February 11

Today, we went to Harajuku and Shibuya. I was rather disappointed by Harajuku. We got a late start and had to wait for Dan’s friend, Ryan for quite a while after arriving there. I did see a lot of Harajuku girls though, so many I could not take many of their pictures (though the crowds did not help). Harajuku (or at least the part we saw) was like Osu but with more gothic lolita choices. I went into Body line (the super-cute, over-the-top gothic lolita store). They were running a sale (no way!) and I found a fancy jacket that was cheap and that I wanted, but there was a no-try-on’s-before-you-by policy, so I was heartbroken.

Afterward, we got crépes (filled with whipped cream and nowhere as good as French ones (with nutella) and made our way to Shibuya. It wasn’t very exciting (to shop in) but it was the big city district, so it was interesting by other measures. There’s some atmosphere to an area with so many people and such big buildings plastered with moving advertisements. We saw my first (and second) hummer in Japan, and the giant Audi building. We went into the Japanese equivalent of Wal-Mart, called Don Quixote. It’s four or five stories of basically junk and locked cases of (what could be) designer items (or knock-offs). It’s like a bad dream (or a Chinese knock-off sore) and there are so many narrow aisles and overstocked shelves that I wouldn’t be surprised if tons of things are lifted every day. Aftereard, we visited a seven-story soccer shop and rode the elevator to the stockroom and back because there are no elevator restrictions. We wondered how the place could stay open with such overpriced merchandise and few customers. We think it is the headquarters for the corporate side of the Japanese football team (who was playing Australia tonight).

For dinner, we went to Dan’s usual restaurant where he eats dinner with salarymen every night. There are three items on the menu; beef bacon over rice, pork bacon over rice, or rice with a slice of fish. It was more basic than Chinese food in the US, but I ordered there anyway since all of my travel companions were eating there.

Throughout the evening, we were all very tired (we hadn’t recovered from our 4-am crash) and we decided to call it a night. At the train station, a Japanese man with a metal briefcase approached us, asked us if we were alright (I assume he meant for directions) and asked for 500en. I wasn’t going to give it to him, but Dan and Amy gave him 200en and he bowed (on his knees), bowed again (standing) after accepting it with bandaged hands, and walked (at a running pace) away. We speculated about his situation and the two biggest theories are that he is either homeless or owes money to the Yakuza.

When we finally got back, I bouht some (imitation) donuts at the konbini and spent the evening online re-reading abut nanotechnology to be ready for my interview in the morning. I think I got to bed around one, which turned out to be a bad idea.