J-World Tokyo

This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 November 2016.

Edit 3 October 2019: J-World Tokyo has been permanently shut down.  It has now been replaced by Mazaria, a virtual-reality indoor theme park.  Many of its activities are transplanted from VR Zone Shinjuku, which has, itself, also closed for good.  More information on Mazaria: (English) (Japanese)

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I showed you around the Ikebukuro district in northwestern Tokyo.  I ended that article on a preview of J-World Tokyo, the first indoor theme park based on the manga comics of Shonen Jump magazine, so that's where we shall pick up from.

 Of the many series Shonen Jump has published over the years, the main focus of J-World is on its "big three": Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto.  You might see some of their main characters chatting it up in the lobby. such as the cast of One Piece here (from left to right: Sanji, Nami, Luffy, Usopp, and Brooks).  I didn't, however, see that many guests in the park.  It was a weekday evening, so entry was discounted and I'm sure the kids were out of school, but for some reason they weren't coming here...  Ah well, I'll still take that over too many people at Tokyo DisneySea.

The first of three worlds I discovered was the One Piece world.  One Piece (ワンピース, Wan Pīsu) is the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who has the power to stretch his limbs like rubber, and puts together a crew of pirates to fund a treasure called the "One Piece".  Its volumes have sold 350 million copies worldwide, making it the world's best-selling manga series.

Entrance to the Dragon Ball world.  Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール, Doragon Bōru) is the story of Goku, a martial-arts trainee caught in a quest to collect seven Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when assembled.  At first, it was inspired by the classical Chinese tale Journey to the West, but before long grew into its own idiom.  It's the oldest of the big three, first published in 1984, but you could say it's the most popular, especially in North America.

One of the attractions here has guests "collecting" the Dragon Balls by completing mini-games.  When you queue up for these attractions, you will be let in three or four at a time, and must wait for the previous party to finish before being let in.  Many of them require instructions given in Japanese, but the attendants will lend you guide books with translations in English, Chinese, or Korean.

Entrance to the Naruto world.  Naruto (ナルト) is the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja trainee imbued with the power of a demon-fox spirit.  The main attraction here is a sort of puzzle-maze, similar to the one I did in the Dragon Ball world.  What was unique about this one was that since it relies on instructions and clues spoken in Japanese, we were given earphones that repeated the instructions in our desired languages.

The food court sells various dishes inspired by various Jump characters.  You can even see them on the banners above, chowing down on their own favourite foods!

There's also a re-creation of the Ichiraku Ramen shop from Naruto.  Ramen is, by far, the title character's favourite food.

Apart from the big three, J-World also has a rotating repertoire of smaller exhibits and games based on their other series.  Here's a scene based on Gintama (銀魂), a screwball action-comedy where aliens came to Japan during the Edo period and brought a whole bunch of anachronisms with them.  For example, the storefront on the right, whose name is obscured by the light in this picture, reads "O-Edo Mart".  The name and colour scheme are a play on the Family Mart convenience stores.

This corner is dedicated to Haikyuu!! (ハイキュー!!, Haikyū!!),  a comic/show about a high school volleyball team...

...and this one for Kuroko's Basketball (黒子のバスケ, Kuroko no Basuke), about a high school basketball team.  Sports series seem to be doing well these days, because they manage to attract both male and female fans, the latter by the presence of all those pretty athletic boys...

...I'm sorry, where was I?  Oh yeah, signing off.  But before I say good night, time to go Super Saiyan!  Okay, I didn't get that far, but you might accomplish something to that effect.  Just last week, they launched a new service where you can rent costumes and cosplay as your favourite Jump characters!  Plans start at ¥3,500 for 90 minutes.  More information: (Japanese)

Welp, nighty-night for now.  I'll be back tomorrow with another installment of Know Your Trains, and then it's time to strike out for the Fuji Five Lakes.  All that next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

J-World Tokyo has been permanently shut down.

Hours: Open 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM. Admission ends 1 hour before closing time.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥800; attractions cost an additional ¥400-800 each. A Passport allowing use of unlimited attractions for the day costs ¥2,600 (¥1,800 after 5:00 PM).

Address: Sunshine 60 3F, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 〒170-0013

Access: 10 minutes on foot from the East exit of Ikebukuro Station (JR Yamanote (JY), Saikyo (JA), Shonan-Shinjuku (JS), Tokyo Metro Marunouchi (M), Yurakucho (Y), Fukutoshin (F), Tobu Tojo (TJ), and Seibu Ikebukuro (SI) lines).

From Shinjuku Station, take the Saikyo line to Ikebukuro (JA12, 5 minutes, ¥160).  The Yamanote line is slower (JY13, 9 minutes), but more frequent.  From Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi subway line (M25, 16 minutes, ¥200).

Directions: From Sunshine 60's underground entrance in front of Tokyu Hands (see the previous article for more info), continue down the main walkway.  After you pass the Fountain Plaza, go up the escalators until you reach the third floor.  J-World Tokyo will be directly behind you.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Ikebukuro and Sunshine 60

This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 November 2016.

Edit 3 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

After a day spent exploring some of Kamakura's shrines and temples, I made my way back to Tokyo for a night on the town.  My evening's activities were centred around Ikebukuro (池袋, lit. 'pond bag'), a district on the northwestern corner of the Yamanote loop line.

This is the eastern plaza in front of Ikebukuro Station, taken at night when I returned from the evening's activities.  Ikebukuro is the second-busiest railway station in the world, behind the nearby Shinjuku, and four companies operate lines here: JR East, Tokyo Metro, Tobu, and Seibu.  A little Fun Fact for you: the names "Tobu" (東武) and "Seibu" (西武) stand for east and west Musashi (武蔵), the old province that used to cover modern-day Tokyo.  Ironically, however, Tobu's terminal and department store stand on the western side of the station, and vice-versa for Seibu.

This owl statue inside the station, near the east exit, is a popular landmark for meeting friends,  similar to the Hachiko statue outside Shibuya Station.  Its name is "Ikefukuro-zo" (いけふくろう像, Ikefukurō-zō, lit. 'pond owl statue'), which is similar to "Ikebukuro", but ending with a long "o".

I got lost a couple of times along the way, but I eventually found the right roads to lead me to where I was headed.  Sunshine 60 Street, which leads to the complex of the same name, was even blocked off as a pedestrian zone when I arrived.

A Sega arcade was all lit up when I was making my way back out.  Ikebukuro is kind of like Shinjuku on a smaller scale; it has a similar array of shopping, dining, and entertainment options.  Just off to the north of Sunshine City, there is also an otaku-centric shopping area.  It's not as big as, say, Akihabara, but it does focus on a female clientele, hence its name: Otome Road (乙女ロード, Otome Rōdo), "otome" meaning "maiden".  This means there is a greater emphasis on stuff like cosplay parts, "print club" photo booths, dojinshi fan-comics with popular bishonen characters in... ahem, guy-on-guy situations, and "butler cafes", which are like maid cafes but with male waiters.

But, as for me, I had my dinner at a good old-fashioned maid cafe.  Maidreamin', one of the more popular cosplay-cafe chains, has a branch on Sunshine 60 Street.  My waitress called me a fuzzy bear (chicks dig the beard, lol) and even gave me a pair of furry ears to match.  While you are not allowed to take your own pictures of the staff in these kinds of establishments, you can pay a nominal fee to have them take a picture with you, and give you a copy of your own.  Which I did.

The Sunshine 60 building.
By Morio [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

After that bit of nosh, my next destination was Sunshine City.  Sunshine City is a shopping mall at the base of the Sunshine 60 skyscraper (pictured above).  The tower was completed in 1978 and stands just shy of 240 metres (786 feet).  At the time, it was the tallest building in Asia, a record lost seven years later to the 63 Building in Seoul.  There is an observation deck on the top floor, which was recently re-opened after renovations and now includes some VR-style attractions.  There is also an aquarium and a planetarium at Sunshine City, along with other attractions which I will describe below.

I found a Pokémon Store in Sunshine City. with a huge assortment of merchandise from the Nintendo game franchise.  The shop is watched over by wicked-awesome statues of some of the more advanced-form Pokémon, such as Mega Lucario and Mega Mewtwo Y.

ALL PIKACHU EVERYTHING.  It's a small Pokéworld after all.

Pika-daruma.  And the shrink-wrapped things on the left are kadomatsu (門松, lit. 'gate pine'), a traditional New Year's decoration.  But with Pokémon.

Plushies of Pokémon taken over by Ditto.  Ditto, called "Metamon" (メタモン) in Japanese, is a blobby Pokémon that takes the form of other Pokémon to use their abilities.  In the anime show, Ditto's "victims" have their face replaced with tiny beady eyes and a long, thin mouth.  The Ditto-fied Pokémon for sale here are Raichu (the evolved form of Pikachu), Vulpix, Espeon, and Umbreon.

And then there's this thing.  I don't know what it is, but it's a play on the Japanese box-art of Super Mario Bros.... but with Pokémon!

Moving on, Namja Town (ナンジャタウン, Nanja Taun) is an indoor theme park on the second floor of Sunshine City.  It has a few rides and games, and two unique food areas: one specialising in gyoza, Chinese-style dumplings, and another for desserts.  I did not actually go to Namja Town, but instead headed one floor up to its sister park...

...J-World Tokyo, devoted to the manga and anime characters made famous from Shonen Jump magazine!  But, that story will have to wait for another day.  See you next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Access: 10 minutes on foot from the East exit of Ikebukuro Station (JR Yamanote (JY), Saikyo (JA), Shonan-Shinjuku (JS), Tokyo Metro Marunouchi (M), Yurakucho (Y), Fukutoshin (F), Tobu Tojo (TJ), and Seibu Ikebukuro (SI) lines), or 3 minutes on foot from Higashi-Ikebukuro Station (Tokyo Metro Yurakucho line).

From Shinjuku Station, take the Saikyo line to Ikebukuro (5 minutes, ¥160).  The Yamanote line is slower (9 minutes) but more frequent.  From Tokyo Station, take the Marunouchi subway line (16 minutes, ¥200).

Maidreamin Ikebukuro

Hours: Open from 1:00 PM (11:00 AM on weekends) to 11:00 PM (5:00 AM on Friday, 5:00 PM on Saturday).

Address: Asahi Kaikan Building 4F/5F, 1-12-11 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: From the East exit of Ikebukuro Station, make your way across the plaza and onto the wide boulevard.  At the next traffic light, bear right onto "Sunshine 60 Street".  Go up the stairs or elevator in the building just before the KFC, on first block on the right.  The entrance is on the 5th floor.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Sunshine City

Hours: Open 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, individual store hours may vary.

Address: 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: From the East exit of Ikebukuro Station, make your way across the plaza and onto the wide boulevard.  At the next traffic light, bear right onto "Sunshine 60 Street".  Continue until you reach the Tokyu Hands store on your right; an underground passage to Sunshine City starts here.

From Higashi-Ikebukuro Station, there is a direct underground passage connecting the station and Sunshine City.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  No regular closing days.

Address: Sunshine City 2F, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: Facing Namja Town (see below), turn right and right again.  The store will be on your right side.

Website: (Japanese)

Namco Namjatown

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.  Admission ends 1 hour before closing time.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥500; attractions cost an additional ¥600-800 each. A Passport allowing use of unlimited attractions for the day costs ¥3,500 (¥1,800 after 5:00 PM).

Address: Sunshine City 2F, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒170-0013

Directions: From the underground entrance in front of Tokyu Hands (see the previous article for more info), continue down the main walkway.  After you pass the Fountain Plaza, go up the escalators until you reach the second floor.  Namja Town will be in front of you.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Hase-dera

This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 November 2016.

Edit 3 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited Kotoku-in, a temple in Kamakura famous for its giant bronze Buddha statue.  Just down the road, there is yet another temple which attracted me, and its name is Hase-dera (長谷寺).

The temple halls are situated on the side of Mt. Kamakura, with beautiful gardens above and below.  The grounds start at the bottom of the hill, where the main path is flanked by small ponds on either side.

Off on the right (north) side of this garden, there is a small sub-shrine honouring the goddess Benzaiten.  Just beyond that, a torii gate marks the entrance to a cave, inside which are a number of shrines devoted to the same deity.  Some of the chambers in this cave are so small, I had to crawl to get through them!

A short climb up from the lower gardens takes us to the main hall of the temple.  This temple's main icon of worship is a gilded wooden statue of the Buddhist deity Kannon (観音), a.k.a. Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit.  The statue is 9.8 metres (30 feet) tall, making it one of the tallest wooden statues in Japan.  There is a legend that goes with this statue, too.  In the 8th century, there was a Buddhist monk who found a camphor tree so large, he was able to carve two Kannon statues from it.  He gave the first to (a different) Hase Temple near Nara, and cast the second one out to sea, in the hopes of it landing at a place with a karmic connection.  Said place turned out to be near Kamakura, when it was found and a new Hase Temple was built to honour it.  Photography of the statue is prohibited.

To the immediate left of the main hall is the Kannon Museum, a small gallery of Buddhist artifacts.  Entry is not too expensive -- it costs the same amount you paid to get into the temple itself -- and descriptions for the displays are written in Japanese, but English translations are provided on a pamphlet you are given going in.  I neglected to visit this museum, however.

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

Another small hall, further still to the left, is what's known as a kyozo (経蔵, kyōzō, lit. 'sutra storehouse'), or sutra archive, sutras being Hindu and Buddhist religious texts.  Inside this hall is a large rotating bookshelf, called a rinzo (輪蔵, rinzō, lit. 'wheel storehouse').  It is believed that simply by rotating this rack once around, you will have received the same blessings as if you read through the whole sutras.  The rinzo here is only available for the public to handle on certain days - it was locked when I came there - but there are multiple smaller prayer-wheels lining the room, which serve much the same purpose.

A pond shaped in the form of a manji, or swastika, symbol.  In an earlier article, I briefly touched upon the use of swastikas in Buddhism.  One thing I forgot to mention is what the symbol actually means in this context.  In East Asian traditions, the swastika, or "manji" in Japanese, include "all", "eternity", or "myriad" (literally 10,000).  Buddhist scriptures also tend to start with this character, hence its association with Buddhist temples.  Swastikas were also used in the crests of numerous Japanese clans during the Middle Ages.

There are plenty of secondary prayer points throughout the temple compound.  Jizo-do, or Jizo hall, is a small temple building surrounded by hundreds of small Jizo statues.  They are placed here by the parents of unborn children, as Jizo is meant to comfort the souls of those children.  It is estimated that 50,000 such statues have been placed here since World War II; they are discarded after a year's time to make room for new ones.

I found another, quite larger, Jizo statue elsewhere, decorated with a red bib and a small rainbow of flowers.

There's even a small Shinto Inari shrine here, as well.  Sometimes you don't need a whole forest of torii gates to create the Inari shrine experience; sometimes just one gate and a bunch of red banners will do nicely.

Behind the main hall, a trail winds up through the mountainside.  It isn't long, but it is lined with a pretty variety of plants and flowers...

...a couple of statues to pray at, if you haven't already gotten your fill...

...and some sweeping views of the Sagami Bay.

There are similar views from the terrace in front of the main hall, too.  So here's a panorama shot!  Click here for a larger picture.

There is a small bamboo grove here, too, next to the sutra archive and near the end of the path.  Between Hokoku-ji and this, I couldn't seem to get away from the stuff!

If green's not your thing, Hase-dera has plenty of trees whose leaves turn to red during the fall.  Due to Kamakura's warmer coastal climate, its autumn colours peak in early December, later than in nearby Tokyo, leaving me too early to experience them in full force.  A couple of trees had started to turn, however.

By rinia [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

Hase-dera has colourful surprises in other seasons, too.  In the months of June and July, there is a lovely array of blue, violet, and pink hydrangea flowers in bloom along the upper path.  I may not be all too well-versed in the many species of flowers, but I think I've fallen in love with hydrangeas from just one look!  Just be sure to expect some extra crowds during this time!  Even more hydrangeas may be seen at Meigetsu-in and Tokei-ji temples, both near Kita-Kamakura Station.

By maruri24 (CIMG0504) [CC BY 2.1 jp], via Wikimedia Commons

Another recurring festival at Hase-dera takes place on the night of New Year's Day.  Over five thousand candles are lit and arranged in circles on the ground, and prayers are made.  In case "a thousand points of light" aren't enough for you, this'll do nicely.

So that's all I have for Kamakura.  Join me this weekend, when I share with you one last gasp of Tokyo before striking out further afield, next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Hours: Open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM from March through September; closes at 4:30 PM from October through February.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥400.  Entry to the Kannon Museum costs an additional ¥300.

Address: 3-11-2 Hase, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 〒248-0016

Access: From Kamakura Station, take the Enoshima tram (EN) line to Hase (EN12, 5 minutes, ¥200).  Hase-dera is 4 minutes on foot from Hase Station.

Directions: From Hase Station, turn right onto the main road, and follow it uphill for about 2 minutes.  Turn left at the next traffic light.  The temple entrance will be straight ahead.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Kotoku-in and Great Buddha

This article is based on a visit made on Tuesday, 15 November 2016.

Edit 3 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Of the many temples and shrines in Kamakura, only one seems to have risen above the competition to become the iconic symbol of the city: Kotoku-in (高徳院, Kōtoku-in).  Or, to be more specific, its giant bronze Buddha statue (大仏, Daibutsu).

As described below, the easiest way to get to Kotoku-in is by the Enoshima Electric Railway (江ノ島電鉄, Enoshima Dentetsu) tram line, departing from Kamakura Station.  They use a varied fleet of cars, from newer models to ones dating back to 1960.  This one is a newer, yet retro-styled, model from 2002.

Some of the tram cars have unique liveries, such as this one painted with images of their mascot.  One of them can be seen doing horseback archery, a yearly tradition at the nearby Tsurugaoka Hachiman shrine.

On my way up to the temple, I passed this cafe whose menu offered, among other things, "smile", illustrated by a cute drawing of the Buddha's face.

The entrance gate looks unassuming, but the centrepoint of this temple is not far beyond.

A pair of marble koma-inu (狛犬), or lion-dog statues that symbolically guard the entrances to shrines and some temples.  Yet for some reason, the gate they stand watch over is closed to visitors; instead, you make your way to the left, and pay at the counter, to enter the temple grounds.

You know, I've started to notice that Shinto shrines are usually free to visit, whereas Buddhist temples, at least the larger ones, charge for entry.  They're usually cheap, with Kotoku-in costing only ¥200 (US$1.80) to get in, but if you intend to visit a lot of temples in a day, they can add up.

And here it is!  The statue is 13.35 metres (43 feet, 10 inches) tall, including its base, and despite being hollow, weighs 121 thousand kilogrammes (133.3 US tons).  It has been described as the second-tallest bronze statue of a seated Buddha in Japan, before the one at Todai-ji in Nara.  But, I've gone over the list of Daibutsu statues, and... that's not true.  There are quite a few that are taller than either of the two more popular ones.  Most of those, however, were erected more recently, so the first and second-place appellations may have belonged to Nara's and Kamakura's Buddhas at some point, and their reputation stuck.  Still, whatever its ranking, this statue is no less impressive.  Why, the ears alone, at 1.9 metres (6' 3"), are taller than most people!

Today, the statue stands out in the open, but in its earlier years, there used to be a hall sheltering it.  These buildings had a habit of burning or falling down, however; the third and final hall was destroyed in a tsunami in 1498, and no one bothered to rebuild it after that.  Also, if you look really closely at the cheeks, you may also find flecks of gold colouring, suggesting that the statue may have been covered in gold leaf at some point in its history.  Could you imagine that...?

For a tiny fee, you are welcome to go inside the statue.  It's not terribly big in there, and indeed was cramped from the volume of people when I visited.  But doing so gives you a close-up view on the construction of this statue.

A plaque inside describes some of the techniques used in the statue's construction.  Considering that it is over three-quarters of a millennium old, this is an amazing feat of engineering!

Kotoku-in has its own pair of giant o-waraji sandals, just as I saw at Senso-ji a couple of days before.  Each one measures 1.8 by .9 metres (5' 11" by 2' 11") and weighs 45 kilogrammes (99 lbs.).  They were donated to the temple by the Matsuzaka Children's Club of Hitachi-Ota city, Ibaraki prefecture.  The first pair was offered in 1951, with wishes for peace and recovery after World War II, and replacements were sent roughly every three years thereafter.

There were a few flyers posted on the walls of the complex by its staff, including this one for a speech given by the Dalai Lama in Yokohama.  A summary of the speech is included on the poster, translated to Japanese, Chinese, and English.  I thought I'd share it with you because I found it inspiring.

Several kings and princes of Thailand, another majority-Buddhist country, have also made pilgrimages here, and planted commemorative pine trees to mark their visits.

Here's a close-up of an informational plaque in front of one of those pine trees, helpfully translated to Thai, English, and Japanese.  In this case, it states that Thailand's ambassador to Japan replanted a tree in that spot in 2010, replacing the original planted by King Rama VI over a hundred years ago.

I imagine the Buddha must have blessed my visit, too, because as I was about to leave, the sky finally cleared up!  The change cleared up my spirits, too, so I wanted to take another snap of the Daibutsu in the improved lighting before leaving to my next destination: Hase-dera Temple.  Read about it, next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Hours: Open 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM from April through September; closes at 5:00 PM from October through March.  The statue interior closes at 4:30 PM.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥300.  Entry to the interior of the statue costs an additional ¥20.

Address: 4-2-28 Hase, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken 〒248-0016

Access: From Kamakura Station, take the Enoshima tram (EN) line to Hase (EN12, 5 minutes, ¥200).  Kotoku-in is 7 minutes on foot from Hase Station.

Directions: From Hase Station, turn right onto the main road, and follow it uphill for about 7 minutes.  The temple entrance will be on the left.

Website: (English) (Japanese)