Day 6 (Saturday): Ghibli Museum + Shinjuku

When I woke up this morning, it was the first time since I got to Tokyo where I actually got a good night's rest! So it took about 5 days for me to get over the time difference (compare that with the 2 weeks it took to readjust when I got back!) I was pretty excited because I had two things planned today that perhaps I had been looking forward to the most. That is going to the Ghibli Museum and having dinner at the New York Bar and Grill (the restaurant where they shot Lost in Translation). For those who don't know, the Ghibli is a museum dedicated to the work of Hayao Miyazaki, famed animator/film maker whose movies include My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and the Oscar winning Spirited Away. I like anime but have more of a passing interest than being an Otaku Comic-con costume wearing geek. Knowing that I was going to be visiting the Ghibli is what actually inspired me to finally watch some of Miyazaki's movies as I have to admit I hadn't seen any before. I've always wanted to but just never got around to it. To prepare for this museum I watched the 3 movies above. I fell in love instantly with the magic and imagination of Miyazaki. Spirited Away is such a beautiful movie filled with wonderful characters and creatures. The closest memories I have that would compare with watching a Miyazaki movie are the memories I had as a child when I first saw movies like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. The museum is only opened to a set number of local visitors per day but is more freely opened for foreigners. As a foreigner however, you have to buy a ticket beforehand in your own country (through Japanese travel agency JTB) and take it with you. I purchased my ticket a month before from the JTB located in Toronto. The price of the ticket is $10CAN but the service charge is $25! All you have to do is call them and tell them which day you plan to visit and give them your credit card. They will send you a paper ticket which you trade in for a real ticket once you get to the actual museum.

I walked to Ginza station and took a short train ride to Tokyo Station. Compared to the frenzy that I encountered during the weekday mornings, the subways were subdued.

From there I waited for the Rapid Express train (which is faster because it doesn't stop at every single station) on the JR Chuo Line that would take me to Mitaka Station. I asked a lady first in Japanese if this would take me to Mitaka. I usually tried to ask someone even though I knew just so that I could practice my Japanese. Once I got to Mitaka Station, I followed the signs to get to the Ghibli Museum bus stop located down on street level. There I found a vending machine that sold tickets to get on board. The machine had signage in English as well as Japanese so I didn't have too much difficulty figuring it out and buying the correct ticket (you can buy a one way ticket or a roundtrip ticket). There was also a bus attendant standing around. The actual bus stop sign was Ghibli themed which made the anticipation that much greater.

When the bus arrived, I was a little disappointed that it was a plain looking bus. The pictures I had seen on the internet of the bus had a Ghibli themed paint job. I was also under the impression that the bus went directly to and from the museum. It turns out that it's just a regular Mitaka public transit bus that passes by the museum along its route.

When I got to the museum, the exterior kind of reminded me of the buildings and houses on Tatooine. It was all rounded and absent of sharp corners and looked as if it were hand shaped out of clay. I entered the building and dug around for my paper ticket.

I turned it in and received my real official ticket to the museum which turned out to a framed film cell from a Miyazaki film reel.

I thought the frame I got was from Totoro but I can't find that part in the movie so it must be from something else (someone please let me know!). The museum is a blend of fantasy and real world. On the one hand, the architecture and interior of the museum is designed to make you feel as if you've actually stepped into a Miyazaki film. They really paid close attention to detail and everything in the museum (even the bathroom) has been touched by Miyazaki's imagination. So the building itself is like its own museum or tribute to his work. On the other hand, like any conventional museum there are exhibits on display showcasing Miyazaki's work through pictures, statograms, toys, etc. The Museum has a small theatre that plays Miyazaki shorts about every hour or so. You are only allowed to watch one per visit and it could be different from one show to the next. The one I got to see was called "Kujiratori" (The Whale Hunt) and it really made me feel like a 5 year old kid again. I just sat there mesmerized and in awe like I was watching a movie in a theatre for the first time. The story was about a kid and his friends in class imagining they are at sea. They catch this really jolly whale who laughs a lot and surprisingly he isn't all that pissed that he just got his ass harpooned. They then get caught up in a storm but the whale ends up saving their butts. As a reward, the kids let the whale go but not before giving him a crown made of flowers. It was so simple yet so engaging displaying that it's the imagination rather than the complexity of the animation that's important.

The museum is made of several floors. The 1^st floor is more like your conventional museum where they have items on display and the theatre. The 2^nd floor however is setup like an actual lived in space. As you walk through the 2^nd floor, it's kind of like your attending an open house of Miyazaki's childhood home going from bedroom to bedroom. The rooms are made to look like they are lived in with a bed, tables scattered with drawings and various sketches and early works in progress that eventually became the movies that they are today. Along the way there are screenplays of his movies laid out that you can flip through also. One of the rooms is a life-sized recreation of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears eating at a table. Perhaps my favourite thing I saw was this massive plus cat bus from My Neighbour Totoro which little kids could crawl around and jump on. Imagine a ¼ life size plush cat bus! Unfortunately this was only open to really little kids. I really had to hold myself back from jumping right into the mix and displacing all of the kids. It just looked like so much fun. I made my way outside and up to the roof top garden of the building through a very, very narrow and winding staircase. The roof isn't very large and the main attraction is the view and the large Laputo statue.

I recall reading that the rooftop was designed by Miyazaki's son. I made my way back down as I had pretty much finished my tour of the museum and all that was left was the gift shop. You could really get carried away in the gift shop. It sells everything you could imagine from plush toys, glass sculptures, art work, trinkets, clothes, you name it. I bought a Totoro glass sculpture for my desk. I spent quite awhile in there pondering all the things I could buy. Looking back, I wish I had bought more stuff, like little plush soot gremlins. One of the things I noticed when you buy anything in Tokyo is that they use so much packaging. Whenever you buy something, it is customary to get 2 layers of packaging. First they will put your item in a pre-bag or wrap and tape that shut. They will then put that in another bag and tape the top closed. I found that nothing ever goes straight into the bag. I noticed I got the same treatment when I went to buy some underwear at the department store earlier in the week.

The ground floor has a restaurant/cafe area so I went down to grab some lunch. There was an indoor area and an outdoor tent area with a food window. The indoor area cafe where they served some cool items was unfortunately closed due to capacity so I had to settle for the outdoor window. I bought a hotdog and juice and the hotdog was just like the one I bought earlier in the week: a long breakfast sausage in a hotdog bun. Miyazaki inspired faucets in the eating area:

To sum up my experience of the Ghibli, perhaps because I had not seen all of Miyazaki's movies and was only recognizing items from the 3 movies I did see, I found the museum to be a tad bit short. I felt like I had gone through it pretty quickly. The more knowledgeable about Miyazaki you are going in to the museum, the more things are probably going to catch your eye. If I were to visit Tokyo again, I would most likely revisit this museum again also but after having seen more of Miyazaki's films. It's definitely geared towards kids and fans. If you're not a Miyazaki fan, I wouldn't bother. As usual, pictures are not allowed inside the museum. If you want to see what it is like though, there is a terrific 14 minute video tour which you can find here.

I was going to walk through Kichijoji/Inokashira Park and then walk back to Mitaka station to get a feel for the suburbs but the grass at the park was all dried and brown and anytime I could spare my feet, I was going to take the opportunity. The bus stop back is right outside of the museum and there is an attendant there in uniform ensuring people get on and off the bus as efficiently and orderly as possible. When the bus came, to my delight it was the Ghibli themed bus, yah!

The bus was pretty packed going back to the Station.

I got back to my hotel early in the afternoon but that was OK because it gave me a chance to rest my feet before venturing out for dinner later in the evening. I contemplated if I should take a nap or not as I didn't want to snooze and wake up late in the evening. I ended up throwing off my clothes and changing into my sleep wear to lie for a while under the covers.

I packed some dress clothes (shirts, pants, tie) just in case I felt like dressing up or if the occasion fit. After my brief nap of sorts, I popped in the shower, and put on my black shirt and pink tie and headed out for my reservation at the Park Hyatt Hotel but not before stopping off at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office to take in the sights of Tokyo from high up above at night from the observatory. The walk from Shinjuku station to the Government Office seemed to take forever. Most of it was all underground or pseudo underground but it was starting to become a chilly and very windy night. I followed the signs to the Government Office. The subway stations are amazing in that there are bright yellow direction signs in English to all the nearby tourist attractions. I finally got to my destination as the sun was setting. My feet and legs were pretty exhausted at this point. The Government Office is actually made up of 2 towers and depending on when you go, one of the observatories might be closed. When I got inside the tower, there was a tourism center that sold souvenirs and had all kinds of info on the different areas in Tokyo and on Tours available. Beyond that were the elevators to the observatory but unfortunately, they were not letting anybody up at this time due to the strong wind conditions. They weren't sure when they were going to allow people up and the only thing that I could do was wait and hope that they would. Others who came were also rejected and started to loiter around the fountain in the lobby of the building. I sat beside this little girl who was reading some manga. It was neat to see people of all ages reading manga, including grownups on the subway.
I started getting hungry so I walked back to the tourism center to see if they had any snacks to eat. The only food they sold were those intended for gifts that came in boxes. A couple who was also waiting around emerged with a hot chocolate in hand. I approached them and asked in Japanese if they spoke English and they replied "Sorry, I don't speak Japanese". That's when I asked them in English where they got that from. They said they got it around the corner inside the building. I asked if it was a vending machine or an actual coffee shop hoping that I could get a bite but alas it was a vending machine. I figure it was better than nothing so I went and got a hot chocolate from the machine. It reminded me of getting hot chocolate from the machine at ice rinks. I was constantly checking my watch as I had a reservation at 6 and really wanted to check the observatory before dinner. Thankfully, the all clear came down from the top and they started a line up to shuttle folks up to the observatory. It was really cool being able to see Tokyo at night looking down at all the building and all those lights. I noticed that all the buildings had these red blinking lights on their rooftops (something I noticed when watching Lost in Translation also). There was still a very small sign of the sun in the distance where I could see the silhouette of Mt.Fuji but it was pretty much night fall.

I recognized the Park Hyatt Hotel as it looks like 3 buildings stuck together.

As busy as Tokyo seems at street level, the city looked relatively calm from up top. The centerpiece within the observatory is a decent gift shop (what a surprise!) and a restaurant. The interior of the observatory was a little too bright and I wish it was dimmer to enhance all the bright lights outside and down below. It made it harder to take pictures. Tip: if you want to take pictures here, place your camera so that it is touching the glass and turn your flash off obviously. It was time to head on over to the New York Bar and Grill now.

I guess I should explain that Lost in Translation is one of my favourite movies. I saw it in the theatres and at the time I considered it a great film but it wasn't instantly in my top 5 or anything like that. The movie had a lasting effect on me however and over time I had the urge to watch it repeatedly. It wasn't until I had seen it multiple times did it become one of my favourite movies of all time. I guess you can say it was this movie that really inspired me to seriously think about and eventually take the trip to Tokyo.

It was cold and windy when I left the Government Office and the streets were empty and the only thing I could think of was getting to my destination as soon as possible. It wasn't too long of a walk to the Park Hyatt. I entered the Park Hyatt Hotel from an entrance that looked nothing like a hotel but more like an office building or complex. I knew the restaurant was on the 52^nd floor and expected to see signs pointing me on where to go but to my dismay I couldn't find any. I was getting a little antsy not being able to find the place and walking around in circles in the building lobby. I went to the various elevators and could not find any that looked like it would go to the 52^nd floor. Finally, I gave up and asked a security guard for help to the restaurant. He said I had to walk up to the 2nd floor through the confectionary and alcohol shop. Once on the 2nd floor, I had to take an elevator to 41^st floor and from there take another elevator to the 52^nd floor. No wonder I couldn't find it! (I think this is because the hotel doesn't occupy the entire building and it starts mid-way up). As I walked through the confectionary/alcohol shop, you could tell by the displays that they were selling some pretty expensive stuff. When I got to the first elevator, there was a couple with a hotel concierge and they had a coat rack full of bags from the store hanging off it every which way. I kept thinking about how much they must have just spent at the store. I got off at the 41st floor and you basically have to walk across the entire floor to get to another set of elevators that will take you to the 52^nd floor. I guess that's why it looks like 3 separate buildings all joined together from the outside. Along the way, I passed a restaurant that looked really nice, open and loungy. I could only imagine from the decor what it would be like to actually be staying in the hotel. $$$. Perhaps when I'm a millionaire someday, I'll be able to book a room. Once I got on the 2^nd elevator, the 52^nd floor was marked as the New York Bar and Grill. I was expecting to be greeted by a floor containing a restaurant but it turns out that the floor is the restaurant. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I was greeted immediately by the reception who spoke English and confirmed my reservation. They took my coat and led me around the corner and into the actual restaurant as it's not visible at all once you get off the elevators. The restaurant is very dimly lit and I was led to my seat which was a counter seat right in front of the open kitchen. To my left was a window so that I could look out at Tokyo at night.

I was actually disappointed at first that I couldn't get a seat located deeper within the restaurant itself but it turns out I actually liked my seat a lot as I could see the chefs at work. The main chefs were all gaijins (foreigners). My waiter spoke very good English but with a Japanese accent. I looked around and everyone was very well dressed. They were several couples where the man was wearing a nice suit and the woman wearing a kimono. I don't think there was a strict dress code as a patron who sat several seats down the counter who I could tell was staying at the hotel came dressed in a long t-shirt and jeans. If you want to take someone special somewhere nice, this would be the place. My area at the open kitchen was bright but the rest of the restaurant really gives off the mood of a dark and quiet intimacy.

I looked at the menu and asked what they recommended for a drink but before he could really answer, I chose the LIT.

They use to have a drink called the Charlotte (named after Scarlett Johansson's character) but I couldn't find it on the menu anymore. It was delish. I first went straight to the entrees to see what to get for dinner. I ended up ordering the 4 course meal called Central Park. It consisted of a creamy soup to start, sashimi (for the life of me I can't recall the fish...it was white but I don't think it was tuna, help anyone?!), then a steak on a bed of spinach and ended with a dessert. I have never tasted a steak so tender in my entire life and it practically melted in my mouth. I wish I could recall more details about the food but I think my taste buds were overloading my brain. I felt like staying for a little while longer so I ordered another drink after my meal called Orange County. I was so full by the end I could barely move. I asked where I could find the restroom and was escorted to the other side of the restaurant. The restaurant was full of people enjoying their meals in the dim lights with the backdrop of Tokyo behind them. As I approached the restroom, that's when I saw where the jazz band plays. There was a band with a female singer at the time but it wasn't Sausalito. Although the restaurant is large, the movie made it seem roomier. I kept imagining that Sophia Coppola must had had her back to the wall with the camera in order to get those wide shots of the band. Paying the bill was more like the traditional Western style where they present you with a bill and take your money and bring back your change as oppose to you taking the bill to the cashiers to pay. I paid by major credit card which they accepted and they returned with a copy of my bill in a nice envelope. I asked the waiter if he could take a picture and he said anything I wanted. I walked back to the entrance area and they had my coat ready. I really enjoyed this night and never thought that a restaurant was going to end up being the highlight of my trip. The restaurant was amazing, the atmosphere excellent, the service absolutely incredible and the food exquisite. It was all I expected and more. The meal was around $200 CAN but it was well worth it. If I ever visit Tokyo again, I would definitely make it a point to go.

I made my way down the elevator to the 41st floor and then across the floor to the 2nd elevator which took me down to the 2nd floor. Instead of going down the stairs through the confectionary/liquor shop, I exited the hotel through the 2nd floor exit which turned out to be the entrance of the hotel (where Bob and Charlotte meet during the fire alarm). As I walked out, there was a concierge outside signalling taxis to pull up for people leaving the hotel. I wasn't planning on taking a cab but as I got closer to her she approached and asked me in English if I wanted to and so I said sure. I took it to Shinjuku Station and then took the subway the rest of the way back to my hotel.