Ghibli Museum and Shinjuku Electric street

Started today with a little sleep in. Had Studio Ghibli's Museum in Mitaka planned for the day and wasn't sure how long you could spend there.  They make films like "Totoro" and "Spirited away" and Ponyo". If you haven't heard of them, this blog will probably not mean much. If you have, and you love them like me, the trip is somewhat of a pilgrimage, an obligation.

Totoro!

I B-Payed money over to our travel-x cash card only to find they take three days to clear the funds and our cash cards were close to empty. A big issue for Sharon and I was finding an ATM that took Mastercard_ a rare beast indeed. We traveled to Mitaka hopeful that the museum would take mastercard or we were stuffed.

Not even peak hour, just the regular crush.

The train trip was easy and comfortable despite the rush of commuters. Each narrow street that swept by revealed itself like a complex diorama of power lines and bicycles and tight little roofs.


Finally we reached Mitaka which is a suburb out of town. After a few "excuse-me's" in Japanese, we found a courtesy bus that took us straight to the museum. We were excited to see it pull up, decorated with chracters from the studio's movies.

A short, hot ride later and we arrived. Unfortunately they do not allow cameras inside so we couldn't document much of what there was to see. The zoetorope alone could have entertained me for the day.
Someone else's sneaky footage.

We explored the floors, marveling at the artwork (Sharon particularly liked all of the dioramas)  and were amazed to see the artwork being displayed in such a detailed, hands on method. You could crank the flywheels of mini projectors and pan scenery under an animation camera. All the little kids clambering over the huge cat bus was funny to watch as well. We bought a huge amount from the gift shop, seemingly unaware that we would then have to lug the stuff across Japan on our approaching tour.

Showing off our spoils after an ice-cream on the terrace.

Then we left, happy with our trinkets and only enough cash to eek a ride home. W still had no folding money and could find no ATM that supported our crappy Westpac PIECES OF JUNK!! (I got quite mad about it. :))

This water pump represented the pump in Totoro, including the bucket with a hole in it.

No trip to Ghibli would be complete without a shot of the robot. This sculpture is on the roof of the museum.

Homeward bound.

 We got back to our rooms and rested for a while before deciding to visit the electric city in Shinjuku. A train tip and quick meal later (pizza :) Very Japanese) and we were in the middle of the night scene there. Not a whole lot to buy or see, in fact many of the stores were like big Harvey Normans. We poked about and really just enjoyed the cluttered streets.

Mmmm. Plastic food.

Before dusk.

Lots of busy streets with seedy places to eat.

I should explain that we ate pizza not because of any Xenophobia or intolerance, but simply because most of the places we went into (all in fact) still allow smoking indoors. Eating in a pall of cigarette smoke would have killed us. A lot of the places stank of it so much we decided to move on. It's really odd and I don't know how I put up with it as a kid. It really grabs at the back of your throat.

We walked our fill of the busy streets and ambled into the business district in search of the Tokyo metropolitan Government building. They have an observation deck that's open till 11:30  each night. The walk was easy and balmy. We felt very safe indeed with people out enjoying the cooler night air.

The building towered before us and we found the entrance to the observation deck. It looked all but deserted except for two guys there to check your luggage.

The view was spectacular and I immediately engaged in that most manly of pursuits, fiddling with the settings on the camera to get the perfect long exposure snap. Unfortunately they had all the shop lights on which made taking a photo without reflections almost impossible.

43 stories up.

After what turned out to be an horrifically expensive drink each, we took the elevator down and pecked our way back to the JR line where a train carried our tired frames back to Shinagawa which by now, seems like home. The bed seemed very comfortable that night indeed.