Hi there SH
So, I’m not sure if I came to the right place (I hope that I did), bu-ut… Here goes… This April I’m going on a trip to Japan and since I’m a Scandal fan I thought that I can spend a day or two just wandering around Tokyo and Osaka looking for the places that are band related. For now I have only Tower Records, Scandal Shop and Osaka Jo-Hall. Maybe members from SH could recommend me other spots?
 
Of course I’m also looking for places that are worth visiting in general in Japan: like restaurants or crazy shops with awesome anime stuff or bakeries or parks or… anything really. If you have something like that in mind, please, let me know I don’t know how could I repay for kindness but maybe I could send some postcards or play Happy Birthday on ukulele (No, I really can’t do that. Yet. But I’ll learn)
 

Thanks for any kind of help (phew… first post ever, hope it's in the right section).

Try to visiting Shinseido Shop to buy Yellow stuff with TOMOMI clearfile as a bonus (I think you're TOMOMI lover). Or if you searching for Anime stuff, I think you can find it on Akihabara district. CMIIW. .sweat.

Thank you for your answer  Whole Akihabara, Den Den Town, Shibuya is on the list. 

Shinseido Shop? Is it something related to cosmetics?

And yes, I like Tomomi. True.

Everytime I visit Tokyo, I make sure to go to the Meiji shrine in Harajuku.  Hanging out in Harajuku is also fun, as it's a fashion center in the city.  Shinjuku and Ikebukuro are both good for food/nightlife and shopping.  If you like high-end fashion/goods, then a visit to Ginza would be fun.  The flagship Uniqlo store is also in Ginza.  There are observation decks at Tokyo Tower, Mori Tower, Tokyo Skytree, and the Metro Gov. Building.  Tokyo is a great place to just walk around and explore really.

I'm actually going to Osaka in the fall.  It's known for its cuisine, so try to eat as much as possible while there.  Personally, my only real plan, other than eating and seeing some friends, is to check out the building where Scandal practiced when they were new. It's not far from Osaka-jo Hall, but it's kinda hidden (as most small places in Japan are).

You could go see a show somewhere that's associated with them and some live recording they've made - that's always fun for me (even if I'm not seeing them). Zepp Tokyo, Shibuya-AX, obviously Budokan or Yokohama Arena are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head that are either in Tokyo or within short transit distance.

myszkin wrote:Shinseido Shop? Is it something related to cosmetics?

SHISEIDO is the cosmetics brand, while SHINSEIDO is a retail store. To tell you the truth, while I have been to Tower, TSUTAYA and HMV, I never know where to find a Shinseido store (Google Maps will have to do here I guess).

My fav spots in Tokyo are:

FOOD (a few of these are chains, but good!)
1. Sushi - Tsukiji for breakfast, try Sushizanmai. As for revolving sushi (kaitenzushi) - the Genki chain is pretty good.
2. Okonomiyaki - not the first thing you'd think of having in Tokyo. Highly recommend Sakuratei. They do an all you can eat between 12-3PM for like 1200 yen.
3. Tendon - you can never go wrong at Tenya Tendon (loads of em about)
4. Gyuniku - Sukiya vs Yoshinoya - I prefer Sukiya. Again loads of em about.
5. Ramen - I've a fav spot in Shinjuku called Menya Kaijin. But ramen shops are everywhere!

ANIME - Akiba is the obvious choice, but people say to check out Nakano Broadway too (nope, never got around to check it out).

As for the other touristy stuff, the Lonely Planet/Tripadvisor website (for example) will be good enough - all depends on how much time you have. But one thing you should check out is Harajuku on a Sunday if you can. At the entrance of Yoyogi Park you may wanna check out greasers with large pompadours doing the twist to rockabilly music!



As for Osaka, food-wise just hit Dotonbori - you'll be spoilt for choice!

kudo_maharizu wrote:

myszkin wrote:Shinseido Shop? Is it something related to cosmetics?

FOOD (a few of these are chains, but good!)
1. Sushi - Tsukiji for breakfast, try Sushizanmai. As for revolving sushi (kaitenzushi) - the Genki chain is pretty good.
2. Okonomiyaki - not the first thing you'd think of having in Tokyo. Highly recommend Sakuratei. They do an all you can eat between 12-3PM for like 1200 yen.
3. Tendon - you can never go wrong at Tenya Tendon (loads of em about)
4. Gyuniku - Sukiya vs Yoshinoya - I prefer Sukiya. Again loads of em about.
5. Ramen - I've a fav spot in Shinjuku called Menya Kaijin. But ramen shops are everywhere!

As for Osaka, food-wise just hit Dotonbori - you'll be spoilt for choice!

Sweet! I'd like to check as many restaurants as possible. Your recommendations are very, very helpful. Thank you. All in all I have 14 days in Japan so I'll be eating day and night till I'll be stuffed up to the roof  Sky high. I've heard that "Ichiran ramen" is good too.

As for Budokan and Jo-Hall - yes! They are on my list. And I would gladly look for the shop that Scandal got their name from but I have no idea where is it. 

Judging from what you write, guys, it seems that I really can't go wrong in Tokyo. Everything sounds awesome.

myszkin wrote:Judging from what you write, guys, it seems that I really can't go wrong in Tokyo. Everything sounds awesome.

Pretty much - I've been going once or twice a year every year since 2000 and I still haven't done everything I want to do. I've written about a lot of what I've done since 2006, at least, and maybe that'll give you some more ideas: http://www.alphabetcityblog.com/p/japan-travelogue.html

(You can kinda tell that I am starting to run out of new things; the older reports have more in them. I am doing a lot of repeat things on my trips there these days.)

The fun thing about planning trips there is that when people give you suggestions and you start researching them online, you'll often find people talking about other things that you'd never heard of but that sound fun too. Then you look those up and find even more. So from one idea you can end up building this giant list of things to do, so much that you could never accomplish it all in a single visit.

spacecadet wrote:Pretty much - I've been going once or twice a year every year since 2000 and I still haven't done everything I want to do. I've written about a lot of what I've done since 2006, at least, and maybe that'll give you some more ideas: http://www.alphabetcityblog.com/p/japan-travelogue.html

(You can kinda tell that I am starting to run out of new things; the older reports have more in them. I am doing a lot of repeat things on my trips there these days.)

The fun thing about planning trips there is that when people give you suggestions and you start researching them online, you'll often find people talking about other things that you'd never heard of but that sound fun too. Then you look those up and find even more. So from one idea you can end up building this giant list of things to do, so much that you could never accomplish it all in a single visit.

Thanks spacecadet. I'm also trying to plan to go over, for a month-6weeks around August. Also hoping I can see a few of the bands I like of course...

myszkin wrote:As for Budokan and Jo-Hall - yes! They are on my list. And I would gladly look for the shop that Scandal got their name from but I have no idea where is it.

As for the music venues - there's nothing much to do there apart from the quick "I-was-there" photo, but both venues are located in parks worth visiting - Kitanomaru-koen (Budokan) and Osaka-jo-koen (Jo-hall).

I also meant to answer your second question re: SCANDAL.

It's not a shop but a hostess bar. No, I won't enter the premises unless it's your kind of thing. It's in an area of Ōsaka called Kyōbashi. Nothing touristy there really, but this SCANDAL "pilgrimage" allows you to go to other places where the band used to hang out in their early days. I've not been to all but ticked quite a few of them.



Co-ordinates for GoogleMaps

Daei: https://maps.google.co.jp/?ll=34.696574%2C135.533068&spn=0.001788%2C0.002063&t=m&z=19&brcurrent=3%2C0x6000e0d68db34ac5%3A0xf2ff98334ee76c33%2C1&layer=c&cbll=34.696574%2C135.532556&panoid=bfM0VNUk7FGGUl6u8Hyvog&cbp=12%2C161.06%2C%2C0%2C-23.24

SCANDAL/Sukyandaru kyabakura and STUDIO BROTHERZ (band rehearsal rooms): https://www.google.com/maps/@34.695738,135.5306881,3a,75y,227.93h,62.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7v0O7_Q0-G3LzQWdXgwrgQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

CALESS, GARB DRESSING restaurant and Higashinoda Park: https://www.google.com/maps/place/34°41%2742.5%22N+135°31%2743.5%22E/@34.695738,135.5306881,16.03z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x6000e0d5c8043645:0xb45dde2d227f43fa

KOMU supermarket and the laundromat: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Japan,+〒534-0024+Ōsaka-fu,+Ōsaka-shi,+Miyakojima-ku,+Higashinodamachi,+4+Chome−5−4+コム・アミジマ/@34.6981248,135.5281878,16.03z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x6000e12a46be1b87:0x7aa85a799bd9f774

SARA/Indy (no longer opened): https://www.google.com/maps/place/Japan,+〒534-0024+Ōsaka-fu,+Ōsaka-shi,+Miyakojima-ku,+Higashinodamachi,+2+Chome−8−6+サンエスＲ１ビル/@34.6981248,135.5281878,16.03z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x6000e129f9b1bdb7:0xb20c04075c76484a

Kureoru Takoyaki shop: https://www.google.com/maps/place/くれおーる+京橋店/@34.6981248,135.5281878,16.03z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x52b39a0095c76bf6

There is another place like the indoor market where the girls go to visit the pan no mimi shop - I didn't go there as I wasn't sure where it was. But I was already happy to go the ones I did anyway.

I wrote a post on my short trip to Kyobashi here if you fancy a read:

http://stomachofchaos.com/?p=9016

http://stomachofchaos.com/?p=9016

Oh yes! It was your blog, few months ago, that gave me the idea that maybe visiting Scandal's places is good. Thank you. I had been looking for this blog for some time now. I'll add all those points to my map. So great!

spacecadet wrote:

So from one idea you can end up building this giant list of things to do, so much that you could never accomplish it all in a single visit.

I'll definitely read your blog. Thank you. I already have more than 100 spots on my google map for this trip and I know it's impossible in 14 days. But maybe that's just a sign that I have to go again (fingers crossed).

I've been to Japan for lengthy vacations and there are some places that stand out. 

The KITTY SHOP is a short-ish walk from the Harajuku station. 

We made an out of the way trip to the Kawasaki station to visit the Kawasaki Warehouse Arcade.  This place was well worth the visit.  The décor is that of the Kowloon Walled City.  Awesome visit.

If you are in the Akihabara region and enjoy anime, I'd recommend visiting Madarake and the Kanda Myojin temple.  The monks here have been criticized for using anime to draw visitors.  Honestly, I enjoy Japanese "church" and the carnival atmosphere that usually surrounds them.  They are great places to find street food. 

When we visited Yokohama, we walked around Yokohama arena and visited Yamashita park.  It was a nice walk in late November with the changing colors of the leaves.  We spent the day here and visited the Ramen museum and the large Chinatown.  I can't visit Japan and not walk around with a large steam bun. 

Where will you be staying?  After all the time we've spent there, we have never come close to hitting all our destinations.  Ugh, we went in October once and it was hot and humid.  Someone mentioned August and I can't help but shudder!

TIP:  Rent a Wi-Fi hotspot and use Google maps while you are out on the street.  The directions for walking and public transport were spot on.


The Nakano Broadway was a good shopping experience.  Madarake's largest store was here.

cantacanta wrote:

Where will you be staying?  After all the time we've spent there, we have never come close to hitting all our destinations.  Ugh, we went in October once and it was hot and humid.  Someone mentioned August and I can't help but shudder!

TIP:  Rent a Wi-Fi hotspot and use Google maps while you are out on the street.  The directions for walking and public transport were spot on.


The Nakano Broadway was a good shopping experience.  Madarake's largest store was here.

*adds everything to the map* Thanks! 

I'm staying at Khaosan Tokyo Kabuki in Asakusa. I've read somewhere (Lonely Planet maybe?) that Asakusa has good street food so I'm already excited. I know that Akihabara and Shibuya have to be on my list. 

I have a tragic feeling that I will get lost thousands times there and I will have a sudden encounter with Godzilla (and I might not win this one...) and ah... Yeah. Wi-Fi is a good idea. Already got that one covered.

I so hope it won't rain too much and it will be nice and warm.

Hm. Maybe I should share my Google map with future travelers to Japan after this trip will be over

There are a ton of vendors surrounding Asakusa including many food stalls.  In all my visits, I've never failed to find a festival at a local shrine where I'd stop to eat street food. 

Keep Google maps open and you won't get lost.  You can use the location services on your phone through the portable wi-fi.  Unless you want to get lost... 

I did see a Godzilla atop a building as I looked around outside the Don Quijote in Shinjuku this past January.  I'm not sure why it was there.

cantacanta wrote:

I did see a Godzilla atop a building as I looked around outside the Don Quijote in Shinjuku this past January.  I'm not sure why it was there.

That's because it was the 60th anniversary of Godzilla last spring. The structure housing Godzilla's head is the Toho building in Shinjuku.

Thanks for filling me in!  With the usual crowds east of Shinjuku station, I didn't dither about to investigate further.  

Ah, I just looked on the map.  It's a cinema!  I get it.