More Japan prattle

Okay, you might be getting tired of this trip talk, but I like to have stuff planned out and this is actually pretty helpful. I've decided we're going to Osaka Castle and Osaka Aquarium when we get there. To the right are pictures of those places. Totally beautiful and awesome, but also about $20 total to get into. I think it'll be really fun, and the aquarium is HUGE. It's too bad the cherry blossoms won't be blooming anymore once we get there, but that doesn't matter so much.

In Tokyo, we're going to Senso-ji and Tokyo Tower. Being huge fans of the Super Gals anime, I think we should go to Shibuya and just sort of wander around for a bit. The Shibuyua 109 building and Hachiko statue are there, and I want to see them. More pictures.^_^

I also wanted to eat at this place in Shibuya, so I think that's what we'll do. The first day we get there, after checking into the hotel and all that, I want to just walk down the the street and see what I find. I wonder if my sister will make the connection that some of the places in the animes that we watch are real without my telling her. Not that she's dumb or anything, she just doesn't always put 2 and 2 together like she should. I wanted to find a good sento to go to, also. This one looks pretty awesome, and not too expensive.

I also wanted to go on the Sumida river cruise. That's the boat, designed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto.

The good thing about the sento we're going to is that it's not too far from Senso-ji, so we can make a day trip of it.

In Kyoto, we're to Chion-in, Ginkaku-ji, the Kyoto craft center, Hirano Jinja, and the bamboo forest. I think we might sort of haunt Gion too, hopefully spotting some Geisha. In Naha, I think we're just going to hang out on the beach. It's supposed to be a vacation, right? I think going to Naha will probably be the most (and maybe only) relaxing part of this trip. I think Tokyo will be crazy, but in a really good and fun way. Maybe if we can find another really good sento in Naha, we'll just hang out there for a day. It does sort of strike me as funny that someone like me, who is really uncomfortable around others, can't wait to go to the biggest city in the world. I'm pretty sure I've done my homework on this though, and will be fine assuming I don't decide to have my first full on panic attack on the subway or something. And while we're in Osaka, I'll be thinking of Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh. That girl cracks me up. She's the crazy looking girl at the top of this post. When I told my older brother about this trip, he couldn't stop making anime and Japanese pop culture references. Have I mentioned my brother is awesome? ^_^ He had me laughing so hard with some of the stuff he said, I'll miss him when I'm in Japan. He's as big an anime/manga geek as I am, and sort of got me started on the whole thing, so in a way, I have him to thank for my interest in Japan, too. I'm still sort of vacillating between being excited and scared about this trip, though. I like to think it's really just my nerves getting the best of me, but I can't be sure. I guess that's really all for now. I'll be back asap. BYE!!!!!!!