It’s no secret that Japan is a treasure trove of weirdness for the casual visitor. When I visited five years ago, I was only there for a short visit, but scratched the surface of the body of random surprises and potential “what the?” moments…
Ebisu Garden Place
…like a chateauesque house built in the middle of the concrete jungle of Ebisu…
Planter box, Ginza
…this lone planter box in the middle of the shopping district of Ginza….
Roppongi Hills development poster
…or the cartoon-eque development poster for Roppongi Hills. Doesn’t this just make you want to invest here?
Vending machine restaurant
Eat at a vending machine restaurant…
‘Customer and waitress’ become ‘master and mistress’ at the @home cafe, Akihabara.
…or this slightly more saucy option.
Regardless of where you eat, sooner or later you’ll need a lavatory…
Washlet super-loo
…complete with bum-spa!
There are also plenty of entertainment options…
Arcade, Akihabara
Game parlour, Akihabara
…like this anime-inspired game parlour…
Love Hotel Hill, Shibuya
…or Love Hotel Hill near Shibuya, where the theme-decorated rooms are charged by the hour.
And to think I only just scratched the surface!!
Teehee… Japan was fascinating, my first few days there you could hear me squealing with delight as I found yet another random thing. The loos were prob the most different thing. I spent a week with a friend who was going to University, there version of O week was pretty similar to ours, lots of booze and food, just they drank Sake in place of beer. I did find the food dispensers in back alleys pretty cool, and the giant vegetable patches in high density apartment blocks surprising. But as a whole, the country was very overwhelming for a newbie traveller, I felt so foreign there. Great post tho Tim, I really need to get back to Japan. 🙂
It is really, really different to what we call ‘home’, and I can imagine it would be really intense for a newbie. Great work on wanting to go back though – that’s the spirit! 😀
you gotta love the quirks of Tokyo and Japan!
Hehehhee it’s certainly never boring! Thanks for stopping by again 🙂
I would love love love to visit Tokyo! Been the top of my travel wishlist for a long time now, and it’s all cause of these weird things like you’ve listed here!
Hahahahhaha yes Tokyo is one awesome city! Thanks for reading 🙂