6/20/2006: Back to Nakano, and a Karaoke All Nighter in Ginza!

     Today we decided that it would probably be the last full day we had to explore Nakano, where we had found the Nakano Broadway I previously mentioned a few weeks ago. If you haven't read my last post, Nakano is known for having a lot of shopping to suit many kinds of shoppers. There are clothing stores, grocery stores, restaurants and a wide variety of stores appealing to those who love anime, manga, video games, or collectibles in general. Any self-proclaimed J Fan or Otaku would go absolutely nuts here.
     I've never seen so many anime, manga and video game stores in one place in my entire life. I didn't even think malls like this existed! I spent three hours today going through all four floors looking for things that I had to get before leaving Japan. After the hours of searching I decided to purchase a figurine of Ryu Hiyabusa from Ninja Gaiden that was marked down from 7,000 yen to 2,000 yen (approx $20 USD). I was very impressed with the quality of the likeness!

     After that I found some beautiful printed writing boards (for writing on the train, usually designed with a color side and a black and white side) inspired by an anime/manga called "Air." I also found a movie collectors book that was released prior to the "Chobits" series (Only JPY 150 or approx. $1.50 USD). Since I was pretty obsessed with leg warmers at the time and wore them to dance class almost every day, I bought three pairs of really nice ones for only 1,000 JPY (10 USD).  I was excited because at most of the shops in Harajuku the same brands of leg warmers cost ten dollars each. It's nice because I feel as though I am finally getting the system of shopping for discounts in Japan down to a science.

     After that we met at the Wendy's in Azabu Juban around 10 PM (long after dark, which came at a seemingly-early-for-summer 7 PM). From the train station there, our whole class went out for Karaoke in Ginza at a pretty awesome place that was themed (though unfortunately the admission was kind of pricey for karaoke) We decided to order all you can drink for around 3,000 JPY a person which isn't so bad for a karaoke bar. After ingesting a few drinks everyone was a little braver and tried singing karaoke (some people for the first time!). I have to admit to you all now that I am not really vocally talented. At all... Just letting you all know! lol.
     Some of the songs sung that evening were from the Beatles, No Doubt, Aladdin, Led Zepplin, Britney Spears, Madonna, and Anime Theme Songs (which Matthew rocked out, by the way, and it sounded like he was fluent in Japanese when he was singing them). We had an absolute blast, and stayed up all night so that we could go to the Tsukiji fishmarket down the street at 5 AM to watch the fish auction and get the freshest sushi in the world, but more on that later...

Signing out to "Just a Girl"
Lady Lara Jones















Carol and John sing a duet that sounds really good!

















Matt belts out the Dragon Ball Z theme like a pro and we swear he's suddenly fluent in Japanese...
















Kristina sings another diva tune. And Laura browses some karaoke books.