addresses for Japan?

[aimeekitty]

I'm making my final preparations!
If you can help me?

I need addresses and/or map/directions information for:

-Tenshi No Sato

-Nagoya Takarazuka Theater

- Marui (is this the same as Oioioi?)

- Closet Child

- Kiddie Land

- Noix de Rome wig shop (lolita wigs)

anything else you think might be cool. :)

Comments

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

If you're at all interested in braving the depths of Otaku shopping in Tokyo, I would recommend heading to Nakano Broadway (http://www.mandarake.co.jp/english/shop/nkn.html), home of Mandarake (http://www.mandarake.co.jp/) and its countless spinoffs (as well as two cosplay stores) and Animate, a multi-story girl-friendly doujinshi-supply-carrying anime and manga superstore on the outskirts of Akihabara.

To get to Nakano Broadway, take the JR (if you have a JR pass) or the subway to Nakano (light blue line, western edge of the city). When you get off the train, go through the ticket barriers and take a right. You'll see a big, open area with a shopping arcade on the other side. If you walk down that shopping arcade for a few blocks, it'll dead end on Nakano Broadway.

Don't bother with the first floor, unless you want something to eat. If I were you, I'd go straight to the top floor and work my way down. Look out, especially, for the cell gallery (which sells design packs for various shows, among other things) the two cosplay stores, the girl-targeted doujinshi shop and the GIGANTIC manga stores. You'll also be assaulted with ten million gashapon, both in the machines and being sold in the shops.

There is, admittedly, and aweful lot of porn to wade through on your way to what you're looking for. But it's an aweful lot of fun.

As for Animate, the one I went to is in Akihabara (http://www.animate.co.jp/animate/map/east/akihabara/akihabara.html) but there are apparently locations all over Tokyo! (http://www.animate.co.jp/shop.html) I can't speak for the other shops, but at the one I went to the selection was very good; the prices were reasonable; they had a section for doujinshi and manga supplies including copic markers, pens, inks, and dozens of different sheets of tone; the staff was extremely friendly and helpful despite my horrible Japanese; and everything was very girl-friendly and relatively porn-free. ^_-

(As for the rest of Akihabara, I don't personally recommend it unless you have a super-recent and highly-detailed list of places you want to seek out. We tried our hands at it, but ended up extremely frustrated with what we found when compared to ammount of slogging we had to do. Also, we accidentally ended up in hard core porn video stores with giant monitors broadcasting hard core blood fantasies no less than three times. O_O)

Um...lesse, what else...

I didn't really get to go to Takishimaya Times Square in Shinjuku, which made me very sad. I'd try to hit that, as it looks like quite the experience.

I DID, however, get to go to the seven-story Kinokuniya book store just south of it. OMG! So awesome!! Worth checking out if you have the time, as it has a fantastic english language section on...the fifth or sixth floor, I think....which has more books on Japanese history, mythology and culture that I've ever seen in one place. ^_-

So...hope that was helpful!

Just a question: do you have all of your ryokan/hotel reservations made? If not, I could recommend a few places that we had wonderful experiences at. ^_^

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

would you believe that where we are staying in tokyo is RIGHT next to that mandarake? :D yeaaay! glad to hear that it rocks that'll be totally fun!

we have our hotel reservations, so that's cool.

thanks for the recommendations!

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

=^_^=

Just to warn you, I think we spent like $30 each just on gachapon machines. They are like toy gambling. So addictive! O_O

I hope you have an awesome time in Tokyo! Scott and I really loved our trip to Japan -- it almost killed us, mind, but it was awesome.