Kayane’s Japan Blog Part 1: Discovering Tokyo | Mad Catz

By Kayane August 22, 2012 at 6:00 am

I was qualified for TOUGEKI: The Super Battle Opera 2012 (SBO) in US at Super Arcade tournament, so my dream to go in Japan came true and I was very happy to fulfill this dream. I would like to truly thank all the people who donated to help me get there, I will never forget. I have been very touched, thank you!

My trip was amazing and I have so many things to tell. My blogs will be divided in three parts: My experience as a visitor discovering Tokyo, the gaming experience, and finally, my meetings and interviews with fighting game personalities.

DISCOVERING TOKYO

I arrived in Japan at 5am and was very surprised to see so many people on the subway even at 6AM it’s busy! I was very surprised to see on the subway so many anime, dramas, video games advertisement. So it’s actually really common to see in the train, some ads for Naruto, Evangelion, etc., this is really a big part of the Japanese culture, I think this is so cool!! Also, the streets are so clean, it’s a nice feeling!

It’s common to see women with umbrella to hide the sun or having clothes who hide their skin even if it’s very hot, because a beauty trait there is to have a white skin. Well, my skin got so tan in summer lol, so they can definitely know I am a foreigner

SHIBUYA

This part of Tokyo is the fashion quarter, you can see a lot of different kind of people out there wearing all styles of clothes. Most of the Japanese women in this quarter have blond dye hair, eye lenses and fake eye lashes. (sometimes doll eye lashes style, it is really ugly lol)

I met Gamerbee (Taiwanese fighting game player and EVO2012 Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012 2nd place) and his friend at Shibuya.

We went to the famous fashion store called “109“, there are around 10 floors, full of different stores for clothes and accessories! There is one store for men and another one for women. I was surprised to see so many different styles of shops. For example for women, they have shops with unique style like British style, Gothic Lolita, Kawaii Doll, Casual, and Classy. But the prices are so expensive, and moreover the Yen is quite strong now.

Also, something amazing I observed is that Japanese people don’t steal. I’ve heard about it from friends who lost some objects and found it exactly at the same place they lost it. Well, i have lost my Reflex camera which is very expensive, I forgot it in a shop and a customer found it and gave it to the Lost & Found. I was so afraid I would never find it, but I had some hope since my friends told me that if Japanese people find something, they will give it to the Lost & Found, even if it’s very expensive!

SHINJUKU

This part of Tokyo is famous for parties, clubs, restaurants and game centers. This is the place to go when you want to have fun and hang out with friends! We went to a Game Center where the best Street Fighter players go. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is also very popular, but Gundam is the most popular.

I bought a Player Card, so that people can see my name and points when I played. But, one card = one character. So I registered my card with Chun-Li, and if I want to change characters I need to buy another card and register someone else. One Player Card is not too expensive, it’s around 500 yen ($5).

The level of play at the game centers is high, and some very strong players go there to train, especially in Taito Station. This is where foreign players like Justin Wong, Dieminion, Gamerbee, PR Balrog, Ryan Hart go to play against the best.

If I was living in Japan, I would go to Shinjuku everyday! You can improve so much and so fast *__* !!

AKIHABARA

SOULCALIBUR V producer Daishi Odashima and Game designer Utoh both took a day off to see me and visit Tokyo with me. I know how hard it can be to take day off in Japan, so I really thank them for the time they spent with me !

First, we went to Akihabara for lunch and visit. Every shop we visited were full of many different games, manga, anime, and goodies. It’s amazing. Then we saw a Gundam Coffee shop, so we went to have a drink. The menu was funny, with a meal in the Gundam look!

IMPERIAL PALACE

After Akihabara, we went to Imperial Palace and this is very beautiful. We couldn’t go too close because of security, but even the area around it is so pretty!

HARAJUKU

We went to Harajuku, which is close to Shibuya and Shinjuku. Harajuku looked similar to Shibuya to me, many clothes shops there, and much cheaper. It was also very crowded!

I couldn’t visit more since I had to play with the Japanese players, but that is the subject of my next blog article: My experience against the Japanese Players and SBO