Nakano Broadway +

Well HEY guys!

Matt and I went out to Nakano Broadway today, where LOTS and LOTS of stores are! I don't have many pictures of the stores, because a camera in a store is a no-no in pretty much every country, but I did buy a few things! Namely two manga (the first is an issue of Doraemon, a really popular kid's manga, which should be easy for me to read, and the second is a shoujo [girls'] manga called "Blue Friend" that looks interesting), the soundtrack to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (amazing movie, amazing soundtrack) and this necklace that I LOVE and was on sale for only ten dollars (marked down from 35)~

Here are some pictures from our adventure today~!

This is a typical strip mall in Japan. There aren't doors on either end of the tunnel, but air conditioning is blasting in from all sides. 

OKAY GUYS. OKAY OKAY OKAY. THIS IS A REALLY BIG DEAL. They have entire stores FILLED with crane games. CRANE GAME STORES. They're incredible. I lost like 6 bucks here and it was SO WORTH IT.

Here's one in action:

THIIIIS is the entrance to Nakano Broadway!! It's three floors of a bunch of different stores from movie stores, manga stores, toy stores, CD stores, nicknack stores, stores where you can buy the cell frames of animations, poster stores, etc etc. Very fun, had a great time!

Ten thousand cranes hanging from the ceiling in Nakano Broadway! (Random: I just looked outside and even though it's only 6:30 here, it's already really dark out. Hiroko says we cheat with Daylight Savings Time, because they don't do that here. She's right, but I want more sunlight, dammit!)

I'm not sure what pipi is, I think it's a sound or something, but regardless, it's HILARIOUUUS.

Okay, this next thing I'm about to show you is super cool. There was an arcade in Nakano Broadway and there was this game called BeatMania and this guy was playing it. It has seven keys and it has the same idea as DDR: See it on the screen, press it in the right beat. Only this guy was INSANELY good. I told him so afterwards but he only glanced at me because I was a distraction. Oooops. Anyway, check it:

(That's actually Matt's handiwork with the camera. Good job, Matt!)

Here's one of the 12 hallways you can find in Nakano Broadway!

Here's a turtle we saw on the way through the park back to their house. What are you DOING, turtle? How'd you get up there? You're not a bird, you're a turtle. Get down from there.

This is what I ate for lunch yesterday; ramen with egg and ham. You jelly?

Also yesterday, when we went to Ghibli, this guy was standing on the roof. He's from Laputa: Castle in the Sky, an anime by Miyazaki. 

Also from Laputa: Castle in the Sky!

I also got my shinkansen (bullet train) tickets today. I'm leaving for Nagano not tomorrow but the day after! Not being around Matt and Hiroko for english-speaking is gonna be hard, but I feel like this was a great way to ease into Japan. Speaking some Japanese but not full-time for my first few days was great. But I get to meet my host family soon!! So that's very exciting.

More updates later!! Thanks for reading! <3