Checking In!

Hey gang!

Japan's been fantastic. It's hard to believe we've only been here three days! We've done so much in such a short amount of time...it's been so much fun. Here are some of the highlights thus far:

Hakuhikan Observatory: Remember the two buildings with the satellite-looking things on them from the third season of Digimon? That building. We went up to the 45th floor and looked out over the city, which is huge! It doesn't feel that big when you're in it, but it's massive. Got some awesome pictures. 


Meji Shrine: Beautiful. It's in a forest, smack dab in the middle of Tokyo. It's truly wonderful to behold. We even to see two traditional Japanese weddings being held!

Harajuku: One of the big shopping districts in the area. We visited the Evangelion Store (epic!) and grabbed crepes for lunch before perusing the rest of the district.

Akihabara: Oh lordy. Talk about a geek's paradise. Anything and everything game/electronic can be found here: retro games, consoles, computers, arcades...It was fantastic to see, but so overwhelming in just the sheer number of shops and advertisements. I got some really fantastic stuff though, and will be going back to visit some more shops and have dinner or lunch at the Gundam Cafe. 


Fish Market: We were up at 4am for this one, but it was so worth it. We got to see the fish market in action, which was awesome. :D


Ghibli Museum: Probably my favorite part of the trip thus far. The museum is centered around everything the studio has done thus far, including things released this year. I got to see original cells from some of the films, storyboards, life-size renditions of settings, got to sit in a life-size Cat Bus, got to see a mock-up of some studio spaces... The museum itself was so quaint and beautiful, feeling a bit like a hobbit hole in atmosphere, but sporting some beautiful/quirky architecture and some lovely stained glass windows that depicted characters from the studio's works. I spent way too much money in the gift shop/book store, but it was so worth it.

From Software: Our first game studio. We got to sit down with the director of Demon Souls and Dark Souls in a Q&A session. It was really educational, and so cool to speak to someone with experience in the field and in touch with the current industry. It was also nice to learn about what some of these companies look for in employees.

Square Enix Showcase: We found it! It's smaller than anticipated, but really fantastic. I'll be returning later this week to make actual purchases.

I know these are just short synopses, but there's too much to put into one blog. If you want to know the whole story, you'll just have to ask me. ;) It's been a brilliant trip thus far, and I'm excited for the rest too! Toei and Telecom tomorrow!