/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

I'm going to make a whole thread for my own question in /cgl/ for the first time.

Saved from an earlier thread, cute cafes in Japan.

>>10059903
Don’t go outside at all cause it’s hot and humid as fuck

>>10059938
Thanks anon, that's super helpful.
Any places you'd recommend checking out for a first timer gull? Any brick and mortar stores worth checking out for a gothic/classic gull?

>>10059903
Don’t go to the fox village in Zao if you’re going up north. Youtubers lie.
Actually don’t go to any animal cafe or petty gimmicky thing. All depressing.

>>10059936
Eh we used to have Traveling to Japan threads a lot last year, this can just be the new one. I know technically /trv/ exists but they tend to want a very different experience out of visiting Japan than gulls. I found these threads super helpful when I planned my trip.

>>10059903
What city or cities are you staying in anon?

>>10059962
Marui Annex in Shinjuku has MmM/Sheglit stuff in the Kera Shop. There's also Innocent World in there and the other lolita brands.

If you go to Osaka, I recommend checking out Nakazaki cho. It's a quaint district close to Umeda with lots of cute cafes and quirky second hand clothing shops, as well as a lot of handmade accessories and trinkets.

And for the more touristy options in Osaka, go to America Mura, dotonbori, Denden town. If you like nature I really recommend the 70 expo commemoration park.

>>10060000
Could you elaborate?

>>10060151
Youtube will only show you the second half of the place, which is a big open area (which is still too small for the amount of foxes there, but at least it’s better than what I’m about to elaborate on). The first half is a collection of dirty, tiny cages. We’re talking cages that are maybe one fox-length wide. No floors, just wire. There are also goats and ponies there in little 3 sq meter areas with no grass. Staff are unwelcoming and blunt even if you are Japanese. I actually cannot believe those retarded “j-vloggers” don’t mention this first half. Maybe they are paid off?
Unfortunately I was afraid to take photos due to staff so this is all I got. It’s hard to tell what’s here so googling “zao fox village cages” will show you more. Also, I went to an otter touching thing (not a cafe) in Ikebukuro, and while it was better than Zao, I can’t imagine the otters had anywhere else besides their tiny cages to run around in in that concrete jungle.

>>10060171
Very cute and only 1500yen but I don’t want to think I gave that money to a cruel place so idk if worth it. I should have asked. I DID ask how they got the otters and the girl said they’re the leftovers from when the mom otter has too many pups per nipple and can’t feed them all.

OP idk if I should call you brave or a dummy for going in the summer (though I kind of get it if you're only able to go at that time of year).

>>10060171
Seconding. Even the actual pet shops are depressing. Personally I find caging wild animals for this purpose problematic.

Character cafes tend to have long lines so I'd plan ahead to get there early if your heart is still dead set on going to one. I'd go in with the expectation that you're paying for the ambience, food presentation/packaging, and branding than the food (it's usually all the same Japanese comfort foods like fruit parfaits and curry/omurice).

Another gull flying to Japan soon!

Does anyone have any experience shopping in person at Closet Child and the like? Tips and tricks to not look like a fool? I've come to realise I won't have the online privilege of listed measurements on the garments and I'm scared. It seems embarrassing and time consuming to try out or try to try out things which are inevitably too small.

>>10060176
Cat cafes are all fancy breeds, too. Whenever I talked to women (I’m a woman too, I’m just specifying) about their cats they would say their breed first.

>>10060171
>>10060172
Oh fuck, thank you for explaining. This is horrible.. I wonder what native japanese people think about places like these.

>>10060176
>>10059947
I'm afraid June might be the only time i can go. While the tickets aren't purchased yet, I have stuff happening in July and April at home so the window is kind of limited. I could possibly skip the april thing, but I'm not sure how it'd pan out long term. It might be worth it if he weather is that much better. I admit i'm afraid to go ahead on my June plans now. You all make it sound like it's going to be a midsummer swamp.

>>10059947
This. Summer in Japan is the worst. Depressing heat outside, freezing a/c inside.

>>10060188
You can try on stuff at cc, but here are a few rules. Nothing out of this world, just pretty standard things. You have to let them know you want to try on something, remove your shoes, wear the face weird bag to protect the garment from make up transfer.
The staff is usually busy, especially in the harajuku store, so they might seem a bit dry at first, but if you’re calmed, not so loud and try to speak Japanese to them (even if it’s not perfect) they’ll appreciate it, I guess.

>>10060188
You can only try on stuff that's worn over a blouse (so your armpits don't contaminate the merchandise). So you can try on JSKs but not OPs. Also don't take photos in the store.

Finally somewhere where I can post my questions!

1. How do you gulls plan your trips to japan? budgeting, where to go, ect.? I've been wanting to plan but don't know where to start.

2. Could I get around having little to no Japanese language? Like maybe ordering at resturants or asking for something from behind a counter? Or maybe I should avoid people all together?

>>10060362
1 is a hard question to answer and depends on the person, my best advice would be to try to rank into priority groups the things and place you want to do and go then place them on a map, prioritize the high density areas and try to best guess how many days you would need to do your 'must do's' and budget based on that. if you still have budget left add in the second tier of wants.

For number 2, super easy in major cities. I know moon runes but others I know have no problem without

>>10060283
I just got back and holy shit it’s the same in winter. Wearing layers to keep warm outside? Let’s turn up the heat inside our shop to roast people alive when they walk in. The USA does this too but not as bad. Horrible.

Adding to animal cafes, but with a positive spin! Before you enter the main Akabara Street, there are two streets that full of open food fresh fish stalls and lots cloths hanging tents. On those streets there a big Owl Cafe that is more like a nursery- they take the "not cute" owls from the bigger tourist spots and keep them there. They were all adorable though. Not sure how an owl losses it's cute, but there were a lot of them. You can feed them meat and they are free to fly around. They aren't chained to their posts and can sit on the higher rafters. I'm no owl expert of course, so I don't know if that's cruel or not? Dont know how much space an owl needs to be happy, but they seemed pretty content? I also have no idea if owl's make noise if they are happy or upset, but like I said they were chill. We just kinda sat at a table, and watched them breath. It was very relaxing and pretty.

Oh, I also found a random pug cafe in Osaka. Just like some lady who owns twelve pugs and they all seems very happy! The place was clean, everyone smelled great, and they were well behaved and were all excited to get pet. At first I was like, meh, pugs. Bording. But it's really fun when there's ten of them trying to lick you and want a little treat. They all come from the same family, like Eldest Son and the Windowed Sister, and at the end of the visit you get to vote on the lady's website on who was your favorite. It was a great memory to get!

>>10060188

What's embarrassing? Well, unless you're a whale, then sorry. But I'm from Holland and 6'6 and I tried on a bunch! They didn't care. Don't know if it helped if I'm white and they were like ooo tourist, but I made it worth their while and bought four dresses and two bags. I was treated very nicely.

>>10060188
Since you're not allowed to try on tops at CC, bring a measuring tape.

I think I posted this from a previous travel thread, but
> Harajuku has the best selection (but also highest turnover rate, so if you go back another day, an item you want might be gone)

I think they've recently downsized their gothic/punk floor. Can someone confirm?

>Shinjuku cc is tiny, but decent selection (and nicest staff imo). Goth selection is very small.

>ikebukuro cc is so-so (for some reason, a lot more regular vintage clothes).

I also recommend visiting Grandma Bazaar in Shimokitazawa. Lolita stuff is on the second floor to the back. It's quite small, but the selection is great, especially if you like casual Lolita/otome kei.

>>10060402
Grandma Bazaar. Lol. Thanks auto correct.

Grand Bazaar. Honestly Shimokitazawa is nice and has a lot of vintage shops if you're interested in that too.

>>10060379
That's what I did. Google maps is excellent for this sort of thing. I prioritized my must dos with a color coding system. Though it's not helpful for details like finding upper level shops (because you'll likely run into that), it's an otherwise helpful app for getting around - it'll even track train fare within cities so you don't need to pay more on a weekly pass.

Language wise, it's still important to know phrases and understand kana/hiragana to get around. In the city, you'll find more opportunities to find people willing to speak some English , offer menus in English (sometimes other languages like at train station), etc, but not so much in the country. I would learn what you can, and download Google translate's Japanese dictionary so you have it when you don't have wifi

>>10060402
>I think they've recently downsized their gothic/punk floor. Can someone confirm?
You're right. There used to be 3 floors in the Harajuku CC, but they merged the goth/punk floor and the 'otome' floor so they both have worse selection now.

Akihabara is overrated for buying stuff, you can buy most were merch online for cheaper or equivalent. I really like the atmosphere though, it's super cozy

Nakano Broadway is a good place to visit. Massive indoor shopping mall with mostly weeb shops, google it and check it online. It's pretty nice

>>10060000
cat cafes are fine because cats are meant to be in that environment, any other ones like owls are less ethical.

>>10060419
Noooo gdi. Well I guess lucky past-me for going before it happened :/

>>10060461
True, though I think it's still worth checking out , especially if you're into otaku shit. It's certainly touristy and some shops get overcrowded as to make it less enjoyable (kinda feels like a conveyor belt), but even if you end up not getting anything, I think it's still neat to see rare gems and only in Japan items in person. Some items are certainly cheaper to buy in Japan than online, considering scalpers, exchange rate, and overseas shipping. Just shop smart and look at Amazon/ebay prices while you're there.

Also probably not a good idea to buy things like video games in Japan. It's not likely to work with your home system

>>10060188
idk about trying on because I’m tiny but definitely set aside space and money to go to closet child. Their online store is only stuff that doesn’t sell in their physical stores so the real stores are full of great deals and cream of the crop. I found a dream dress there for less than 10k yen.

Best weeb areas especially for secondhand stuff:
Osaka DenDen (and the mandarake nearby, best manda in Japan imo)
Sannomiya
Sendai
Nakano broadway
Akiba

Akiba is very overpriced. Honestly the best prices are at bookoff plus’s out in the sticks. They don’t know how to price things as well so you can find great stuff for under 1000yen, sometimes 100yen. They also have clothes (but are better at pricing brand).

Secondhand clothes shops I’ve scored suitcases full of cheap jfash at:
Bookoff Plus
万SAI堂
2nd STREET
KINJI

Just always search for 古着 (furugi, old clothes) or 古着屋 (furugiya, old clothes shop).

>>10060461
>Akihabara is overrated for buying stuff, you can buy most were merch online for cheaper or equivalent

I had to put that out of my head. I'm all about getting thing and then reminiscing about how I got them when I look at them. I mean what's cooler, getting something off Amazon or stepping up 5 flights of toys and games with real otakus and looking through hundreds of husbandos until you spot yours and its a neat figure you've never seen and then spend real yen on it and then get to leave the store with a bag in hand with your precious goods inside, just waiting until you get back to your hotel so you can rip that bad boy out of his box so you can make him fit into your already overstuffed suite case.

>>10060468
This. I got a bunch of great items all for a great price. A few really nice axes femme cutsews for 200 yen even, and a pair of AaTP platform shoes for 500.
You can try on skirts and shoes but not blouses. Dresses only if you're already wearing a blouse or something underneath to try it on on top of that, which I wasn't able to so since I went in august.

>>10060272
Summer isn't that awful, don't be afraid. I deal with heat very badly and live in a fairly cold country but even though it was hot and on some days staying in the heat for too long wasn't comfortable it wasn't the living hell you always hear about.

>>10059903
If you're a lolita or into cute jfashion you should get mariko suzuki's book. It has lots of places to visits with information in English. It's just about Tokyo though.

>>10059962
Seraphim has a physical store where other indie brands are also sold, mostly classic accessories.

>>10060000
Seconding this. Don't go to any animal related thing. All of them are neglected or in unnatural/stressful habitat.

>>10060398
I'm no whale, but 1.72m with 100 cm bust and 80 cm waist. I hope to make my visit worth everyone's while, buying loads. Thank you for your advice!

>>10060402
>Bring a measuring tape
GENIOUS! I'll practice measuring the blouses I already own so I know how to efficiently check my possible purchases. Grand(ma) Bazaar sounds awesome too, so thanks for the tip! Casual lolita happens to be my preferred level of effort.

Additional thanks to everyone else who replied to my post. I'll be sure to stalk this thread until it sinks, because all of the advice here makes me so excited to go.

>>10060500
I studied in Japan for 4 months and I went to Akihabara about twice a month (aka pretty often)

I really, really like the atmosphere for some reason. I think it's the fact that it looks so familiar from Steins Gate and 0. It just feels like I "belong".

Akihabara has the weird thing where it's a tourist-trap, but it's was also originally otaku heaven. Kind of like how Boston is known for crabs and lobsters because they catch so many of them, but they also hike up prices because so many tourists go there for it.

>>10061019
Come to think of it, Grandma Bazaar is kind of a thing. A lot of old people hang out in Sugamo. Lolita is kind of best except for events. Cramped spaces happens, but I've found it's also a LOT of walking. Pack comfy shoes, quality inserts, heck, I wish I brought ankle supports to wear at night (had to buy them there).

>>10061019 #
Come to think of it, Grandma Bazaar is kind of a thing. A lot of old people hang out in Sugamo. Casual lolita is kind of best except for events. Cramped spaces happens, but I've found it's also a LOT of walking. Pack comfy shoes, quality inserts, heck, I wish I brought compression tape to wear at night (had to buy them there).

>>10060681
Adding to this: the book is a bit outdated since some locations are closed (rip putumayo), but it's a good book for trip suggestions around Tokyo. You can pick it up at the Atelier Pierrot shop in LaForet as a souvenir or get it off Amazon for ideas before your trip. There's also a blog about the sweet shops from Kentaro the Sweettooth Salaryman, if you're interested in sweets/traditional Japanese foods/cafes

>>10060687
>All of them are neglected or in unnatural/stressful habitat.

Even the Nara deer? I thought they were taken care of very well.

>>10061327
Zao/otter anon here, nara deer are fine. So are the arashiyama monkeys. It’s the indoor things that suck.

>>10060188
Been to Closet Childs in Harajuku and Osaka.
The more Japanese you speak, the better.
Wear jfash or you'll just look like a weird gawking touirst and they'll ignore you.
Best customer service I had was at the Closet Child in Amerika Mura and Maiden Clothing.
Would recommemd Maiden Clothing most of all if you're in Osaka.
I didn't try anything on, but I saw what I think was a makeshift changing room in Harajuku. I think they have some sort of "face shield" so your makeup doesn't get on their brand

How fucked am I if I’m allergic to allergic to onions? Is this going to impact my ability to eat a variety of Japanese food?

>>10060188
When I visited, the shop girl wasn't very friendly/talkative but she gave me a big bag when she saw I was struggling with my other things so that was nice.

Summer is hot but it is fairly easy to adjust. Dress for the weather, bring or buy a small towel for wiping sweat and drink lots of water. Try to plan indoor activities intermixed with outdoor. My general plan is half day put, pop back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes and go back out. (I have done summer comiket twice. Hellish swampy heat but you deal.)

>>10060362
1) I make a list of everything I want to do (giant excel sheet) and then use that to plan out the general areas we will be in. Then I grab hotels in those areas.
2) Japan is super english friendly, at least in tokyo/osaka but less so in kyoto. Maps and signage usually have english translations and that is increasing as they prepare for the olympics. Get google translate and you're good for most situations.

>>10059962
Abilletage has a store with a hair salon

>>10060404
Shimokitazawa also has the Darwin Room, which is a natural science-focused shop and cafe / event space, really cute in a mori-girl way (although taxidermy ahoy, if you're sensitive to that sort of thing).

For CC: ask for a points card, you can combine across stores. If you visit the CC in Shinjuku, it's worth treking a few extra blocks to the nearby Maiden Clothing. Their selection isn't fantastic but I've always come across one or two things that made the trip worthwhile.

>>10064517
The Abilletage store decor is really gorgeous if you're into classic-goth and they often have flyers for interesting events.

Two more places with great gothic-lolita decor and atmosphere in Ginza: Bar Zikkai (pictured) and the Iron Fairies (Zikkai also opens as a cafe in the afternoon, Iron Fairies is strictly an evening bar). They're both near the Vampire Cafe which makes for a fun night out. Zikkai is pretty popular and small so you might need reservations.

Artism.jp has listings for upcoming events including their artism market, which is great for both people-watching and shopping from small indie brands. Design Festa is another fun event, not goth-lolita specific but a lot of the indie brands will vend there.

Get a pocket wifi or sim card; navigating without GPS is a nightmare and having internet will allow you to use Google Translate, which can help with both reading signs / menus and asking staff for help.

>>10060000
I went to a cat cafe right next to the big Edo Museum in toyko. It wasnt actually a cafe, it was just a huge room seperated into a few different areas and it was surprisingly nice. The cats seemed relaxed and happy and had closed off rooms of their own if they didnt feel like dealing with people. Plus all the cats were rescued, sometimes scarred strays and seeing them in warm, caring hands was one of the most wholesome things I witnessed in Japan. You could tell the cats loved the workers/caretakers. And if I remember correctly all the cats were up for adoption too.

I can also recommend Bunny island. It took us a good two to three hours to get there but the island is tropical and has a beach even and everywhere you look theres just buns. You can walk around the whole Island in about 2 hours and its totally worth it. The only vehicle on the whole island is a super slow bus that constantly beeps to not scare or run over the buns. 10/10 wholesome and sweet experience

>>10060289
>the staff is usually busy, especially at the Harajuku store
They're just assholes, anon. Harajuku CC needs to fire all of their current staff and hire people who don't roll their eyes at you when you approach the register or just point at their caculator when they punch in the amount you owe. Their favorite thing to say when you ask them a question is "I don't know." even if you asked in Japanese. They treat local and frequent customers like shit too

>>10060550
Please don't take this anons advice. Summer gets well over 30C and is humid af from July to early September. If you have to wear lolita, bring skirts and chiffon items

>>10065194
>hot and humid weather
>wear chiffon
Yikes, no. Poly chiffon doesn't breathe, cotton is infinitely better, especially if it's not lined.

>>10060681
>>10061307
Does anyone happen to have the scans of this booklet?

>>10060000
I can recommend Kotori Cafe. It’s bird cafe with small parakeets. Birds seem happy and you can watch them playing in their own area. I was actually positively suprised and I know what I’m talking about: I have had parrots last ten years and my standards are pretty high what comes bird-keeping.
AVOID OWL CAFES!! They are pure torture. Honestly I started crying when I saw poor lil owl in Akihabara, drugged up in neon lights. Oh shit now I’m crying again.

https://www.tripadvisor.fi/Restaurant_Review-g1066451-d9937101-Reviews-Kotori_Cafe_Omotesando-Minato_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

>>10060272
June is rainy season, my friend.

I can recommend:

* Swallowtail: food is delicious and the decor is pretty nice. If you only speak English you'll likely miss some of the conversation, but the staff is super patient (well, duh) - when I went, the head butler acted as my waiter because no one else spoke English well enough. It was pretty cool! If you don't want to do the whole dance, just go to the dessert shop they have across the street.

* Ikebukuro: Much better than Akiba if you're into female targeted fandoms. Has animate, mandarake, etc.

* Pablo mini: Great cheesecake!

* Disney sea/tokyo disney: Pretty much the standard disney affair, but in japaaan.

* Tokyo National Museum: I'm a history buff so I had a blast here, the place is huge. It's also by Ueno, so you can check out the park too.

Does anyone know anything about "select shop tenten"? In twitter they post about a lot of different indie accessory and clothing brands that could suit fairy-kei or other cute jfash styles

>>10065602
Tokyo Disney stuff: if you only have time to do one, pick Disney Sea: it's mostly new rides & areas that don't exist at any other park. Tokyo Disneyland is basically a smaller version of the one in Florida and has a lot of overlapping rides & attractions. Magellan's is good if you want to splurge on a nice sit-down meal at DisneySea.

>>10065206
I can take a few, but honestly, it's pretty hard to take scans of it because of the binding and some pages have tiny pics - like GLB level, well because the author was the GLB editor.

Anything specific you're looking for?

Shopping aside, I haven’t been to Japan in a few years. What’s the cosplay scene like outside of events at the moment?

Are people still converging Yoyogi? Akiba?

>>10064769
Different anon, do you still have the address of Maiden Clothing? The one on Google seems to be wrong and I could only find the Osaka shop on their website.

>>10069642
pretty much non existant, people stopped cosplaying in akiba after the incident in 2008. i don't know about yoyogi though, i think amateur idols practice there sometimes.

Since this seems to have become the general thread for Japan questions, has anyone ever been to a doujinshi event other than Comiket? Thinking of trying to coincide my trip to Osaka with Comic City.

Dont know if this has been talked abt yet but you should definitely look into renting a portable wifi router for your trip, its cheap and fast. I used pupuru wifi for a 10 day trip and it was about 70 usd for 10 gigs.

They had it ready for me at narita and i just stuck it in a post office box on my way out, super easy!

>>10072656
I was preparing to cosplay at a Digimon doujinshi event in Odaiba but they just announced no cosplay is allowed this year due to expected crowds. It seems like the usual procedure was to have a separate admission/registration for cosplayers at the entrance and certain designated photo and dressing areas.

Sorry this wasn't helpful, I just wanted to cry about it somewhere. If you search for your event tag on for past years social media you might be able to find cosplayers who went and what their experience was like.

>>10065248
Didn’t stop it from getting up to 90 degrees with 80% humidity last June though, which feels like 113 degree heat

>>10070795
There are cosplay events pretty often. Most have moved to Ikebukuro. Even if there’s not an event you might see cosplayers hanging out there on Sundays.

>>10065248
Japan and Charleston South Carolina (Tokyo and Kanto tbf) have the same climate so its a general nice comparison, its hot AND wet!

>>10070687
If you plug "7 Chome-16-14 Nishishinjuku" into Google Maps, that should work.

Otherwise, from the Closet Child Shinjuku location, walk north along the main street for four blocks, until there's a Softbank on your left. Turn left just past the bank, walk one short block to this building, entrance to the Maiden Clothing/Pure Sound shop is in the same building just past the dentist, on the third floor (I think). I haven't been since last January, so there's a chance it closed? idk might need a Tokyo anon to confirm. This is an older Google Maps view of the building, red arrow points to entrance.

>>10074141
We stumbled across a couple of group cosplay shoots happening at the East Ikebukuro Central Park, which is right next to Sunshine City and basically across the street from the Animate store with the Haco Cosplay photo studio. The store seemed to have some community event listings so that might be a good place to check for postings of smaller cosplay events.

As a south Texan, is Japanese heat and humidity really that bad? Is it worse than here?

Oh shit, I just found out that my trip will coincide with both the current emperor abdicating (30/4) and the new emperor ascending the throne (1/5.)

Any tips on how to enjoy this? Not that anything like it has happened before in the modern era (or ever?), but I presume it will be televised. If so, where should one find a TV and good company to watch it?

Sort of related, but does anyone have tips for travelling with Lolita? I'm not sure how to bring a petticoat without taking up too much suitcase space and weight. I would bring my hoop skirt but I'm worried about being a nuisance in crowds. Any suggestions for travel friendly petticoats or ways to compress pettis would be appreciated!

Have any of you been to Seraphim, Abilletage or miho matsuda's store?

>>10075411
Wear it on the flight

>>10075411
Just me as a cosplay person but I put mine in space saver bags and remove the air. For smaller things ziplock bags work well too.

>>10065206
It's not a booklet, it's a book with over 100 pages. Only 1 page is outdated, the rest is perfect for lolitas visiting Tokyo.

>>10075418
Seconding space saver bags. Assuming that you're shopping for lolita, you'll definitely want to visit Daiso and get some there. It'll make your luggage heavy, but you can fit more things.

Rolling your clothes and using travel cubes were helpful to me as well.

>>10060171
THANK YOU! I follow a lot of Japan interest pages on Facebook, and when they mention Zao Fox Village I post this information too. I went there in 2016 and I stood there in shock, it was the worst place I had been to in Japan. All the videos on YouTube never mention the first torture area, foxes in tiny cages with horrible signs "Fox for petting only". When I went there it was in the middle of summer, some of them looked so parched.

Not to mention the gift shop, that sells gifts with FOX FUR. I hated that place so much, we left within minutes of arrival.

How much money did you guys budget for? Where did you go and how long did you stay? I was thinking of going to Tokyo for about two weeks, maybe in September or October.

>>10075414
Yes

>>10074640
Thanks anon, you're a doll! I'm close enough that I can just go and check myself.

>>10075411
Roll clothes, stuff shoes with socks and underwear, wear your petti on the flight or put it in a bag and vacuum the air out.

>>10075509
Depends on what you wanna do. Are you interested in fashion, video games, museums or temples, food, etc? Depending on what you want to do, your trip could be cheaper or more expensive than mine. I went for 3 weeks in May 2016, and I spent a grand total of $4,500 CAD. This included my flights, hotels/hostels, JR Pass and local train tickets, pocket wifi, food, activities, all the lolita I bought at Closet Child, and so on. I also traveled to about 7 different cities during those 3 weeks. Some were day trips, a few were one or several night stays. I went crazy since I didn't know when I'd be back lol

October/November is their off season I believe, so depending where you're flying from you can find cheap flights. If you want more deets about my trip let me know.

>>10060464
honestly i found most cat cafes over rated (though i still heard good things about stray cats/places that offer them for adoption). The pure bred ones have no interest in people or the treats everyone gets and most seem to just be waitign to go back in their little cage and be left alone.

I heard the hedge hog cafe is cute and worth it though. I havent been.

>>10075509
all the money you have.. get all the onaholes you can get

>>10074723
not much of a help but maybe for someone else.
I find the heat in Illinois and New Jersey much worse than summers in Japan.

However its the rain and heat combo that make it terrible. Though where i live we also have humid rain and heat in the summer, so if youre not use to it i could imagine its bad.

>>10075411

I stuffed mine in a ziploc bag and it takes up less space that way if you don't have those vacuum bags. Weight is no issue as pettis are made of clouds and fairies (I joke, but pettis don't weigh much at all). Finally, if you're bringing a check in, I brought 4-5 outfits and still had room for all my lolita crap coming back.

>>10076199
I would love to hear more, which cities did you go to? Did you feel rushed traveling to 7 cities in 3 weeks?

>>10077338
My cousin and I went to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Osaka, Himeji, Nara, Kamaura, Hakone, and Tokyo. Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo we stayed in for 4 days, 5, and 7 days respectively. Hiroshima and Hakone were 1 night stays, Nara was either 1 or 2 nights, and the rest were day trips.

There were definitely things I missed, but I don't remember feeling too rushed? I've traveled a lot with my cousin before and we both did our research. We went in with a plan of "must see" things and brought a travel guidebook. We didn't put ourselves on a strict schedule though so we could leave ourselves open to stumbling upon things too. Depending on what you wanna see, a day trip or a one night stay in Nara is enough I think. (Nara basically closes down at 6:00 pm which made things interesting, wish I had known lol) They had other beautiful temples besides the deer park, and a Buddhist Art Museum. We also LOVE amusement parks so it was a must for us to spend a day at Tokyo Sea. And the day trips were a great way to see major tourist attractions during the day, like the giant Buddha in Kamakura and Himeji Castle, and then still having time in the evening for other things.

I think the only time I really remember being rushed is trying to catch trains towards the end of my trip, especially trying to get to the airport, because I had bought so much and it was becoming difficult to lug around, haha.

Also, by fluke I got to go back for 2 weeks in November 2017 (Nagoya for work, and Tokyo for fun), I can also drop an email if anyone wants even more detailed information about either trip.

>>10075417
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>>10077179
Thanks for all the tips anons! I'm definitely going to invest in some space saver bags and start rolling my normal clothes.

Pocket wifi is key

Train stations are overwhelming. Know in advance the line or exit you're looking for and try to follow the signs. Rail pass is easy to use

>>10078320
There's an app called Moovit that's very useful for public transport lines and schedules! I haven't been to Japan yet but I guess it's available there,at least for Tokyo

>>10078320
I found a data-sim (b-mobile last time I was there) to be cheaper than pocket-wifi. But I guess that depends on how long you are traveling and how much data you use.