Japan Day 2: Studio Ghibli & The Lockup

This is going to be fairly terse because it's 1:30, I'm still a little jetlagged, and my feet are killing me.

Woke up early. Grabbed some rice balls from the convenience store. Got into a brief debate about the propriety of eating them while standing outside the store.

Studio Ghibli museum, out in the suburb of Mitaka. We walked through the town to reach the museum. The landscaping in Mitaka is reminiscent of the greenery in Miyazaki's films: suffused with calm and mystery. The architecture of the museuum is designed to confound adults: doorways force you to stoop, many pathways and staircases are redundant, leading one back to previously visited areas. The building forces you to get lost, and in the process, be adventurous - each new passageway is a opportunity to discover something new, simply for the sake of discovery. The museum screens an sequel of sorts to My Neighbor Totoro, and it was joy to see those characters reunited.



Shinjuku. Okonomiyaki for lunch, split four ways. Found a wonderful desert shop that specialized in traditional sweets. Wallace bought Taiyaki for everyone, warm breads stuffed with red bean paste, shaped like fish. Eating them is supposed to be a good omen.



Walked around Shinjuku, arcades and used cd shops. Stumbled upon the what might be the greatest shill for a 100 yen store in the history of the world. (More on this later.) Jonathan takes on all comers at Street Fighter III, but only scrubs showed up today.



Back to the hostel to meet up with another former coworker who happened to be visiting Japan at the same time. Back out to Shibuya - the noisy, neon Tokyo everyone knows and loves. Ate at a ramen place that uses a vending machine to place orders. The ramen is quite good, with an extremely flavorful broth.

Then to the Lockup. The less said about this iyazaki (Japanese tapas) place, buried in a Shibuya basement, the better, since it would only spoil your visit. But here are a few tempting details: 1) The entryway is filled with false doors, forcing visitors to discover the secret passageway into the restaurant. 2) The Lockup is the only time I will ever see my friend Brian handcuffed by a Japanese lady in a latex miniskirt. 3) While you wait to be seated, you can hear the shrieks and screams of female customers as they discover the truth about this theme restaurant: it takes its theme very, very seriously. You have been warned.