My suitcase is packed and I finally managed to figure out my itinerary. Books I’ve packed: Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals (what is enlightenment is required) and Andre-senpai’s Japan tourist phrasebook. Not much else in my suitcase, I guess I’m traveling light, which will be great since I’m taking the subway to JFK. I’m a little scared of the Tokyo subway and JR train system – how I’m going to get from Narita airport to the hostel – but I’m pretty adaptable so I guess I’ll figure it out when I get there.
I’m planning an ‘international relations’ tour: The address of Chongryon took forever to figure out and there aren’t any directions. Yasakuni shrine/museum is only a little easier to find. Otherwise my trip is fairly standard for tourists and anime fans, Akiba to find my gundam exia, Otome road for my suitemates, and wandering around Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuki and Ikebukuro… Fresh sashimi at Tsukiji and Senso-ji in Asakusa for the whole ‘cultural’ thing. I went to JTB today to pick up my ghibli museum ticket, god its expensive ($15) but I guess that’s the price of finding the real Totoro. I’m going to get me a real Totoro.
I will probably check email/facebook once a day when I get back to the hostel, if their charges are not too exorbitant, so I may not post every day. Certainly not with pictures anyway. My long-awaited Tokyo adventure is about to begin (doki-doki!) and 2008 is off to a great start. Mata ne!
There’s the Narita Express, should take you to some of the major JR stations. Transport there is really quite easy to figure out. I’m glad you managed to get a Ghibli ticket. It’s definitely worth your $15.
Have fun!