Our second to last full day in Tokyo began in earnest when Phil and I took the Keisei Line train to Shiodome, where we transferred to the Yurikamome Line which took us to Tokyo Big Sight Station. Just across the Rainbow Bridge, passing towards Odaiba, we could see the life-sized Unicorn Gundam, and near it a huge crowd of people gathered for the BMSG FES’25 music festival.
We arrived at Big Sight Station at 10:30. My friend Jon informed us by text that he would arrive at 11:08. So while Phil scrolled through his phone for updates on the upcoming Tokyo sumo tournament, I went down to a vending machine and bought a 220 yen aluminum can of Suntory Hyper Zone Energy Black Punch.
I thought the drink was an energy cola, but it describes itself as an “energy drink.” It tasted like cola mixed with weak coffee. Jon arrived on time and immediately walked down the escalator and through the station’s exit doors. So Phil and I chased him until we got him back on our path. Then the three of us crossed the elevated walkway to the Big Sight Convention Center.
I showed Jon the official website for Comic SDF 17. He noticed that the website didn’t stipulate exactly where in the large Big Sight convention center the event would take place. So we headed to the information desk, which directed us across the floor to the escalators. On the second floor we immediately saw the entrance tables leading to a comic book convention. The posters, however, did not say anything about “Comic SDF.” While we were trying to determine whether or not we were in the right place, we were approached by an English-speaking guide. When I showed him the event website on my phone, he said we had come to the right place. Admission to the convention cost 1,500 yen. A copy of the printed convention catalog cost an additional 1,000 yen. I opted for both.
The “small” convention hall consisted of nine consecutive rows of tables, a total of more than 250 tables. One side of the convention space, against the wall, was dedicated to displays of fan-made figures and articulated action figures.
Two rows of tables adjacent to the exhibit space were given to exhibitors who primarily offered or displayed their custom-made limited edition action figures. The rest of the room was filled with amateur doujinshi artists grouped by parodies. all the Kemono Friends The doujinshi creators were stationed together. all the Girls and Panzer The doujin artists grouped together. all the Kantai Collection The artists were together. all the Blue File The artists were together. The convention seemed to have a military theme=bishoujo plus Kemono Friends.
I quickly became aware of the unusual circumstance, by American standards, that artists offering adult and pornographic comics were mixed with artists selling all-ages comics. Adult comics were labeled as such on their printed covers, but apparently no other effort was made or required to distinguish erotica from all-ages material. And little effort seemed necessary, since the entire convention population seemed to be young adults, with some attendees like us reaching middle age. I never saw a single child at the show. There were a moderate number of cosplayers; almost all of them were women. By a rough estimate, the ratio of male to female artists was 80/20, but I bought some erotic manga by young artists.
My convention haul was 23 doujinshi autographed by their creators, one doujinshi signed by the artist “Fullauto Firing” with a simple sketch attached, two doujinshi from creators who refused to autograph their comics, two doujinshi from artists who were not present at their table when I bought the comics, one dirty couple Illustrated color 40th anniversary shikishi that cost 1,500 yen, a color mini-shikishi that cost 1,000 yen, and a color mini-shikishi that cost 4,000 yen. I was especially excited to find the dirty couple illustration. I was also excited to find the artist “Blue Mage (Aoi Manabu)”, whose doujin comic “Soineya to Dagashiya”, I had already purchased a new copy from Mandarake four days earlier. I bought a second copy from him directly and he autographed it for me.
As we left the show and returned to the first floor, Phil requested that we detour so he could buy a drink. So we walked to the Lawsons store located in the lobby of the Big Sight building. When we arrived at the store, I excitedly pointed to a sign announcing Heart Capture Precure estate.
Jon explained to me that the sign advertised one of the Ichiban Kuji prize lotteries held at the store. For 770 you could buy a ticket that was exchanged for a prize from categories I to A; However, the store’s unique A and B prizes, Cure Black and Cure White figures, had already been won. Since I had never participated in an Ichiban Kuji drawing before, I decided to try the lottery, hoping to win the “I” prize, a roll of Precure packing tape. At the Lawsons checkout counter, I handed over the shopping card and 770 yen. The cashier picked up a box of Ojamajo Doremi tickets, scanned the till and deposited my money. Jon noticed the mistake and explained to the cashier that he wanted the Nice cure lottery, not the Ojamajo Doremi lottery. The cashier apologized and then my payment had to be refunded and then redeposited into the coin collector of the cash register machine. I took out my ticket at random and opened it. He had won one of the “H” prizes, a random prize. Nice cure key ring. Another store employee brought out four identical boxes for me to choose from. I chose one and left it in my backpack. The memorable experience of winning a prize in an Ichiban Kuji campaign is more valuable to me than the meager prize I won. So I have no intention of opening the box to see which blind box keychain I received.
Phil decided the checkout line at the convenience store was too long, so he bought a drink from a vending machine. I suggested we have lunch at DevilCraft, one of Jon’s favorite restaurants. Then Jon took us on the trains from Koto Town in Ariake to the DevilCraft Bar and Restaurant in Hamamatsucho.
We ordered a plate of waffle fries with beef chili followed by a Detroit-style “large” supreme pizza with no green peppers. For the next few hours, Jon ate a piece of cake and he and Phil drank a few beers. Our conversation ranged from Pier Paolo Pasolini salted toward Mission: Impossible film franchise for Holy Siya anime installments until the 1995s Jyusenshi Gulkeeva television series until the 1990s Magic Taruruto Television anime for Studio APPP and its 1999. Kacho Ouji television series to wonderful one-hit bands that emerged from the musician Prince and more.
Around 7pm we split up at the Hamamatsucho train station. Following Jon’s advice, Phil and I walked to the far end of the Yamanote Line Station No. 2 in search of the replica of the Belgian “Manneken Pis” statue. When we realized the statue was at the end of platform #3, we walked up and down the terminal stairs and to the end of platform #3 so Phil could take photos of the statue dressed in a silk jester clown costume for Halloween.
Then Phil and I took the trains back to Aoto. We said goodbye at the station. Phil returned to our rental house. I went to the Daiso store to look for packing supplies, but just as I got to the store, the intercom announced that the store would close for the night. So I walked back to our rental.
Phil caught up on sumo highlights on YouTube. I looked at Google Maps and discovered that a “small” two-story Don Quijote store and a relatively large Yoshinoya restaurant were located just down the street perpendicular to our house. After Phil rested, we walked ten minutes from our house at 5 Chome to Yoshinoya Restaurant. After dinner, we walked down the block to the “DonKi” store.
A close examination of the store turned up several surprises. Initially, the Don Quixote store looked like a conventional Japanese grocery store, but we discovered that it also sold small appliances, including televisions and clothes washers, motorcycle helmets, clothing, hard liquor, children’s toys, luggage, wristwatches, marriage aids, including “concentrated horse penis extract,” and gag gifts, including men’s underwear that dispenses tissues through the crotch.
