I didn't go while I was in Japan because I didn't know Ghibli had a museum (I'm surprised they don't have a land, like Disneyland. I'm sure it would be popular). Going with the R family was perfect because then it looked like we were going for the child and not because I'm a huge Ghibli nerd (never mind the fact that Now-chan is 2 and has never seen a Studio Ghibli movie). The plan was to have breakfast, head out, get lunch on the way, and then play at the museum. The plans changed a little when it was discovered that Now-chan had a fever, but they just changed slightly. Apparently, in Japan you can call the doctor and tell them that you need to come in and then they call you back when they have an appointment ready for you (within the hour), then you go to the doctor's office and go right in! T and Now-chan were done at the doctor's office in time to meet us at the train station. They diagnosed her with a cold and gave her medicine in packets of powder to be mixed with juice (this struck me as funny as I associate medical powders with the apothecary and wondered vaguely if they had checked her vapors or offered leeches). The train ride was uneventful except that Now-chan had no intention of drinking her concoction, as this would ruin her 2-year-old street cred.
For those of you who want to visit the Ghibli Museum, please note that you need to buy tickets in advance. Internet research led me to believe that you need to buy your tickets MONTHS in advance, but R picked them up at a Lawsons less than 2 weeks before we wanted to go with no problem. (The Ghibli Museum website has an English version - http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ .) However, it is not a myth that you need to get them in advance, they will sell out - they were sold out when we arrived and we went on a Wednesday while school was still in session, i.e. not vacation season. Unfortunately, I didn't buy the tickets myself, so have no advice to offer there except that the employees at Lawsons are generally extremely nice and helpful and if you print off anything with Ghibli Museum pictures on it, they will probably figure out what you want and give you a hand.
*SuperNova Travel Tip: While I am terrible at picking up languages and do not generally "study the language" before I travel, it is a good idea to learn 3 phrases before you go: "please," "thank you," and "excuse me" ("kudasai/koo-dah-sigh," "arigato/ah-ree-gah-toh," and "sumimasen/soo-me-mah-sen"). I always give this advice in my travel writing and I will say it again here. People are so much nicer and more willing to help you if you make a little effort with their language. Combine this with my other tried-and-true tip about smiling (always smile, although never nod unless you truly mean "yes" because that can get you in trouble) and you will likely get through most situations.
Also, the museum is not right outside the train station (yes, gasp). It's about a 15 min. walk, so definitely research the route before you come if you won't have internet access once you're in Japan.
The actual museum is awesome. There is a HUGE stuffed Totoro selling tickets in the ticket office (which is perfect since there are no actual tickets to sell) and the museum building itself looks like something out of a Ghibli movie. The museum is a nice mix of things for adults and activities for kids. You can touch just about everything and one of the first rooms you go in has the biggest, most complicated, and most awesome zoetrope ever called "Bouncing Totoro." (A note about strobe lights: they are everywhere in Japan. You will encounter bright flashing lights absolutely everywhere; if you have epilepsy, I'm sorry, but Japan is not for you.) There is also the Saturn Theater, a small theater showing a Ghibli original movie (about 15 min.) that can only be seen in the museum. Mc and I were worried at first about the movie being in Japanese, but there were no words so it was no problem. We got to see Pan Dane to Tamago-Hime (Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess). I can't tell you what it was about (not because I am trying to be obnoxious but because I have no idea how to even begin, "So there's this witch with ENORMOUS bazooms who flies in on a bucket and wants to make a 30 egg omelet, but one of the eggs won't break, so she puts a hair-tie on it and spins it and it now has a tiny face and arms and legs and hair-tie dress and one night . . . "), but it was absolutely captivating and Now-chan talked about Tamago-chan for the rest of the day.
After the movie, we got lunch in the cafe and I would probably say this was the most disappointing thing about the museum. It was a cute, outdoor cafe (it also had a small indoor cafe if the weather is bad, but it was packed when we came so we chose outside) but the food selection was very limited (2 food choices and ice cream). I had a hot dog, Mc and T had a pork belly rice bowl, R had a Studio Ghibli beer, and Now-chan had a fit. Probably because we were sitting quietly and that didn't suit her style, the girl has things to do; people to see, things to touch, stairs to climb. She got over it as soon as we started moving again and T is a champ at eating around a 2-year-old storm in her lap.
Upstairs is a huge neko-basu (cat bus from Totoro) that kids can actually play in, complete with makurokurosuke ball pits (makurokurosuke are black dust balls also from Totoro and then again in Spirited Away) which was awesome but only for children. Boo. A lot of the actual museum exhibits (most, actually) were in Japanese only, but there were a ton of pictures and despite the lack of English we totally felt the experience was worth the 1,000¥ admission. On the top floor is the gift shop Mama Aiuto which means "help Mama" in Italian and is aptly named because that place is insane. The words "crowded" or "packed" come to mind but are not quite right . . . maybe "suffocating" would work . . . Anyway, we braved it because Mc wanted a No Face souvenir (from Spirited Away), I wanted something (I got a small stuffed fox-squirrel from Nausicaa and Laputa), and we needed to get a Tamago-hime for Now-chan because she seemed so enchanted by the film and because we are big fans of buying affection. On the roof of the building is a life-size Robot Soldier from the Laputa movie and everyone was politely taking turns taking pictures in front of it. On N's 3rd trip up the tiny, spiral staircase, we got her to come over to take a picture and while she is half Japanese, she is also half American, so she ignored the people politely taking turns, and marched up to the robot. I like her style; work it while you're 2 lady!
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| Robot Soldier from Laputa: Castle in the Sky and fearless Now-chan |
After we were sure that we'd seen all there was to see, we said good-bye to Totoro. Now-chan passed out in her stroller once Tamago-chan was securely strapped in and T decided to take this opportunity to head home so that R could take us drinking. Hurray for T, the most awesome of wives!
We hadn't been to Shinjuku yet and it had been awhile since R had been there, so off we went. It was still pretty early, so we killed time at a coffee shop in a shopping mall under a train station (that sounds weird, but is really common) where our waitress' name tag claimed that she was Ally McB. The people at the next table were smoking, so we got a solid nicotine hit with our tea and coffee, free of charge (there is a LOT of smoking in Japan, but surprisingly, it's actually less than when I lived there, so good on ya Japan for slowly making changes!). After that, we wandered, which is one of my favorite activities. We went through every floor of a new shopping mall (this one was not part of a train station) and gasped at prices, we went to a clothing store and looked for an Engrish t-shirt for Mc (it is popular for foreigners to collect Japanese t-shirts that have English on them because apparently they have no interest in proof-reading and the t-shirts are generally hilarious) and then R decided to take us to Shonben Yokocho (Piss Alley).
This street is cool because in the middle of ultra-modern Shinjuku is a street that is like stepping back in time. It's lined on either side with tiny food and drink establishments that have a counter with some sort of grill and can seat a whopping 6 adults. We started out in an izakaya with an upstairs, meaning there was a ladder near the door for the adventurous. R did a great job reading the menu and we had yakisoba with pork and seafood, boiled beef with garlic, kimchi pork, and beer. Here is the great thing about ordering beer in Japan, the word is the same and they only have one kind. All their beer is a light lager type and before you scoff or keel over, just try it. It's average at worst (although I love it), you will never get a bad beer in Japan unless you seek one out. The word for beer in Japanese is "beeru" and you hold up the corresponding number of fingers to beers you want. If they ask you anything, it will be if you want a big one or a small one, and you can get through this question with gestures. The next place we tried was yakitori, or chicken on a stick. We squeezed into an 8 seater and were handed an English menu immediately. R ordered chicken-wrapped asparagus skewers and the sample plate that had 3 things listed followed by a dot dot dot. We decided to take our chances and the dot dot dot wasn't even cartilage, so we won! Mc got to try chicken hearts, though, which he didn't mind but are not my favorite (unless the only other option is cartilage).
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| Mc was trying to juxtapose the image of the huge modern building behind the tiny traditional street |
Several beers later, we decided to walk through Korea Town. On the way, Mc and R got alcoholic drinks at the conbini, largely because they were funny and drinking on the street is allowed in Japan. Mc got Ramune (Japanese soda pop) flavored alcohol drink and R chose a Calpis (carbonated yogurt drink thing) one. Walking through Japan at night is always fun, especially if you're with someone who knows where they're going so you don't have to pay attention and can just gawk. We eventually even found the train station. It was a fun night and Mc was particularly proud of himself for remembering that R had to get off one stop ahead of us to pick up a bicycle. "Wow, I'm impressed you remembered, good thing you were here!" Silence. "So . . . . . . . . . . . . Don't you want to get off here then?" "OH!" and R leapt off the train as the doors closed. :) We had a most excellent time and R was a wonderful host.
Thursday is our first big trip away - overnight on Nikko Mountain!
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