Shibuya crossing was slightly smaller than I’d imagined but still proved how incredibly accurate Persona 5 was at mapping out Tokyo correctly. I genuinely felt immersed in the game and it made me want to play it again. The subway station also felt surreal; It was so busy all of the time and it was easy to get lost trying to find the exit never mind the connecting subway. Just outside the subway was the Hachiko memorial statue which was always far too crowded, and I don’t think I ever got a good picture of it. This area, in particular, made reality feel hazy because I could just imagine Yoshida making speeches in front of the tourism center.
Speaking of Shiba Inus, we also went to a Shiba cafe in Harajuku. Being from England, Shibas are something we only see on the internet and cry over because they’re so cute, but in Japan, they are everywhere. I’m not sure if I ever saw another breed. In the cafe you got a free drink included with the price so I thought I would try melon soda. Best decision of my life. Melon soda is the only drink that matters and I hate England for not letting me have it sooner.
But anyway, the dogs were unbelievably adorable, like, I’m not a dog person but I need one. There was one sitting under the TV next to us the whole time and would not move so I claimed it as mine (even though she wouldn’t come out to me either) and another small white one which kept running around who also did not love me. Most of the time they just lay there because they know they’re better than us and don’t need to do anything to keep us brainless humans entertained, but every now and then they would bark at each other or run around.
While we were there, a special Persona event was on so we went there as soon as we could so that we wouldn’t miss out on anything. It was only small so we didn’t buy much and I’m also not very fond of buying keyrings, or mystery character things which was what most of the store consisted of. We haven’t finished Persona 5: The Animation yet but photos I assume came from it lined the walls which I had never seen before. Side note: Baby Yusuke stole my heart.
Tower Records was something I really looked forward to, even after we had been several times I would still look forward to going back. As a fan of K-POP, I knew it would be a lot easier to get hold of physical albums in Asia. Tower Records held nine stories of music, and a whole floor was dedicated to exactly what I was looking for. Within several trips here I bought about half the collection of NCT albums, but sadly the trip was not quite long enough (and suitcases not quite big enough) to buy any more. What also shook me was that there was a signed NCT 127 poster so, like, me and Haechan have been in the same room… Maybe not at the same time but it still counts.
Another favourite shop was the LINE FRIENDS store. Again, as a fan of K-POP, I was attracted here by the BT21 collaboration and quite shamefully nothing else. Walking in I had to pretend to know who Brown and friends were when really I had no clue and I was there for RJ and RJ only. We took several trips here and they rotated the stock so we ended up buying quite a bit. And by ‘quite a bit’, I mean around £150 worth of RJ merch. Not my proudest moment, but as a Jin stan it’s my duty to support his son. Of course I’m not the only guilty party as Matthew has an infatuation with Mang, however, he’s not as obsessed.
Off the beaten track we found an animal cafe with a range of different animals. There were hedgehogs, otters, chinchillas and some other rodent which I’m still not sure what it was; Maybe some sort of squirrel? It was advertised as a hedgehog cafe but, in all honesty, we only went there for the otters, who did not disappoint. They had a small bag they kept hiding in which melted my heart, and their little squeaks are the cutest things ever. I’m not sure if I was supposed to but I stuck my finger through the hole in the glass and held an otter’s hand, but if anyone reading wants to get me in trouble another girl did it first I was just copying her and it’s not my fault.
All in all, I would rate Shibuya and Harajuku a 4 out of 5 partly because Matthew has yet to draw artwork for 5 out of 5 stars, but mostly because Akihabara exists and nothing can beat that.
The Wandering NPCs 