tokyo disneyland harmony color parade toy story

Tokyo Disneyland 40th Anniversary Report

July 5, 2023

Tokyo Disneyland first opened on April 15, 1983, and on its 40th anniversary this year, it kicked off a year-long event to celebrate, with the theme of “Dream-Go-Round.” The biggest piece of entertainment to debut during this event was the new daytime parade, “Harmony in Color.”

In this photo report, you’ll see front-row pics of the parade, along with anniversary decorations at the park entrance, on Cinderella Castle, and in a room at the Tokyo Disney Celebration Hotel. We’ll also talk about how the parade factors into some of the changes that have occurred, for better or worse, at Tokyo Disney Resort since the pandemic upended the theme park business.

Photo Highlight: The Back Side of Terror

June 28, 2023

On the Jungle Cruise ride at Disney parks in the U.S., there’s a famous bad joke where the boat passes behind a waterfall and the skipper directs the passenger’s attention to the amazing sight of “the back side of water.” The pedestrian path outside Tokyo DisneySea yields the equally impressive(?) sight of the back side of the Tower of Terror attraction, as pictured here on June 26, 2023.

Since the tower is backed up against the wall, it’s only when you’re outside the park that you can see it from this vantage point. The palm tree-lined path runs parallel to Tokyo Disney Resort’s monorail line and continues up to the Maihama Coast Boardwalk, where you can walk alongside Tokyo Bay, hear the crashing of the waves, and see Tokyo Gate Bridge in the distance. Along the way, you’ll also see the back side of the resort’s new Toy Story Hotel.

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Fushimi Inari Taisha: Climbing Kyoto’s Famous Mountain Shrine

June 22, 2023

Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Shrine gets quite crowded during the day; everyone and their grandmother wants to be the lone figure pictured in its tunnel of vermillion torii gates, as seen in the film Memoirs of a Geisha. The shrine's official website notes, "The whole of Inariyama, the mountain where Fushimi Inari Taisha rests, is considered a precinct of the shrine." This means that if you really want to get the full experience, you’ll be ready to climb the 764-foot mountain from top to bottom.

Here, we’ll review a few tips and tricks for doing that. I’ll also talk a bit about the shrine’s importance relative to Kyoto’s history and thousands of other sub-shrines across Japan.

gamera mural kadokawa daiei studio chofu tokyo

Photo Highlight: Gamera in Chofu

June 15, 2023

A mural of the giant prehistoric turtle, Gamera, outside Kadokawa Daiei Studio in Chofu, Tokyo, on June 15, 2023. While the monster is not as much of a household name as his kaiju cousin, Godzilla, no less than five Gamera B-movies appeared on Comedy Central’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the 1990s. The silhouettes of host Joel Robinson and his space companions, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, would sit in the front row of a theater and riff, offering humorous running commentary on each film, beginning with Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965).

There are also several Gamera wall decorations in Chofu Station, and when you get outside, you’ll see a sign for “Cinema Town Chofu,” explaining the city’s history as a movie studio hub. Heading toward the Tama River, Kadokawa Daiei Studio — which also has a pair of statues from the Daimajin film series outside it — is about a 13-minute walk down the street from the local movie theater, Aeon Cinema Chofu. If you take a walking route in the opposite direction to the popular Jindai Botanical Gardens, you might pass by the costume department for Toho Studios, too.

Studio Ghibli Museum Entrance Gate Mitaka Tokyo

Comparing the Ghibli Museum with Ghibli Park

June 8, 2023

In the past, I’ve written about Studio Ghibli-related places you can visit in Japan, one of those being the ever-popular Ghibli Museum in Tokyo. For theme park goers and Hayao Miyazaki fans, the opening of Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture last November has now changed the game for Ghibli-inspired travel. Here, I’ll compare the Ghibli Museum with Ghibli Park, examining how it makes use of similar design elements in places.

Photo Highlight: Hasedera Temple Hydrangeas

June 7, 2023

People gather for hydrangea viewing along the Prospect Path at Hase-dera Temple in Kamakura, Japan, on June 6, 2023. The temple holds a 30-foot wooden statue of the goddess Kannon in its main hall, and it’s about a 7-minute walk from both Hase Station and the famous Great Buddha of Kamakura, which has drawn visitors like former U.S. president Barack Obama.

During the rainy season, over 40 different varieties of ajisai (hydrangeas) can be seen at Hase-dera. The Prospect Path, where most of them are, carries a slow-moving line of people a short way up Mount Kamakura, where you can also take in a commanding view of Yuhigahama Beach and Sagami Bay. From now until Wednesday, June 21, a combined ticket for the temple and Prospect Path (with timed entry for the latter) can be purchased via a link on Hase-dera’s Japanese website for ¥900.

To see more pictures of Kamakura, check out this gallery.

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The Kabuki Hall Food Court [Updated with New Info on Robot Restaurant]

June 2, 2023

Even before Tokyu Kabukicho Tower opened in mid-April, its fountain-like design caught my eye and had me wondering what this new building was. It’s Japan’s 19th-tallest skyscraper, and you can see it rising up over the train station from Shinjuku Southern Terrace. At 48 stories high, it’s significantly taller than the neighboring Shinjuku Toho Building, where the famous life-size Godzilla Head peeks out from an eighth-floor terrace, and where the adjoining Hotel Gracery Shinjuku tops out at 30 floors.

Tokyu Kabukicho Tower also holds two hotels on its upper floors, but below them is an entertainment complex with a state-of-the-art multiplex, venues for both live music and theater (stage productions), and a nightclub that spans four basement levels. The very first thing you’ll see when you walk in, however, is the neon-lit food court, Kabuki Hall, which brings together regional soul foods from around Japan in a retro, yokocho-style atmosphere.

Rainy Yurakucho Evening Tokyo City Lights Magic Hour

Photo Highlight: Rainy Yurakucho Evening

May 30, 2023

In addition to regular posts, for the summer, I’m going to try something different and do some bite-sized entries like this, where it’s just a single photo taken in the last 48 hours, along with a short write-up that doesn’t go beyond the home page. (So, you won’t have to click “Read More” and hit the jump to anything.)

This picture is from yesterday evening, outside Yurakucho Station in Central Tokyo. It’s not even June yet, but it feels like the rainy season (tsuyu) has already started, with hydrangeas coming out to bloom and the weather forecast showing almost straight rain and clouds for the next ten days. We were on our way back to Tokyo Station from Toho Cinemas Hibiya, where we went to see a matinee movie. It was a few minutes after sunset, and the juxtaposition of city lights with a rain-slick road and elevated train station during the magic hour gave the walk a romantic feel.

Inside Nippon Budokan Concert Hall Tokyo Japan

Inside Nippon Budokan, Tokyo's Historic Music and Martial Arts Venue

May 25, 2023

Located near the Imperial Palace in Central Tokyo, Nippon Budokan, which simply means, “Japan Martial Arts Hall,” first opened ahead of the 1964 Summer Olympics, where it introduced judo as an Olympic sport. At the 2020 (technically, 2021) Summer Olympics, Budokan again served as a venue for both judo and karate, but for music fans, it’s more famous as a concert venue. This is where The Beatles played their first show in Japan. Artists like Cheap Trick, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton have all recorded famous live albums at Budokan, and a few weeks ago, we got to see one of them play there live.

Odaiba Unicorn Gundam Destroy Mode Tokyo

Digital Art and Robots from Toyosu to Odaiba

May 18, 2023

As Wikipedia notes, “The Yurikamome is Tokyo’s first fully automated transit system, controlled entirely by computers with no drivers on board.” It links Toyosu, where the old Tsukiji Fish Market relocated in 2018, and where the TeamLab Planets digital art museum is currently operating, with the manmade island of Odaiba across Tokyo Bay. On Odaiba, you can see the Life-Sized Unicorn Gundam statue, among other things.

Like the monorail at Tokyo Disney Resort (officially known as the Disney Resort Line), you can sit in front of the Yurikamome and look directly out the window without any human conductors obstructing the view. That seems like a good starting point for a long and winding post through the spring of 2023, from Toyosu to Odaiba to the robot apocalypse, and everything in-between.