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Sep. 28th, 2023 05:39 amJapan trip is officially on, to the surprise of no one. The plane ticket was "only" a couple hundred more than what it cost in 2018. That's fine, I can handle that. It's been 5 years since I went. Hopefully that'll get offset by the currency exchange rate when I buy stuff in Japan. It's like this: In 2017/2018, a dollar was worth between 110 and 115 yen. Now it's closer to 150 yen. That's a big difference.
It's fun to see what others are doing when they go. It gives me ideas. When I went the first time, I had never heard of Nakano Broadway, and then some friends said "while you're there, you should go to Nakano" and I did and now it's a permanent fixture of future trips. Other ways of getting ideas is to open up Google Maps, zoom in on a specific area, and see if anything sticks out. I learned about Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku that way. (Too bad that closed.)
Anyway, the main impetus for me to go this time is M3, as mentioned before. Here's how getting into that works. Anyone who wants to go needs to buy a catalog. The catalog comes with a wristband, which is what gets me in. This catalog can be purchased ahead of time at finer doujinshi stores across Tokyo, or online, or at the event itself. I thought about buying the catalog as soon as it goes on sale (in a few days) and having it shipped here. Shipping on that will almost certainly cost as much as the catalog itself. That's a calculated expense as it gets me extra time to look over the catalog and figure out what I want to look for. Then I discovered that they also make the catalog available as a download. Since the admission value is in the wristband, I kind of get the best of both worlds: I can look ahead on a computer/phone, and then buy it at Melonbooks when I arrive. Confused? It's okay if you are. Luckily for me, I know people who have been to it before.
It's fun to see what others are doing when they go. It gives me ideas. When I went the first time, I had never heard of Nakano Broadway, and then some friends said "while you're there, you should go to Nakano" and I did and now it's a permanent fixture of future trips. Other ways of getting ideas is to open up Google Maps, zoom in on a specific area, and see if anything sticks out. I learned about Robot Restaurant in Shinjuku that way. (Too bad that closed.)
Anyway, the main impetus for me to go this time is M3, as mentioned before. Here's how getting into that works. Anyone who wants to go needs to buy a catalog. The catalog comes with a wristband, which is what gets me in. This catalog can be purchased ahead of time at finer doujinshi stores across Tokyo, or online, or at the event itself. I thought about buying the catalog as soon as it goes on sale (in a few days) and having it shipped here. Shipping on that will almost certainly cost as much as the catalog itself. That's a calculated expense as it gets me extra time to look over the catalog and figure out what I want to look for. Then I discovered that they also make the catalog available as a download. Since the admission value is in the wristband, I kind of get the best of both worlds: I can look ahead on a computer/phone, and then buy it at Melonbooks when I arrive. Confused? It's okay if you are. Luckily for me, I know people who have been to it before.
