We did a lot this trip, but it feels like we’re missing out on stuff. I’m old and out of shape. I wish I’d come here like, a decade ago.

We have given up on public transportation and gotten a taxi, because we are fucking tired

Well, we tried to find Trader Vic’s and learned no shorts allowed, and I’m wearing shorts today, so that was that. It was definitely an adventure, riding the train at 5pm.

Oh my god the Mandarake in Nakano Broadway had an entire SHELF of Lupin III doujinshi @emmawolfe227.bsky.social I got you some Zenigata smut

At @vegetablesaute.bsky.social’s suggestion, we are checking out Nakano Broadway

They will just tell you when the train is delayed because there was a person on the tracks, they don’t use codes like we do back home

There was an autograph from Bud Luckey — with a drawing of a jackalope — in the movie theater projection booth. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Luc...

It’s funny, the history of animation in this museum is all incredibly outdated. Everything is done digitally now, so the stuff like ink & paint and even physical storyboards/key frames/inbetweens are things of the past. It’s all done on tablets.

Almost too cute to eat (but also, too delicious to not eat). The cat bus sando is exclusive to the Kichioji store — they only make 50 a day. It’s raisin butter though, why did it have to be raisin =p

We made it, by the way. We’re third in line

The back streets of this town have a speaker system that is playing this catchy little ditty but I can’t figure out WHY. Am I walking around a movie. Why is there background music

We’re at a tiny coffee shop in Kichioji, drinking iced cafe lattes before wandering down the street for Totoro cream puffs (we got here way too early, oops)

片岡愛之助主演、歌舞伎版「ルパン三世」第2弾新作上演決定 来年3月から全国4大都市ロングラン #ルパン三世 #歌舞伎 #片岡愛之助 #舞台 #芸能ニュース

It looks like they’re going to continue the kabuki next year!

I can’t tell if my throat is sore because I caught something or if I slept on one side under the air conditioning. I feel fine otherwise, it just hurts to swallow on one side, which is annoying.

Tomorrow: Totoro cream puffs (hopefully) and the Studio Ghibli museum (also hopefully; navigating Shinjuku station is gonna be *interesting.*)

Sushi accomplished Did a brief walk around Shinjuku, which is shoulder-to-shoulder people on a Friday night. Still, very cool to see.

Tonight: sushi maybe? We’re figuring it out.

We have made it to Shinjuku. God, traveling across a city with luggage sucks all kinds of ass

The #foxtober2025 promptlist is finally out! So many foxes!

By the way, here's an ice cream with the same hardness as Shinkansen ice cream. When completely frozen, you can use it like a hammer to drive nails into a board. www.imuraya-group.com/english/prod...

It took twenty minutes but the ice cream was, in fact, soft enough to not break the spoon. It was very tasty!

You know I had a carb-heavy breakfast and I have barely walked today and my blood sugar is STILL being stupid. Stop going low, goddammit

I can’t believe we went to @vegetablesaute.bsky.social’s movie & gin bars. That’s so friggin’ cool. And Saute is a sweetheart ❤️ They tolerated being our tour guide for the day (we bought them lunch & cocktails as a thank you)

SHINKANSEN ICE CREAM

Oh! I can order the ice cream from my seat! Hell yeah green car!

Ko-Fi is now OPEN with con leftovers and #Aikoplush preoders! Doing a late night soft launch on bsky before I promo on YouTube. If there's any issues, please let me know!! Etsy plushie listings (for international orders) will go live tomorrow! ko-fi.com/mystsaphyr/s...

Oh shoot, we didn’t get Shinkansen ice cream!

Sadly the windows on the Mt Fuji side were all full up, but at least we’re sitting together. Busy day today, apparently. (Also I suspect all those view windows get reserved well in advance)

I’m gonna miss the Shinkansen. Today’s our last trip on one

PHANTOM!

We’ve been in Japan a full week at this point and we have yet to have sushi

Plan for today: Shinkansen back to Tokyo, find our hotel in Tokyo, then ??? Studio Ghibli museum is tomorrow, but outside of travel (which always goes faster than I expect it to, even though it’s a fucking bullet train and I should expect it), today is mostly free.

The hotel breakfast here is much more local than the previous hotel; local black curry (to go with the castle we saw yesterday), peach jelly made from local peaches, yuzu pastries made from local yuzu. And yes, I ate curry for breakfast. Spot had the fish; mackerel is not a favorite of mine =p

I got my hojicha tea with hotel breakfast :)

Our hotel has a window that looks into the bathroom???

I genuinely love technology, it lets me talk to friends around the globe even if we don’t know each others’ language

The bar culture here is so different than America, at least, from the tiny slice of it we’ve seen.

Shape of Water and Men In Black

Carrie, which involves a shot!

We have ridden more escalators in Japan than anywhere else in my entire life

I gave myself no insulin with dinner, had a pile of rice, and my blood sugar did not notice Exercise fixes me, I should do it more

God bless translation software, it’s made this trip so much easier. I know some of it is AI but it fucking helps

Lupin III-themed cocktails: Immortal Bloodline, Legend of the Gold of Babylon (it sparkles), and Castle of Cagliostro

The cocktail bar in @vegetablesaute.bsky.social’s hometown!

Okayama Korakuen — very lovely gardens! You can see the top of the castle, too

Okayama castle