Adventures in Japan! Part 5: Tokyo

The final stop on our journey was Tokyo.  Our first mission was to check out the Ghibli Museum.  If you love Studio Ghibli films, then this is a very charming place to visit.  A life sized Totoro greets you at the entrance.  Inside, you can watch a Ghibli short film, exclusive only to visitors of the museum.  See concept art from your favorite Ghibli movies, sit inside a life sized cat bus, and stand next to a life sized robot from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky."

"Balse"

My favorite part of the museum is an amazing 3D zoetrope.  Tiny sculptures of Ghibli characters in a progression of poses are placed in a circle and then spun around quickly while a light strobes, giving the illusion of movement.  Girls are jumping rope while bats fly around and Totoro's friends disappear and reappear... it's quite amazing and I urge you to see it with your own eyes!

Our next stop was Akihabara, "The Electric City," and the Mecca for hardcore otaku.  We navigated through various anime themed stores and eventually found some great treasures.  Zer07 got himself some One Piece figurines and I got a One Piece stuffed animal that I've been wanting for a while:

Chopper!!  My favorite One Piece character.

After Akihabara, we met with some friends for shabu shabu in Shinjuku.  On our last day of fun, we met with some of my old friends from ninja animation school at Asakusa.

Kaminari Mon

Agemanjuu - Deep fried sweet bean pastries

Later, we explored Harajuku and were amused by the interesting use of English on shirts and signs:

Then we ended the evening with dinner in Shibuya.

What a fun adventure we had!!!  I can't wait to visit the homeland again soon.

If you missed them, be sure to check out the other parts in our Adventures in Japan series:
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Adventures in Japan! Part 1: Sapporo

(Petite Lou Lou Cafe in Sapporo, Japan)

Gobusata shimashita! Apologies for the long absence! Zer07 and I have been on a whirlwind adventure in Japan! It has been over 5 years since I've been back to the homeland, and it was Zer07's first time, so we decided to pack the maximum amount of adventuring into a 2 week span.

Our first mission was to infiltrate the annual "Yuki Matsuri" (snow festival) in Sapporo. Sapporo is located in Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido, so it was very cold and snowy! The annual snow festival features lots of giant snow and ice sculptures as well as snow slides. We first explored Odori Koen, a park that stretches out for about 1 mile. The professionally made sculptures were very impressive:





There were plenty of anime-themed sculptures as well!


Hurray, One Piece!

At night, the sculptures are lit up with colorful lights:



Later, we explored Susukino Street, a long street closed off for exhibiting hundreds of ice sculptures. These are lit up at night too:







On our third day, we took it easy and found an adorable cafe called, Petite Lou Lou Cafe, where we relaxed and did some drawings. Finally, it was time to leave Sapporo and get on a plane for Hiroshima. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Adventures in Japan!...

Other Adventures in Japan :
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

If they mated: One Piece edition

Ossu! Hello friends. I hope that the New Year is treating you well so far. Over the weekend, Zer07 and I played another round of one of our favorite drawing games, "If they mated." This time around, we were inspired by the anime series, "One Piece," so all the challenges involved drawing famous characters in the style of "One Piece." Take a look at the offspring we created:

First Challenge - Draw Batman in the style of One Piece:


Zer07's Bat Piece:


Shiro Ninja's Bat Piece:


Next, take characters from Disney's Aladdin in the style of One Piece:


Zer07's One Piece Genie:


Shiro Ninja's One Piece style Aladdin + Jasmine:


Lastly, Zer07 and Shiro Ninja self portraits in the style of One Piece:


Until next time.... Ninja smoke bomb!!!