Japan is a wonderful land of mystery and crazy food. Here's all the pictures that just didn't fit into Game|Life's previous coverage of Square Enix Party 2007 and the Tokyo adventure that surrounded it. Read on to:
- Find out what "fried bombs" are!
- See not one but two racist mascots!
- See the kitten that God kills when you masturbate!
- Visit Akihabara's English pub!
And more!
Don't know who this guy is, but he has a posse. From right near the Tower Records in Shinjuku.
My business card, now on the wall at the gamer's bar 16 Shots. I put it underneath Takahashi Meijin's, but my friend said he moved it to where his eyes naturally fell while he was peeing. I have good friends.
Two billboards for Nintendo games (More English Training DS and Big Brain Academy Wii) at Ochanomizu Station, where you transfer to the rapid line to Shinjuku. I saw these ads a lot, and I imagine a lot of other people had them programmed into their brains as well.
Sign outside a sex-goods store. Note that "Drug" has been taken off the menu now that shrooms are illegal in Japan.
I like that Ikebukuro, the Mecca of female otaku, has trees. Oxygenated air in Japan is really something else after a few days of recycled God-knows-what.
Ikebukuro's Sunshine City is home to the only Toys R Us In Tokyo. And a Cold Stone, fittingly. I was shocked to see this.
Even more shocked at the racist curry restaurant next door.
Coming out of Sunshine City I saw a stand advertising "Bakudan-yaki." As I wondered what the hell "fried bombs" were, I saw that they were takoyaki (octopus balls) the size of softballs.
Bam. Like ice cream, them come with lots of festive toppings. Unlike ice cream, they contain octopus.
I doubt we will ever see these sorts of Mickey Mouse dolls sold in the US. Not sure which I like best: the handkerchief over the mouth leather Punk Mickey, or the hip-hop gold chain graffiti backwards ball cap rap star Night Train Mickey.
Across the aisle was this thankfully not pimped-out Totakeke.
So we were riding an elevator up to dinner and burst out laughing when we saw what was on the ceiling. As it turns out, it's a totally different kitten, but at the time it was still hilarious.
Fans could write their personal messages to Yoko Shimomura on this chalkboard.
I got to Square Enix Party really early, but these guys got there really early.
Inside the Final Fantasy Tactics A2 area, you sat in a makeshift school to play the game.
Artsy shot of the bookcase.
There were plenty of pieces of Final Fantasy XI fan art for fans to gawk at.
And this kickass life-size Judge helmet from FFXII.
On Sunday, I went to Yodobashi-Akiba to download the demo for Ouendan 2. And apparently a lot of other people were as well!
I took it over to Akihabara's English pub, The Rose and Crown, to play it.
Yes, of course Akihabara has an English pub! It's actually a ridiculously synthetic, sterile, brand-new, relentlessly marketing-driven place, and they don't even serve actual Euro beer. All you can get is Suntory, although they have it in lager, black stout, and amber varieties. The latter is exclusive to this place. It's... I mean, it's alright.
Ah, the Tsutaya in Narita airport, the last refuge of a game-hungry gaijin returning to Americaland. The games are ridiculously high-priced (if I wanted FFXII Revenant Wings, I'd have bought it in town for 4000 yen, not 5500) but hey, there they are, right before you jump on the plane.
And finally, from over at the toy store in Narita, it's Chibi-kuro Sanbo! That literally means "Little Black Sambo." I wonder if he likes curry?
