Karl and I woke up early enough to walk to Dotonbori and look around before checking out of our hotel. Dotonbori is a shopping area with a very active nightlife along the Dontonbori canal. It looked super cool with tons of colorful and crazy signs everywhere. I bet it was even more fun at night and I feel a bit lame for not going back out but I was hurting and the town was crazy busy.
Dotonbori is an area of visual overload. There are tons of neat building facades and signs everywhere.
Bought a silly banana toy from this gashapon machine as a souvenior. We got the one pictured on the very bottom right.
The arms of this crab move.
Karl with the Karl snack mascot.
The world famous “Glico Man.”
Lots and lots of people wear face mask. I’m not sure if it’s to guard against sickness and allergies, or if the sick people are wearing face mask out of consideration for others.
It’s interesting little things like this that make Japan a visual wonderland.
Interesting
Octopuses are so cute!
Dontonbori Canal
Colorful reflections.
There’s a ferris wheel in the middle of the area. Looks neat.
The Carol in Dontonbori
Interesting buildings.
Covered shopping streets are fairly common.
Visual Overload
So many wires!
Cute flower mural.
Hotel Le Botejour Nanba, a business hotel a few blocks away from the Dontobori Canal. We had a little trouble finding it the night before because it’s down a small alley way.
I enjoy views like this. It makes me think of the chaos of every day life in the city.
Packing up. Our time in Osaka was very brief but it was memorable.
Heading to the subway station.
Bye bye Dontonbori!
Subway to Shin-Osaka
Waiting on the subway train in Namba station. It’ll take us to Shin-Osaka where we’ll board a shinkansen to Tokyo.
Train from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo Station (11:02 – 2:24)
About to enter the Shinkansen station.
Our Shinkansen seats. We were in the very front of the train car.
Akihabara, Tokyo
Akihabara is known for it’s anime, manga, and electronic stores which is why I chose to stay in the area for our last few days in Tokyo.
Checked into Remm hotel which was conveniently located on the corner of the station.
Remm Akihabara is a cool modern style hotel in Akihabara.
Room 1019
This small room was packed full of amenities. I especially enjoyed the massage chair.
The room is so small Karl had to stand in the doorway while I snapped a few photos.
There’s glass between the bath and bedroom to make the space feel more spacious. You lower the curtain when you want privacy.
Little bitty bathroom
View from our room. Yotobashi-akiba is an absolutely amazing department store! Really, be surprised if there is something they DON’T have.
View of Akihabara.
Gundam Cafe
Dining at the Gundam Cafe was on my must list. Karl and I each tried a different themed pasta and dessert. Fun!
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Exploring Akihabara
Walked down Chou Dori — the main street in Akihabara. Went shopping in Mandarake, a 6-8 level building with tons of cool figures and quite a bit of Sailor Moon stuff, and in Animate – another fun multilevel anima/manga shop.
Lots of Boruto advertising. We should have gotten something to eat from this place.
Advertisements on every floor. One of these is a show I watch.
Mandarake Commplex Floor Guide
Shopping in Mandarake.
Our friend Jeremy would love this.
So many Sailor Moon things!
My Sailor Moon loot! We found all the Perfect Edition Sailor Moon manga I was missing and got is for 1/3 of what I would of paid online. Score!
This was the other main shop we explored. If we’d arrived a month or two earlier we could have eaten Sailor Moon themed food in the cafe.
Karl found Dr. Pepper – said it tastes much stronger in japan
Still can’t believe I managed to get Karl to pose behind this. He must of been in a very good mood. 🙂
