Suginami Animation Museum

This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 2 April 2016.

Suginami, a ward in the western suburbs of Tokyo, is home to a number of anime production companies. Thus, it is only fitting that a museum dedicated to animation can also be found in the area. The Suginami Animation Museum (杉並アニメーションミュージアム, Suginami Animēshon Myūjiamu) is small and somewhat out of the way, but is free to enter.

If you're taking the bus, you'll want to get off at this police station, only 5 minutes from Ogikubo Station.

The bottom of this banner features Piipo-kun (on the right), the mascot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

The museum is only a short walk away from the police station.  The outer walls of the museum building are decorated with reliefs of various anime characters. Can you name them all...?

Upon entering the building, take an elevator to the 3rd floor to enter the museum. It is laid out across three tiers. Visitors may take pictures of the lower and upper tiers, but not the middle (where I am actually looking from).

The reception desk stands in front of this column, where all manner of anime and manga creators have left their marks, in signature and sketch forms.

A curved wall off to the left displays a chronological list of anime shows. TVs from across the decades loop anime clips of their respective eras.

Giant robots have been a staple of anime since the mid-20th century. Mecha from the Mobile Suit Gundam (機動戦士ガンダム, Kidō Senshi Gandamu, lit. 'Mobile Fighter Gundam') franchise, which debuted in 1979, are standing beside the TV on the right. Behind them are figures of the time-travelling cat Doraemon (ドラえもん), another famous mascot character.

"You wa Shock!" This immortal, semi-English line comes to us from the opening theme song of Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳, Hokuto no Ken).

Near the back of this floor, one can learn about what work goes into the animation process. Back to the right of this shot, you can even try your hand at recording a voice track, but it's probably best if you know how to read and speak Japanese.

Why, hello there, beautiful! These statues are characters from the 2007 film Brave Story, based on a light novel of the same name. The movie was dubbed to English, but was never released in North America.

Re-creations of different animators' desks are displayed to describe various steps of the animation process. You can see how technology has evolved the process over time, with today's productions marrying hand-drawn lines with computer colouring. Even I learned a few insights from all this.

Visitors can try their hand at drawing at one of the lightboxes or computers in this mock studio. Fun fact: When I attended AnimeNEXT 2016 (an anime convention in Atlantic City, NJ), I got almost the exact same Kill la Kill poster as the one in back, and I even got it autographed by some people who worked on the show!

At one of the lightboxes, I traced this picture of Pinoko and Black Jack, from the anime of the same name. Created by Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion), Black Jack is about the adventures of a mysterious, unconventional, and miraculous surgeon of the same name.

The upper tier of the museum is home to rotating exhibits, such as this short film about ghostly yokai. Its name eludes me at the moment, however.

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Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time. Closed on Mondays, and from 28 December to 4 January. Open on national holidays, but closed the day after.

Costs: Free.

Address: 3-29-5 Kamiogi, Suginami-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒112-8555

Access: The nearest train station is Ogikubo Station (JR Chuo (JC), Chuo-Sobu (JB), and Tokyo Metro Marunouchi (M) lines).  From Shinjuku Station, take the Chuo (Rapid) line to Ogikubo (JC09, 10 minutes, ¥170, JR Pass OK).  From Tokyo Station, the same trip takes 25 minutes and costs ¥310.

From Ogikubo Station, take a JR Kanto bus from stop #0 or #1. Get off at the Ogikubo Police Station (荻窪警察署前, Ogikubo Keisatsusho-mae) intersection (5 minutes, ¥220). The museum is on a side road across from the police station. It may also be reached on foot in about 20 minutes.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Bunkyo Civic Centre & Tokyo Dome City

This article is based on a visit made on Wednesday, 2 April 2014.

Edit 2 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

There are many places in Tokyo where one can climb up to view the city skyline.  Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree, and the Mori Tower at Roppongi Hills are some of the more famous.  But they are somewhat expensive; the examples I just listed cost ¥1,500 (US$15) or more for entry, with the upper decks costing a little extra on top of that.  But Tokyo has its share of free observatories as well.  The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku is one, and the Bunkyo Civic Centre (文京シビックセンター, Bunkyō Shibikku Centā) is another.

Wiiii [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

The building was completed in 1994, reaches 146 metres (479 feet) tall, and has been described as a "colossal Pez dispenser" in the press. [1]  Much of the building is used by offices for the Bunkyo ward government, and the base of the building also houses a pair of concert halls.  The 25th floor is taken up by an observation deck, standing 100 meters above ground and boasting a 330-degree view of Tokyo.

The windows are tilted inward.  This is supposed to cut down on reflections from the lights inside the building.  This, obviously, doesn't apply to the windows looking inside the building.

The Tokyo Skytree is clearly visible among the low-rise buildings to the east.  Perhaps hitching a ride on that blimp up there would afford an even better view, given the haze that morning.

The 330-degree viewing angle excludes views to the direct south, which unfortunately account for some of Tokyo's more interesting cityscapes, like Tokyo Tower, Roppongi, and the Imperial Palace.  But it is enough to afford a view of the Tokyo Dome City amusement park, which I will cover later on below.

To the northwest is Ikebukuro, one of Tokyo's many urban centres.  The train station is the second-busiest in the world, behind nearby Shinjuku Station.  The tallest building in this shot is Sunshine 60, part of the Sunshine City complex.  It opened in 1978 and, at 240 metres (787 feet) tall, was the tallest building in Asia at the time.

And this is Shinjuku, to the west.  Of the buildings in the back, the one with two side-by-side columns is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, and the curved one is the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower.  Mount Fuji is about 95 kilometres (60 miles) behind Shinjuku, and would make for a terribly interesting composition, but alas I was unable to see it in the morning haze.  And I apologise for my camera's poor picture quality when zoomed in like this.

One view not obstructed by the haze is of these gardens below.  This is Rekisen Park (礫川公園, Rekisen Kōen, lit. 'stone river park'), a small park directly to the west of the civic centre.  The Marunouchi metro line can be seen poking above ground to the left.

Afterwards, I made my way to Suidobashi Station by cutting through the Tokyo Dome City, the area surrounding the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium.

Tokyo Dome is the home stadium of the Yomiuri Giants, one of the most famous baseball teams in Japan.  They are owned by and named after the Yomiuri Group (major-league sports teams in Japan are named after their parent company instead of their location), which also owns the Yomiuri Shimbun (Japanese) and Japan News (English) newspapers and the Nippon Television (日本テレビ, Nippon Terebi) network.  The Japan Baseball Hall of Fame is also found on the premises.

Plenty of Giants merchandise for sale, including some cute plush mascots.  Much of it is in the team colours of black and orange.  In fact, those colours, and their "YG" logo, were inspired by the San Francisco Giants of America's MLB.  If you're not a fan, you may want to cheer for their rivals, the Hanshin Tigers of Kansai.  But with merch this cute, why would you want to?

In addition to the stadium itself, attractions in the Tokyo Dome City include a hotel, the spa complex LaQua, and an amusement park.

The Thunder Dolphin roller coaster is one of the park's flagship rides.  Despite lacking any inversions, it runs at a maximum speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), and a G-force of 4.4.  It passes through a hole in the LaQua building, and even through the middle of the Big O, the world's largest centreless Ferris wheel at 60m (200 ft.) in diameter.

Tokyo Dome City also hosts Hero Action stage stunt shows starring the latest cast of Super Sentai, the TV series which forms the basis for Power Rangers in the US.  The one from 2014, Ressha Sentai ToQger, was based around trains.  (As of this post, it will not be adapted for Power Rangers.)  Knowing how much trains form a part of everyday life for the Japanese, I'm surprised it took Super Sentai almost 40 years to get to it.

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Bunkyo Civic Centre

Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM.  Closed on the 3rd Sunday in May, and from 29 December to 3 January.

Costs: Free.

Address: 1-16-22 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 〒112-8555

Access: Directly adjacent to Korakuen (Tokyo Metro Marunouchi (M) and Namboku (N) lines) and Kasuga (Toei Mita (I) and Oedo (E) lines) stations.  From Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi subway line to Korakuen (M22, 8 minutes, ¥170).  From Shinjuku, walk to the nearby Shinjuku Nishi-guchi station, and take the Oedo subway line to Kasuga (E07, 13 minutes, ¥220).

Website: (Japanese)

Tokyo Dome City

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.  Admission ends 45 minutes before closing time.  No regular closing days.

Costs: Attractions cost ¥450-1,200 each.  A 1-Day Pass allowing use of unlimited attractions for the day costs ¥4,200 (¥3,200 after 5:00 PM).  Alternatively, a "Ride 5" pass allowing use of any five attractions costs ¥2,800.

Address: 1-3-61 Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 〒112-0004

Access: Directly adjacent to Suidobashi Station (JR Chuo-Sobu (JB), and Toei Mita lines).  Also within 10 minutes on foot from Korakuen and Kasuga Stations; see above.  From Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi subway line to Korakuen, as above.  From Shinjuku, take the Chuo-Sobu (Local) line to Suidobashi (JB17, 15 minutes, ¥170, JR Pass OK).

Website: (English) (Japanese)

[1] Nagamura, Kit (7 September 2007). "Booking Uphill in Bunkyo". The Japan Times.

Asakusa Nighttime Walk

This article is based on a visit on Tuesday, 1 April 2014.

After a long and, to be honest, taxing day at Tokyo DisneySea, I moved on to the second hotel of my holiday, a ryokan in the Asakusa (浅草, lit. 'shallow grass') district of northeastern Tokyo. After checking in and settling down, I indulged myself in a little walk around the neighbourhood.

Asakusa's most famous attractions are the Kaminari-mon gate, the Senso-ji temple, and the Nakamise shopping avenue (仲見世商店街, Nakamise Shōten-gai) linking the two. All manner of shops have set up along the way, selling various kinds of traditional Japanese souvenirs and snacks. A bit overly touristy, perhaps, but you never know what you might find there!

This is Dempoin Street (伝法院通り, Denpōin-dori), a side street intersecting Nakamise. I like the vintage-esque lamp posts lining the street here.

This is Hozo-mon (宝蔵門, Hōzō-mon, lit. 'treasure-house gate'), the gate directly in front of Senso-ji. It is actually bigger (height 22.7m / 74ft 6 in, width 21m / 69ft) than the more famous Kaminari-mon (height 11.7m / 38ft 4in, width 11.4m / 37ft 4in) on the other end.

A girl in her evening kimono posed for a picture in front of Hozo-mon.

The main hall of Senso-ji (金龍山浅草寺, Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji), closed for the night. An offering box is still present just in front of the doors for after-hours prayers.

The lantern inside Hozo-mon. The text on the lantern are, I believe, names of people and companies who have sponsored the temple.

This facade was the entrance to yet another shopping side-street. Its design reminds me of the Kabuki-za theatre in Ginza. If you wish to find it, it's directly to the left of Senso-ji's main hall.

Just a couple of minutes east from the Senso-ji complex, I took a little walk along the Sumida River. The river heads south from here and empties in Tokyo Bay, near Odaiba as a matter of fact. All manner of river boats cruise up and down the Sumida, even in these evening hours.  I even went on one of these boats on a future holiday.

The buildings on the other side of the river belong to the Asahi brewing company, which (as of 2014) holds the largest market share of beer brands in Japan. The one in front is called the Asahi Beer Hall, designed by French architect Philippe Starck and built in 1989. It was built to resemble a cauldron of fire, but has earned other... unfortunate comparisons by the public. Asahi's offices are in the tower to the left. It's too dark to see in this shot, but it is completely gold-tinted except for a white part at the top, thus resembling a frothing mug of beer.

Sumida Park occupies both banks of its namesake river. Even at this hour, throngs of people were out for a hanami (flower-viewing) dinner under the blooming cherry trees. Unfortunately, my phone's camera didn't take its new surroundings so well; a lot of the lighting turned out greener than it actually was.

Tokyo Skytree stands opposite the Sumida River. It opened in 2012 and, standing 634 metres (2,080 feet) tall, is the tallest tower of its kind in the world. Even in the years of its construction, it has been one of Tokyo's more iconic landmarks. Skytree is lit up in one of two patterns at night: the blue "iki", and the purple "miyabi", shown. I ended up visiting it the following day, so stay tuned for future articles!

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Access: The Asakusa district is best accessed by, naturally, Asakusa Station (Tokyo Metro Ginza (G), Toei Asakusa (A), and Tobu Skytree (TS) lines).  Of the three platforms, the Toei station is further south, followed by the Tokyo Metro and the Tobu stations due north.  Underground passages connect the Toei and Tokyo Metro stations, and the Tokyo Metro and Tobu stations.  There is also an Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express line, but it is 600 metres (2,000 feet) to the west, and is not connected to the other Asakusa stations.

From Tokyo Station, walk 10 minutes from the Nihonbashi exit to Nihonbashi Station, and take the Asakusa subway line to Asakusa (A18, 8 minutes, ¥180).  Alternatively, take the Joban (JJ) or Takasaki/Utsunomiya (JU) lines from Tokyo to Ueno (JU02/JJ01, 5 minutes, ¥160), and then take the Ginza line to Asakusa (G19, 4 min, ¥170).  Between Tokyo and Ueno, trains on the Yamanote (JY) and Keihin-Tohoku (JK) lines are more frequent and only take a couple of minutes longer.