Our last day in Tokyo started with Phil and I taking the Keisei Line train to Oshiage (Sky Tree Mae) train station. At our local Aoto train station, we both used the ticket machine to top up another 1,000 yen on our IC cards, which we mainly used to pay for train tickets and occasionally buy drinks from the vending machines. By that time I was running low on Japanese currency, and Phil’s net worth had dropped to 7,000 yen. The coin purse in my pocket contained the equivalent of about $5 in coins. I had $300 in U.S. dollars with me and expected to exchange them for Japanese yen at the Skytree Mall.
From the underground Oshiage Station, we entered the Tokyo Solamachi Shopping Center and had to take the escalator to the third or fourth floors to reach the ground. The catalog tells us that Chiba Institute of Technology’s permanent exhibition is located on the eighth floor. One particular piece in the exhibition, the life-size Macross VF-25F Gerwalk, is the reason I want to go to Skytree Mall. Upon entering the exhibition room, the Valkyrie is immediately located on the right. We walked around the rest of the room, which offers replicas and exhibits of the robotic technology used to collect meteorite samples. One exhibit allows visitors to touch a meteorite.
Phil and I politely skipped the other rooms of the exhibit because our time was limited.
We took the escalator back to the fourth floor, where there are Japanese souvenirs and various character shops. We passed Marvel, Medicom Toy and Pokémon shop. exist Kirby’s Cafe Phil shop purchased a bag of dry Kirby pasta as a gift for Kirby fans back home.
Phil bought two at the Jump Shop dragon ball malaysia Blind box characters and volleyball Plastic fans for our friends in Florida.
exist Warring States Soul StoreIn a gift shop dedicated to the “samurai spirit,” Phil picked out a pair of small paper lantern magnets for 550 yen each. When he brought them to the register, the woman politely asked Phil why he chose the small magnet when a similar but much larger magnet next to the register was the same price. Phil explained that he was concerned that their size would cause them to fall off the refrigerator door easily; therefore, smaller three-dimensional magnets were preferred.
On the fourth floor, we were surprised by the Asakusa Beet Worker Dessert Shop, where sweets that resembled ceramic and glass statues were for sale. We were also surprised by the unique Japanese style of Yuanzu Food Sample House, which specializes in plastic replicas of food.
We walked out to the balcony to visit the beautifully decorated Donguri Republic store, one of several Studio Ghibli stores in Tokyo.
We also went to the Daiso store where I bought four colored paper frames for 200 yen each, some resealable plastic bags and packing tape in preparation for the trip home, and the only A5 size file box I could find in the store to store some of the doujinshi I purchased. Phil paid for the shipment since I had little cash on hand.
I’m sure a tourist centric place like Skytree Mall would have at least a currency exchange counter, but the mall doesn’t seem to have one. So Phil and I left the mall and headed back to the Oshieage train station.
There we thought that if we could reach the ground we might find a currency exchange shop. So we trudged through the nearest exit, eventually passing through a long series of tunnels and bathing in sunshine on a road with barely any business. We ended up walking around outside the station looking for a nearby money changer, which turned out to be just an ATM inside a supermarket.
So we followed the pedestrian bridge across the Kita-Kyuken River and then through another neighborhood to find a Mizuho Bank branch. But signs posted inside the bank tell us that the branch does not offer currency exchange services. We walked down the block to the crosswalk, crossed the street, and entered Mitsubishi Bank. The doorman told us that this bank branch also does not offer currency exchange services. I walked into the Mizuho Bank building next to Mitsubishi Bank and discovered that this building provides financial planning and management rather than traditional banking services.
As the last day wore on, I announced that I would continue on to Nakano Broadway, where I knew there was a currency exchange counter. Phil returned to our base camp with our Daiso purchases.
I almost fell asleep from exhaustion when I got on the Chuo-Sobu Line train. Half an hour later I realized that the train I was on was going in the opposite direction to where I wanted to go. So I got off the train and took the route in the opposite direction. Finally I reached Nakano.
Phil dropped off our shopping and took the train north to the end of the island. By this time, Shibamata Shakten Shrine was open and operating normally, so Phil purchased two shrine amulets worth 700 yen, which he could not purchase on the previous Tuesday when the shrine was not open for business.
He also found a small community trail that he came across in a YouTube video and fell in love with.
I searched in vain for the Genkanya foreign currency exchange counter on the third and fourth floors of Nakano Broadway. Finally I found it on the second floor. I exchanged $300 at a very good exchange rate of 147.70. I went to the Apple Symphony store on the fourth floor to buy one Creamy Lemon I thought the production unit was 9,900 yen. I realized I had misremembered the price, it was slightly more expensive at 11,100 yen. Continuing to look through the portfolio, I found another year Production cell and original painting of a naked woman. This battery is priced at only 6,600 yen. I’m pretty sure this cell didn’t actually come from Creamy Lemon series, but some other HO OVAs of that era. I decided I liked the image and value of the second cel better and purchased it instead for 11,100 Creamy Lemon cel.
I went to 2D Gallery with the intention of purchasing the 4,400 mint-colored background cels of “Galaxy Angel” that were on display in the store. But upon closer inspection, I realized that the film was cheap because it had damage to the bottom of the image. It’s easy for someone who frames a cell to crop the damage so it’s not visible. But if I buy a unit, I always know it’s damaged on the bottom, whether I can see the damage or not. So I gave up buying cel.
I browsed the men’s doujinshi store on the second floor again. I discovered and purchased four cheap comics that caught my attention.
Just outside the Nakano Broadway gate, I stopped at a luggage store and bought six tacky Japanese tourist refrigerator stickers.
Depart Nakano and stop in Shinjuku. I came out of the east exit of the station, which is supposed to be the closest place to Kinokuniya Bookstore, the main bookstore in the city. However, the city’s density repeatedly confuses Google Maps, so it ended up taking me much longer to find the store than I expected. On the eighth floor, I found multiple copies dirty pair Illustrated archive book. Although I already own one, I want to buy a second one. So that’s what I did.
I took the train back to Qingto Station safely. At the candy shop at the station, I bought two more bags of Japanese-style KitKat candies to share with my colleagues back home. At the Daiso store, I purchased four more A5-sized plastic boxes to store doujinshi, a pair of large file boxes to store and protect the production cells we purchased, a pair of large plastic boxes with buckle lids, two more cans of Kimetsu no Yaiba canned coffee, and three 200 yen blankets to use as cushioning material in my luggage. I arrived at the Aoto rental house just after 7pm.
About an hour later, Phil and I met Jon at the Yotsuya train station. Jon took us to Bistro Hitsujiya, a nearby Indian restaurant. Izakaya style, we ordered several plates of mutton curry, mutton kebabs, and chicken marsala. The total bill for the three of us was 8,800 yen.
Then we walked a few blocks to the basement bar true bluea small, dimly lit jazz bar that played the 1995 movie water world Play on repeat on the silent corner TV. Mixed drinks range from 1,100 yen to 1,600 yen. Phil and I also ordered two 500 yen small squares of dark chocolate made by the owner himself, surrounded by rich milk chocolate. I had a drink. Jon and Phil had two each. Our bill was 9,500 yen.
In an effort to get home before the last train stopped running, we parted ways with Jon and arrived home in the middle of the night, when I stopped at the local 24-hour Lawson’s convenience store to buy two bottles of CC Lemon. Phil fell asleep directly. After writing this blog post, I prepared to walk to the nearby Don Quijote store, mainly to use up the remaining 495 yen we had and exchange them for 1 yen, 5 yen, and 10 yen coins that were not worth taking back to the United States.
I wrote about the day’s activities on the AnimeNation blog, and then at 2am, I walked down the road to the Don Quijote store, intending to spend the remaining change we had. I seriously considered buying the Turtle Powder Men’s Supplement, but the packaging isn’t as cute as the Ma’s, and at 999 yen each, I don’t think the remaining two are worth that much to me. So I ended up buying less than I expected. I bought three towels for 199 yen. I used two of them the next day while packing to go home. I also bought two or three extra cans of drinks with anime labels. Then, to spend more money, I bought a 1,000 yen DonKi mystery box that contained random prizes (which I hadn’t even had a chance to open yet). To my surprise, when I paid all the 100 yen coins, the cash register told me that I paid an extra 250 yen and gave me change. So I guess I managed to get rid of Phil’s and my one, five and ten yen coins.
I walked back to the house and put the bag away. The big DonKi bag cost me another 19 yen and was left at the door. Then I walked to the 7-11 next door. Earlier in our stay, I noticed that the store had a selection of promotional Street Fighter VI Red Bull trading cards, but I wasn’t sure how to claim them. I figured by 3am the store would be so dead that I would have trouble hearing the cashier and just buy enough cans of Street Fighter VI Red Bull to get free cards depicting Chun-Li and Juri. But to my dismay, these cards are no longer available. However, the special edition cans were, so I bought the remaining Ryu and Chun-Li Red Bull cans for 198 yen each. At that time, all I had left was two 5,000 yen bills and a small bag of change.
