cute stuff.



I found ................ Son Goku!!! (*___*)>



TOTALLY cute panda shop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Chinese temples and shrines are faaar more colorful than the Japanese ones.



For my taste it´s too colorful, but it was still awesome!











Random shot.



Uh ... the Chinese way of graffiti .. perhaps?! XD



And we´re leaving China Town again to go somewhere else.



Yeah, tEh Yamapi park!?! ... XD



*looks around* No P-chan, but these things look quite interesting :D (No, I´m not talking about the boys XD)



WOAH!!!! Isn´t that awesome????!!!! (*___*)v







That boy on the right was lifting his shirt (before or after that photo, but does it matter?) HOMG!!! (*_________*)



And that was Sakuragichou.



I hope you enjoyed it! (^____^)/~

[identity profile] proxxie.livejournal.com 2008-01-16 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Super cool pictures again! The picture of the guy w/ his shirt up made me laugh.
Anyhow there is so much to see it looks like..
I've been meaning to ask.. and I hope I haven;t asked already and forgotten but what do you go to japan for?? vacation? teaching?? I was just curious. XP

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-16 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I´ll be going there for ... well "work & travel" but in my case it´s probably all work and .... I can only travel after I´ve earned enough money XD *lol*
And as long as I have (a) job(s), I can stay up to 1 year there (^-^)> ... Guess that´s long enough *nods*

[identity profile] karro.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, we're not going to do ANYTHING for the two weeks we are there before you arrive, but when you arrive you'll have to show us EVERYTHING XDDD

It did! And I spent all my money in there XDD Sigh ♥

XDDD But I'm not staying for an entire year, though XD

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
*lol* As if XD But are you really only going to Tokyo this time? Or do you have other plans as well? :3

I soooooooooooooooooooo understand XD Your purse will suffer even more in Tokyo.
My standard sentence there was: 私の財布かわいそう! XD

Not yet, but you will eventually! ;P Just not THIS year ;o; ... HURRY UP MAN! XD

[identity profile] karro.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
No, we're thinking just Tokyo, simply because we're too lazy to travel around much and book hotels and stuff XD; That's the official reason, at least XD;;; We might go to Fukuoka for a couple of days, though, as I want to see everyone again ^^

Sigh, Tokyo, WHY DO YOU HATE MY WALLET SO MUCH XD?
That is a very good sentence indeed XDDDD

True, true~ I just wish I could gather up enough courage to just go to Japan this year to study the language ^_^;

[identity profile] proxxie.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
wow! thats really neat. What do you usually work as?? Thats pretty neat.
1 Year is pretty long. XD Cute avatar btw. ♥

[identity profile] keiko8.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
uwahhh i cant believe I havn't gone to those places >.< wow u took some wonderful pics!. and your journal is not dead at all lol. i do read all your posts XD. whats the mega pixel on that camera its very good. i'm planning to get one too but dont know how much mega pixe i need.
and THERE is ALOT of hot girls in those pictures lol =D.

[identity profile] urbi-et-orbi.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
I miss miss miss Japan so much because of you T.T Thank you for the piccus :3 Where do you normally stay? I'm trying to find a nice and not so expensive place for my next trip :D

[identity profile] minarin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
i want to go to japan :3

[identity profile] mhizxkyloz.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 08:22 am (UTC)(link)
Cos I'm second generation buddhist.
I don't really believe in it, but my parents do.
& i know what the symbolic pictures stand for O_O?

LOL ooooh his kind alright looks though =9

HAHAHAHA mahybe he was! he was kinda cute too =)

I'm quite hungry now.
& feel like ramen T_T

[identity profile] tooku-he-ikitai.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 01:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Ich liebe ikebukuro, für mich definitiv einer der schönsten Stadtteile in Tokyo!!
Liegt aber vielleicht auch daran, dass ich bisher immer dort mein Ryokan hatte!
Und Sunshine City ist super zum einkaufen und für Manga/Anime Fans ja auch ein kleines Paradise!
Nach Yokohama muss ich umbedingt auch noch, sieht sehr interesannt aus! ^^

[identity profile] ame-no-uta.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
die fotos sind toll *_*
vorallem ikebukuro (da war mein hotel wie ich in tokyo war ; O ;) *sehnsucht*

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 04:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I see.
And what do they stand for?

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry ;o;
Toyoko Inn is a good and cheap choice if you want to stay in a hotel :D

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks ^^
Uh ... that camera is already pretty old ... and I don´t know ... wait, I´ll got and have a look XD
5,1 mega pixels! ^^

XD

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
What do you mean with "usually"? There is no such thing.
Almost ALL English native-speakers work there as language teachers.
I´m not an English native-speaker though XD .... Working holiday-ers usually work only part-time ... or they go there as au pair ... or do an internship (but MOST of them are not paid, so you just CAN´T survive in Japan ... unless you have tons of funds).

So .. basically I don´t know yet. I hope that being fluent in 2 languages + master´s degree will help me somehow to find a full-time job for this one year. But I will post an entry as soon as I know more anyway :D

Thanks ^^

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I soooooooooooooooooo want to visit Fukuoka once! .... ARGH! Do you only want to go there on a day trip? If so I might come with you?!?1 ... *stares at her poor purse* XD

BECAUSE YOU DO LOVE TOKYO SO MUCH! ... Or rather .. the stuff that Tokyo offers you ;P

Oh, you want to go to a language school again? (^-^')

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
*nick nick*
Oh, dann nehme ich an, es war gut in Ikebukuro zu "leben"? ^^
Wir waren leider etwas abseits in der Nähe von Shinagawa (^^')

[identity profile] pandanroll.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Your stalker photo shoots are becoming even more outrageous. xDD

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I soooo don´t know what you are talking about! XD

[identity profile] karro.livejournal.com 2008-01-17 11:10 pm (UTC)(link)
You shouuuuuuuuld! I guess it's not a very special town, but I loved it none the less ^______^ I'm not sure, if it would be possible to stay at the dorm where I stayed for just one night I would really like to do that, but I dunno, and I have to ask my friend what she wants to do as well ^^ I imagine that being dragged to Fukuoka to meet my friends who only speaks Japanese wouldn't be so fun for her XD; But zehi! Do come with us~! I'll keep you updated on our plans as they develop XD;

No, or yes, it's more like I want to go to Japan to study there, and then I would have to go to a language school first to reach JLPT 2/1 =__= I guess the best option would be to study Japanese in Norway, though, and go to Japan afterwards. It would certainly be cheaper and more simple XD; I just dunnoooo ;___;

[identity profile] nirmanakaya.livejournal.com 2008-01-18 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
Yay. XD more pictures, I really enjoy it. Hope you post more when you are there.

[identity profile] chochajin.livejournal.com 2008-01-18 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
I see ^^
Yes, please do so! I´ll try to keep you updated with my stuff as well .... as soon as there is something to update! XD

WOAH! But studying Japanese "only" is probably not a good idea - I think it´s everywhere the same, not only in Germany. What job options do you have with "just that"?
And studying IN Japan would be though, huh? But so cool! XD
You, go for it! XD

[identity profile] mhizxkyloz.livejournal.com 2008-01-19 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
I need to see the photos but I remember Guang Ying (however you spell it)'s Hand with the Lotus? Meh it's all religious stuff.

Like the pouring of the water rarararara.

I dont even remmeber it properly xD.
Sorry I can ask ym omother if you like =)

(Anonymous) 2008-01-19 11:54 am (UTC)(link)
I love to watch your photos. I feel like I was there myself ^^ Don't you think that japanease has got great clothes style?

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