Den Den Town / Amerikamura

Shopping is a pretty big deal here in Japan. I suppose it's comparable in the U.S., but here shopping is almost like a tourist thing. Whereas one might spend a few hours shopping at La Cantera in San Antonio, one could spend a week-long vacation exploring all the shops and stores in, say, Umeda. It's done as much for entertainment as anything else and there are huge shopping "venues" all over Japan. It is probably much the same in large, urban cities (such as New York or L.A.), but since I've never been to large cities like that, it's hard for me to differentiate between what is uniquely Japanese and what is simply urban. That being said, shopping is very popular in Japan and there are many districts to visit which cater to different tastes or preferences.

Den Den Town (also known as Nipponbashi) is a large shopping district which features electronics. It's comparable to Akihabara (an electronics shopping area in Tokyo), except it's in Osaka and, unlike in Tokyo, shops in Den Den Town accept haggling. It's an impressive area to see and connects with Amerikamura and Shinsaibashi. These are all basically giant shopping districts within one even larger shopping area. We took the train into the city and met one of L's new friends, who had offered to guide us around the area. She works as a teacher here in Japan and my understanding is that she'd been here for a while, and was much more familiar with the area than we were. She also shared some interests with L, such as being into lolita fashion. If you've ever seen Kamikaze Girls, the character Momo is really into Lolita fashion. This is the sort of thing you'd find with classic Lolita fashion (still taken from Kamikaze Girls):

The only thing I am going to say about lolita fashion is that it's a hobby and I don't quite understand it, but I don't really understand sport fishing either, so what can I say? Sometimes people have interests that don't really intersect my own, but that's fine.

Patty and her boyfriend met us outside the train station and was, to my surprise, decked out in full lolita style. I knew she was into it, but I didn't know she would be "living the dream" (so-to-speak) that day. To be honest, it took me some time to get accustomed to it. You know me, I'm not a very frilly girl, and though she was a perfectly nice and decent person, it was hard for me to get past the clothes. The clothes! Here's a shot of Patty (next to her boyfriend):

Additionally, as much as a pack of gaijin get stared at while walking down any street in Japan, people would actually stop what they were doing and turn to stare as she walked past, mouths agape, eyes a-googly with shock. Some people would take pictures of her, and at one point a woman just stood there taking pictures for a full three minutes while we tried to figure out whether we'd eat at a particular restaurant or not. And even when we decided to go into the restaurant, she was still there, taking pictures as Patty disappeared into the shop. It was just strange. I tried to stay at the end of our group because a good portion of the entertainment I got that day was watching the Japanese people's faces as Patty walked by.

We toured Den Den town and checked in at several electronic shops. Kathryne was looking for an electronic translator. I had been hoping to find a replacement for my iPod on the cheap - an old or used/refurbished model of the same one I have now or perhaps the very next gen, but not anything new because it would be too expensive. I should have known better, though, because Den Den Town is all about NEW technology, and the few refurbs they had were the second-to-most-recent new iPods. And they were expensive. Still, I was enjoying seeing new stuff and shopping a bit, even if I didn't buy anything.

At one particular chain store, they have a Mario out front (he's in front of each of their chains, we passed by several in that area):

And Mega Man was more than happy to pose for me:

I'm not really clear on the divisions between Shinsaibashi, Amerikamura and Den Den Town, and we walked quite a distance through all of the districts (and perhaps others that I'm not aware of). We stopped and ate at a restaurant that served fried meats and veggies on sticks. You could get things like beef, chicken, pork (and various parts of said animals), eggplant, sweet potato, shrimp, cheese, etc. On the table there is a container of sauce that any patrons who sit at that table will use, so it's very important not to double dip the food into the sauce dish. Lindzi got a shot of the food:

There were some interesting shops and restaurants on the street we ate at, one had a giant wood statues of a turtle, pelican and uh, a fat dude affixed to its facade:

There was one really famous restaurant that Patty's boyfriend (whose name escapes me) wanted to take us to, but it literally had a line outside the door extending about half a block down along the restaurant, so we skipped it. While we were in the area though, we saw a photographer taking some pictures of a biker. They asked if they could get some shots with us. I stayed out of the first couple of shots but in the end he got a photo of all of us with the motorcyclist. Naturally, I don't have that shot, but I do have this one of Patty and Lindzi with him:

Can you say juxtaposition? Anyway, as we left the area we noticed the camera man heading back to his van:

So, we may end up in a magazine. I don't know.

We toured more of the area and then headed to Shinsaibashi because there is a doll store there that Lindzi wanted to visit. Another hobby I don't really understand. Meaghan and I sat in the foyer area of the store because neither of us were tremendously interested in dolls, their clothes or accessories. My understanding is that the interest in dolls sort of goes in tandem for many who are interested with lolita fashion. I guess if you're already interested in collecting frilly clothes and playing dress-up, then doing the same with a doll isn't too far off. The really interesting thing about the store, though, was the sheer number of men shopping there by themselves. Yes, perhaps they were buying gifts for their girlfriends, but some of them seemed the type who'd be unable to acquire a girlfriend. I don't know. It was kind of creepy. I suppose that's sexist; if girls can play with dolls, then boys can play with dolls too, right? But there's something... off... about a grown man who wants to pay thousands of dollars to own and dress dolls. Anyway...

We went to Amerikamura and the girls visited Angelic Pretty and actually, looking over the site, I found the dress that Patty was wearing:

At some point, Patty had to split off from us due to work, but we stayed in Amerikamura and went bowling which was totally awesome and fun:

After which, we had something to eat at an American-style burger joint. The burgers were pretty good and the staff brought us freebies (two garden salads and two coleslaws). It's kind of funny, because as often as I get a dirty look for being a foreigner, I get freebies for being a foreigner. When Meaghan and I went to Kyoto, we got free ice cream after our meal and a warm invitation to please come back. No one else got free ice cream (or salads!). Feeling spoiled :)

After dinner, we headed back to the area where bowling was and did some Karaoke. I really like karaoke here. I mean, I love to sing but I'm terribad at it. However here, only my friends have to hear just how bad I am, or at least people that I know. Plus, we get to choose the songs and to date, I haven't heard any country western songs :)

All in all, it was a really good day. I have to catch up still, need to tell you about Inari Shrine (I have SO MANY pictures). Hopefully I can get the update in soon, however right now I really should be doing homework. I've promised myself that if I finish my homework today, I will go do something interesting/tourist-y tomorrow. Oh, and just to close out the post, I will leave you a picture of Lindzi fully decked-out in lolita-style:

Look at that smile, that is one happy girl!