I became a reluctant Disneyphile about 12 years ago when I finally visited Disneyland in California with some friends.  Since then, Scott and I have kind of made it part of our thing having gone to Disneyworld during our honeymoon, and last year with Scott’s mum and aunt.

Since we happened to be in Japan and Tokyo, why not, while we’re here, go to Tokyo Disney Resort?

The first thing that went through my mind is why would I really want to go to something so western?  Well, Tokyo Disney Resort does have what people have described as the coolest park in the system, Tokyo Disneysea.

I think Scott and I were both surprised.  Firstly, it wasn’t full of western tourists.  Apparently the Japanese love Disney and it shows, and it’s very Kawaii (かわいい), or cute.  Like, way kawaii.  You think that groups going around in the same t-shirts at WDW or Disneyland is cute?  That’s nothing compared to what you see at Tokyo Disney Resort with people dressing up.  Combine otaku and Disney and, uh… yeah, just wow what you see.

The gift shops are decidedly different for the Japanese market.  Pin collecting is not a thing at the Japanese parks, although you can find pins.  We picked up park pins and Hallowe’en pins, and you can find character pins and packages though they can be hard to find.  It’s definitely not common.

Popcorn is a HUGE thing at the parks, and different flavours like the usual caramel, chocolate and salted.  You also see flavours like curry!  Also collecting popcorn buckets is definitely a thing.  I may or may not have specifically gone to Tokyo Disneyland itself just to get a Stitch bucket. LALALA. 🙂

Actually, it was worth it.  More on that later.

While some park staff speak some degree of English, the language spoken at the park is Japanese most definitely.  It’s not like Disney have transplanted foreign workers to work the park.  Some, yes, but the staff is mostly local.  It is mostly Disney run by the Japanese and they do an amazing job of that.

If you think service is kicked up at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland kicks it up.

The Monorail system is definitely kicked up, and it’s is actually run by the holding company that runs Tokyo Disney Resort.  Interestingly, it’s a pay system so have a SuICA or Pasmo card handy, and plan your days accordingly.  It’s not like Walt Disney World where you have free access to the busses and monorail.  I can’t rave enough about how clean and modern this monorail system is, relative to WDW.  Also, you can ride at the front, and it’s fully automated – not pilot.

From Shinjuku, it takes about 45 minutes to get to Tokyo Disney on the Maranouchi and Keiyo lines to Maihama station.

The parks are not that expensive.  CAD$69 for one park.  After 6pm, CAD$42.  That’s a bargain relative to the US parks where you’re paying well over $100 for just one park and that’s not with a park hopper.

The hotels are expensive, hence why we stayed on points at the Hilton Tokyo near Shinjuku.  Rooms with points were not available at the Tokyo Bay Hilton and I was not about to pay their prices, especially when I had points to use.

Now about the parks.

The attention to detail as you walk into Tokyo DisneySea is stunning.  I can say, without a doubt, it is probably the best part based on attention to detail in the system.  The Mediterranean Harbour, American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon and Arabian Coast – all stunning, but what really got Scott and I was Mysterious Island with the Journey to the Centre of the Earth ride, which was sadly closed

The rides are big person friendly, so the park is designed for all.  The park is also accessible from what I could tell.  In fact, one thing I could say about Tokyo, at least, is that it is reasonably accessible with elevators, escalators, high visibility lines and markings on walkways with people with sight impairments.  Definitely way more than anything I’ve seen in North America.

Do take the boat ride around the whole park.  It’s worth it, and stunning!  Do see the mountain erupt, there’s nothing like it in the other parks.  Definitely try the Sailing Day Buffet – you won’t eat at any other Disney park, like it!

Duffy the Disney Bear – wait who?  Yes, Duffy the Disneybear.  You’ve seen him at Disneyworld, but he’s not a big phenomenon as he is in Japan. In short, Disneysea is Duffy’s park.  He’s everywhere, along with some of the other characters, and he hails from the Cape Cod region of the park with Sally-Mae, his female cohort.  At least, that’s how I understood it.

In Arabian Coast, I saw the Genie from Aladdin and he practically pounced on me!  I got a great picture with him and various characters from the film!

The pop corn buckets in the park run from about CAD$18.00 to CAD$22.00 depending on the intricacies of the bucket, and we’re not talking a bucket.  We’re talking an honest to goodness awesome souvenir.   Hence why we decided to go to the Tokyo Disneyland park itself.  I wanted a Stitch bucket.

Tokyo Disneyland surprised us.  Firstly, the covered walk way on Main St is a beautiful idea.  It makes the area feel like one of those indoor shopping arcades, which it essentially is.

The park, while it has some similarities to the way WDW and Disneyland are laid out, you still have differences that make the park unique and interesting.  Take Toontown for instance, starting with the traditional Disney characters and progressing to “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”  WHAT?!  Yes, Roger Rabbit!  A staple of my childhood!  Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin is a BLAST!  You must go on it!

Tomorrowland has the original style Starjets which is the original version of Astro Orbitor.  By the way, given JAL sponsors the ride, I’m very surprised they have “USA” written on the side of the ride.  Shouldn’t it be JAXA which is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency?

We did not make it over to Critter Country, Westernland or Adventureland so I cannot comment on those areas, but one thing is for certain.  Scott and I want to come back and do both parks again and spend a few days.

The highlight was the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights.  It is a stunning parade, and it totally makes the Main St Electrical Parade look pale in comparison.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, below.  You have to see it, and to think that I didn’t really care to stay and watch the parade, until I saw the start!

We were a hit with the light up ears from WDW and magic wands that I ordered prior to our trip.  You can’t actually get them in Japan (surprising given the land of tech!).  Several kawaii girls stopped us and asked if we could have their pictures taken with us. LOL!

At the end of the night, we headed back to Tokyo DisneySea because Scott wanted a Duffy bear.  Fact: You cannot get Duffy stuff at Tokyo Disneyland!  He’s only available at Tokyo DisneySea, when at the Tokyo park, so keep that in mind, if you become a Duffy fan.

Scott’s photography skills shone through during the trip, and he did an amazing job at the park, and throughout out trip so far.    You’ll see a mix of both of our pictures from the the day below.

All in all, a fascinating experience and one that we really both enjoyed.

It is a bit embarrassing as this is my longest blog on the trip.  That said, I know a lot of people have been asking me about Tokyo Disney Resort.  Do make the trip to Japan, experience Japan, it’s amazing.  If you can include a stop to Tokyo Disney Resort, do it for DisneySea alone.

It wasn’t until I was reading the news today, on September 3^rd, that I realized that yesterday was the 70^th anniversary of Japan’s surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.  Interesting that Scott and I were in Hiroshima.

Whenever world events happen and such, I admit, I tend to keep my feelings close to my heart and I tend not to speak up much.

It feels a bit unsettling when you’re on a tram or bus in Hiroshima and they announce the next stop, or a stop on the line happens to be the A-Bomb Dome.  There’s a but to this.  Reading the sentiments of keeping the dome around after the rebuilding of Hiroshima, there’s a mixed sense of obligation and duty as a reminder to the world what happened – all around – during World War II.  I don’t look at it as a reminder of what the United States did to Japan, or Japan’s role in World War II, I look at it as being about war and peace as a whole.

In short, it should be mandatory that all world leaders should take a full day and spend it at the Peace Park in Hiroshima, seeing the whole park.  Not just the Atomic Bomb Dome, but the Peace Flame, the Childrens Memorial, the Korean Memorial and the museum.   I nearly lost it several times while walking around the park – The children’s memorial, the Korean memorial, the burial grounds near ground zero…

After spending a good two hours or more in the park, we headed out to see the rest of the city, with a population of 1.1 million people.  There is so much more to the city.  It’s the Rijo (Hiroshima Castle), Okonomiyaki, old trams, and for those that like to shop, there’s a great shopping arcade here.

Be sure to jump on the JR-run Hiroshim Meipuru~pu (Japanese Maple) bus.  They have several lines and they take you around all the key sites with explanations on Japanese and English of each place.  You can get on and off, and you can use it with your Japan Rail Pass.

After going back to the hotel with sore feet we chilled out in the lounge (amazing food at the Sheraton lounge!) and then headed out for Okonomiyaki-mura which we had learned about in an “Only in Japan” video featuring this guy who does short videos about Japan for gaijin.

We ended up eating at the place featured in the video, which was amazing!  After that, we stopped at a 7-Eleven, had some ice cream for dessert and then headed back to the hotel as we would have a very early wake up for tomorrow’s journey.

Hiroshima is a great city, and well worth visiting.  So different from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, still Japan nonetheless.

Today our fearless travellers must sample Natto, make their own Kansai-style Okonomiyaki for lunch, and visit three temples, battling the possibility of rain.  

Kyoto – A temple for every week, and an Izakaya for every day of the year.  It’s the Japanese version of Norwich, or so it feels.

A city of 1.4 million people, it has forests and mountains, and seems to have an interesting inner peace that you just don’t find in Tokyo with the bustling crowds.  Unless, of course, you happen to be at a shrine.

We started the day off with a wonderful breakfast where I finally had the chance to sample Natto.  Seriously people, it’s not that bad, mix it with rice and you’re god to go.  That said, I admit it’s not something I need to have again.  I will say, that I love it when people dismiss trying new things.  For years, people have told me how gross Natto is, and people who don’t even know what it is saying, “Eww that looks nasty”.  *shrugs* I’m quite happy exploring new foods and such.

We then headed out and visited three shrines and a shrine of convenience in the day:

• 7-Eleven – A shrine of convenience where we had to get money from the ATM
• Heian Shrine – A beautiful shrine just around the corner from the hotel where we are staying
• Kiyomizu-Dera Shine – In the mountains and provides some amazing views of Kyoto, better than the Kyoto Tower
• Fushimi Inari Shrine – Which has a two-hour hike to see all the Torii

The first Torii we saw was at the entrance of the Heian – HUGE, you can see that I’m a speck relative to the size of it.

There’s an indescribable sense of peace that you feel when you visit a shrine, and they’re gorgeous.

To get to the Kiyomizu Shrine, you go through a residential area, and then you go through an area of shops selling all things Matcha and Hello Kitty, among other items.  You then see this gorgeous shrine, which you know is going to have an amazing view.

On the way down we stopped for strawberry ice and also Match soft serve ice cream.  All so good!

We headed to Kyoto Station to head over tot he Fushimi Inari Shrine, stopping for lunch at Avanti, for Okonomiyaki.  No we didn’t make it, but we did think it would be a fun for someone during the Amazing Race Canada for the next season to have to serve Okonomiyaki.  *GRIN*

We encountered, what is probably my favourite piece of Jengrish, I had to have a picture taken with it.  You’ll see it below.  There are a few interesting pieces of Jengrish in the picture set below as well.

I’ve mostly picked pictures that Scott took today, as he’s learning to use our Rebel T4i and the various lenses.  He’s done a great job!

I’ve noticed that two of the shrines were actually sponsored by companies.  In one case, FujiFilm, and the other Hitachi.  Also, at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, companies and families will donate a Torii for good luck, etc…  It’s an accepted part of society here.

We ended the day off with an amazing meal at the hotel.  Prior to dinner, we stopped in the lounge for a drink and some cheese. Out of nowhere, the staff brought a small snack of tomato soup, chicken, curry, and shabu shabu. That really impressed us and it was tasty!

Our feet, legs and backs are both hurting.  It’s been worth it, though.

Off to Hiroshima in the morning via Osaka, staying overnight and then back to Tokyo.

Today our fearless travellers must make their way from The Westin Tokyo and get on the 13:03 Hikari 473 Shinkansen for Nagoya with their bags. They are allowed to send two bags ahead to Kyoto, while they sample the sights and sounds of Nagoya overnight. Will the travellers arrive? Will they figure out what Bento to eat on the train? Will the bags arrive in Kyoto? With the guiding powers of Pikachu, we shall see.

Shinkansen translates directly as “New Trunk Line”.  We took the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Nagoya.  We took the “Hikari” Super Express which is the fastest train you can take on the Japan Rail Pass.  There is one faster, which is the “Nozomi” which only stops at major stations.

I am in awe of the service.  Keep in mind, this is the first time I have ever been on a high speed rail line, not even in Europe.  The trains are so smooth.  There’s something in the acceleration.  When you see a 16- car N700 set pass by you in a matter of seconds, you know you’re going fast.  My iPhone camera could not keep up with the speed of the other train, and often if I had my phone off and went to turn on the video camera, the other train will have passed by already.

Another thing that stands out is the time it takes for the cleaners to clean the train, AND they do a thorough job, unlike the cleaning job airlines do when cleaning a plane.  These people take their jobs seriously and it’s something I appreciate.  “Domo arigato, gozaimasu!”, truly means thank you from me.

It was amazing knowing we were just over 100kms out and it took us 38 minutes to get there.  This is definitely the fastest I have gone on any ground-based transportation method.

When we head up to Kyoto tomorrow, it will be a very quick journey literally.  Get on train, sit, get up and go.

So with that, we arrived in city #2 – Nagoya.

Nagoya is a city with only just over 2 million people – about 10% of the population of Tokyo, and the size of Toronto.  It’s a very nice city from the brief walk-around Scott and I. With our luck, we saw a number of people in colourful uniforms.  Scott asked what it was and it turned out to be the annual Domatsuri summer dance festival!  After seeing a massive group dance in the main high street in Nagoya, we visited the parks on Hisaya Odori where the festival was being held.

We also visited some of the shops on Otsu Dori.  What really strikes me, beyond the Japanese department stores, which are a class unto themselves, quite honestly, most shopping here in Japan consists of exactly the same brands as you would find at home.  I would say that’s one downside to globalization.

Although I commented to someone recently that in the video games market, region locking is stupid, and the game manufacturers need to realize that there is a market for the games that are region locked to specific regions around the world.  That said, it kind of makes some of the games that I picked up, that much more special as I can’t get them at home.

So it’s a double edged sword, as they say.

Getting back to the hotel, Scott had noticed they had an Onsen – A Japanese style bath.  You shower while seated, you then use a hot tub, and then transfer to a cold one, and you can go back and forth.  Not too much like the Finnish.  We felt very refreshed after.

So far we’re batting 1,000 on hotels.  The Westin Tokyo was beautiful in a classic kind of way.  The Hilton Nagoya, is beautiful in a modern kind of way.  The room we have has an ultra modern feel with classic Japanese sensibilities.  It’s small, but well worth the price we’ve paid (we did this on points and cash).

A neat thing we have experienced here in Japan is that, when you’re checking in with Platinum Privileges, or you’ve booked an Executive Room, you go to the lounge to check in.  You don’t check in, in the main lobby.  You get special handling.  It’s a very nice experience.

A few other things I’ve noticed during the trip

• Have a QR code reader handy. They’re used EVERYWHERE here.
• Bread is almost square.  It’s neat to see, and often one piece is more than enough.
• I wonder how much energy the Japanese waste with their heated toilet seats?
• Not only is there a Bible in the room, but there is also a book on the Teachings of Buddha next to it.
• We ended up sending our two big bags on to Kyoto.  This is a service offered in Japan by services like Takyubin (aka “Kuro Neko” with the black cat logo).  The hotel offers the service and it’s cheap and well worth it. Something like CAD$34 to send out bags which would arrive tomorrow morning. Honestly, you don’t want to carry big bags with you, dragging them through Tokyo Station and on Shinkansen.
• Tokyo Bananas – It’s a thing!  In short, think an amazingly tasty Twinkie.  I’ve not had one, but we have a package we’re going to have tomorrow. 🙂
• An iPhone camera can’t keep up with the speed of Shinkansen
• I’m beginning to think that Mt. Fuji really doesn’t exist, given it’s been so foggy and rainy in Japan this week so far. 🙂
• Do have the White Peach ice cream on the Shinkansen.  Best peach ice cream I’ve ever had!
• We walked by a department store that was celebrating it’s 400th anniversary.  Take that HBC!
• We finally saw a Canadian home reference in an ad in one of the Subway stations!  Yes, Japanese have a thing for Canadian-style home renovations.  Maybe Scott and I should become design consultants in Japan!

I’m a day late on my blog from Day 3, and that’s okay.  We had other priorities like packing our bags to send on to Kyoto from Tokyo.

Yesterday was spent hanging around Tokyo Station. The station itself is gorgeous as you can see from the photos below.

Quite an amazing place.  It looks small from the outside, yet when you get deep inside the station, there’s a whole different world, underground, beyond subways, JR lines and Skinkansen.  There are whole streets dedicated to food, dining and shopping!  Most importantly, character shopping and omiyage, both important to Japanese culture – and their exports to the world outside.

You can spend a whole day here especially if you’re into much of the kawaii geerkey of this place.

We also found the Daimaru department store which has an amazing food hall.  Seriously amazing.  The presentation of food is a feast for the eyes and you want to buy and try everything.

We also found a Kit Kat special chocolate bar vendor within Daimru.  Kit Kat is Japan’s number one selling chocolate bar, and the flavours are spectacular.  You must try them if you can.

If you’re a geek like me, and you have a Nintendo 3DS, be sure to carry it around Japan with you, but more importantly, take it to Tokyo Station and other train stations.  You can pick up a lot of streetpasses, especially on Character Street.

We then headed over to Odaiba.  Odaiba is a man-made island and definitely a center of the port industry in Tokyo.  They’re also trying to make it a bit of  destination with shopping (AquaCity), Fuji TV’s HQ (really neat architecture), Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) and the Museum of Maritime Science.  Beyond that Toyota has a really neat technology showroom.  Odaiba is also where some of the venues for the 20/20 Olympics will take place.
Other things to see in Odaiba:

• There is a massive ferris wheel, which, in 1999 was the tallest in the world.
• There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty
• You can get a beautiful view of the Rainbow Bridge, which is lit up at night

To get there you can take the Yurikamome automated guideway transit service.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Ebisu Mitsukoshi department store, which is akin to a Hudsons Bay in Canada.  I didn’t think they would have a food hall, but we found it.  As always, in the basement. We picked up a HUGE meal of sushi for just over 1700 yen!  So good and tasty!  We also had tea in the lounge of the hotel – a great perk if you have Platinum privileges.

Today our fearless travellers will travel by JR Yamanote and Chuo lines to walk through the Meiji Shrine, where in order to get out, Iain must advance to level 10 in Ingress.  Then they must travel over to Akihabara to get saturated in the sights and sounds of the Electric Town, to find peace and quiet in Kappabashi which is known for it’s Kitchen Town providing balance in an otherwise busy day.

And that we did.  We started the day going to the Meiji Shrine (I spelled it wrong earlier in the day – there is an extra i).  The shrine is gorgeous and such a place of solitude in a very hectic and busy city.  It’s funny hearing the music and sounds of the Yamanote line and Harajuku station as you walk through the park to get to the main shrine area.

Such a different world.

And such a different world was Akihabara when we got there via the Chuo line.  Literally the first thing out of my mouth was, “Holy crap!” looking at the Yodobashi in Akiba.  8 floors of electronics heaven for some.  For the record, OLED TVs are gorgeous.

The one thing I can say is that, we’re both drained from the over stimulation of sights and sounds.  It can be pretty overwhelming when you’re in a store like Yodobashi and they have announcements from within the store, general announcements with music, staff, sounds from TVs, video games and audio equipment blaring all at once.

Imagine being outside and hearing it from several stores, vendors on top of the crowds of people.  It gets to the point where we’re in an elevator and we can take a deep breath and let it out, and we’re thankful for the peace and quite for a few short seconds.

And then there’s the Tokyo Metro, the JR Yamanote and Chuo lines which are all very quite on the trains themselves and everyone is heads down in their phones.

Beyond that

• We have been getting up very early, around 6am to have breakfast at 6:30am and then getting out of the hotel around 7:30am.
• Despite having different colour options here for the PS Vita, stores are often sold out of different colours which include a yellow/green, blue, and pink beyond the standard black.
• As I mentioned yesterday, it looks like there is a deal on until August 31st where not only do you get Tax Free Shopping if you’re a foreigner, but if you pay with Visa, you get an additional 6% off, if you’re from China and have Union Pay, you get an additional 5% off.  It’s worth it if you want to bring electronics home.
• The Maid Cafe, in particular Maiddreamin was an interesting and fun experience for us. Admittedly, expensive, but given the entertainment, it was worth it for the experience.
• Scott picked up a very nice Sushi Knife and had it engaged with “Kuma”
• You would expect that in the land of sushi, Kaitensushi restaurants would be everywhere.  They’re not, in fact Scott and I have found them very difficult to find.  And that’s more than fine as there are many other food experiences to be had in  a city the size of Tokyo.
• We found a Yakitoria that did amazing Chicken Yakotori to help us get us through the Subway ride to dinner at the Yebisu Beer Hall near our hotel.
• Shibuya at night is insane.  I was able to get some video of people crossing this evening.  Just wow.
• I was expecting to see subway attendants ready to push people into the Yamanote line, and while we did see the attendants, there was no pushing.
• We’re using a pocket WiFi hotspot that we rented for the week which is on the ‘au’ network. It’s amazing that the battery on it lasts all day with three devices pinging constantly.
• If you play with a Nintendo 3DS and Streepass, be sure to clear you’re street passes.  I’ve gone through about 30 Streetpasses today.  Fun picking up the various regions in Japan, and pieces to puzzles, etc…
• It has been unseasonably cool and quite grey in Tokyo this trip.  Very pleasant at one level, given it’s usually 10C warmer (well into the 30s and humid versus the 20s we’ve had).
• Surprisingly, I’m not taking as many photos as I normally would on a trip.
• KFC is expensive.  Easily $3 to $4 markup from home. No, we’re not eating there.  The only westernized fast food we’ve had is a McDonald’s deep fried Apple Pie (has to be done) and Starbucks Coffee.
• Scott and I got our ink signatures in Japan.
• Mister Donut exists in Japan!  They’re mostly long gone in Canada!  And no, we did not stop in and have one.

I am really enjoying it here.  It’s such a neat place.

In Japan, you have to look up.  If not you miss things.

Case in point is the picture to the left.  You have several floors of restaurants to choose from.  In North America and much of the Western world, most shopping on a high street is on the ground level, maybe the second level.

Japan is built tall.  I have been constantly been looking up to see, what am I missing?  Especially today in Akihabara which is the being “Electric Town” where you can find anything electronic, and I mean anything.

The Yodobashi has something like 7 floors of everything a consumer would want.  We ducked down an alleyway in Electric Town and found vacuum tubes.  Looking up was a geeky Maid Cafe where we had lunch.

You definitely have to be looking around when you’re here, in Tokyo.  If not, you might miss something you’ve been looking for.