Another super action packed day today. We casually made our way to Odaiba which was hosting a Dojinshi (fan made manga) convention called Comiket. I went last time I was in Tokyo but wanted to share the “experience”. Basically it’s a gay comic convention mostly drawn by women and purchased by women. Really interesting part of the culture just seeing it all take place. The people watching was a highlight of the event, especially in the cosplay area. I was more entertained by the nerdy guys with the thousands of dollars in camera equipment take pictures girls dressed up in video game and anime costumes.
Afterwards, we headed to another part of the area where we ran into the giant Gundam statue.
We wandered the nearby mall for a while, grabbed lunch, and went to Joyopolis which is an amusement park type arcade. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to justify the cost of an entrance fee and play a few games so we left it for next time because there will surely be a next time for me to come back to Tokyo.
The main event for today was dressing up as Super Mario characters and driving go karts around downtown Tokyo. The cost was $60 for a 2 hour tour. We chose course B where we topped out at 45 mph a bridge in Tokyo that’s actually called The Rainbow Bridge!
The fact that this is legal for foreigners to drive go karts at that speed without seat belts or helmets astounded us. I’m glad I intentionally booked our tour at the beginning of sunset. The views were amazing driving around the city and seeing the sky change colors. Tokyo Tower looked great as did the Christmas lights on the trees. The tour guide helped us take pictures on his own iphone and shared them with us but unfortunately they’re 1/10th the usual quality for cell phone pics so they’re a little blurry.
I also tried filming it on my smartphone. Even though I had image stabilization on, it was still pretty jittery because the karts don’t have shock absorbers. I think what really made the tour was how excited the people on the sidewalks were when they saw us drive by or stop at red lights. They would immediately pull out their phones, take pictures and wave to us. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a trip and would love to do it again. Not sure why my audio quality is so terrible but it’s 1am and I’m too tired to troubleshoot right now.
We were pretty hungry after the tour and went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant called Kura Sushi. You sit next to a conveyor belt that pushes along plates of sushi that cost $.85 per plate of 2 nigiri pieces. They were really good and so cheap. If you wanted something specific you would choose on the touch screen and it would come directly to you in a matter of minutes. I love the amount of automation that this restaurant had. For example, when you were done eating, you would drop the dirty plate in a slot at the end of the table. Every 5 plates would enter you in a game of chance to win a small prize. Great way to incentivize people to eat more food. With 52 completed plates (17 finished by yours truly) we were able to win 2 prizes.
For those who have been following along, please give me any feedback that you can think of, what you like, what you’d like to see more of. Any comments would only make the blog better. We’ve got one more full day in Tokyo before heading to Okinawa, hoping to cram in as many fun activities tomorrow. Stay tuned!
