Second Japanniversary!

Yesterday was my second Japanniversary! Wow! I can't believe it's been two years since I arrived in Tokyo. It feels like it was about last week. Have a look at some of the highlights of the past two years in Japan!

March 2009 - Arrived! Visited Kamakura and Yokohama for the first time.
April 2009 - Enjoyed cherry blossoms. Explored a lot in Tokyo and went to Takao-san for the first time.
May 2009 - Went to Nikko. Went to Kamakura for the second time. Went to Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa. Went to Tokyo Disneyland for the first time.
June 2009 - Did not enjoy my first rainy season.
July 2009 - Went to Yokohama twice and hiked at Takao-san.
August 2009 - More hiking at Takao-san, plus climbing Fuji-san. Went to a fireworks festival. Ate a lot of crepes, drank a lot of bubble tea.
September 2009 - Takao-san yet again. Went to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara for the first time.
October 2009 - Yes, Takao-san again. Most importantly, visited DisneySea for the first time.
November 2009 - Had a pizzafest at Shakey's for the first time. Experienced the shinkansen for the first time when I returned to Kyoto and Osaka.
December 2009 - Disneyland and DisneySea! Also, I saw Fuji-san for the first time from a distance. And early Christmas celebrations of fun!
January 2010 - Kamakura again. Homeless adventures in Nagano.
February 2010 - Delicious sushi and life-flashing-before-my-eyes terror at Tsukiji Fish Market.
March 2010 - First Japanniversary, celebrated with giant tuna head, anime festival, tea ceremony, and laquerware! Saw Shinichi Osawa for the first time.
April 2010 - Second sakura season! Returned to Yokohama.
May 2010 - Walked, like, all over Tokyo. And went to Disneyland!
June 2010 - DisneySea and Cirque du Soleil!
July 2010 - Disneyland! And trying to keep cool in the summer heat and humidity.
August 2010 - Best month ever? DisneySea (twice) and Disneyland. Tokyo Cousin Extravaganza (including two of those Disney visits, Yokohama, Kamakura, Nagano, and general Tokyo amazingness). Gorgeous beach day on Sarushima. First visit to Takao-san in nearly a year.
September 2010 - Zazen in Kamakura. And Disneyland!
October 2010 - Amazing birthday times with Chinese food, pancakes, DisneySea, cake, and a fashion week photoshoot.
November 2010 - DisneySea! Christmas at Ikspiari! Harry Potter!
December 2010 - Returned to Kansai to see Wicked and have super amazing times in Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto! Plus another early Christmas celebration of fantasticness.
January 2011 - Went to Matsumoto, which I'd been meaning to visit for more than a year. And went to Ueno Zoo for the first time.
February 2011 - Art, music, friends, and the Oedo line.
March 2011 - Second Japanniversary!

And enjoy a video about the Oedo line stations.

Japanniversary!

My one year Japanniversary was on Saturday, so I have been trying to have a super Japanese weekend. On Saturday night after work we went out for giant tuna head. I found the prospect of eating a giant tuna head a little worrying, and when they brought out a giant grilled tuna head, I was very worried because it looked scary, but eating it was fine! There were some really delicious bits. I even ate some eyeball jelly! It wasn't gross! I would rather eat tuna eye jelly than natto! After giant tuna, three of us went to karaoke for a couple hours.

Yesterday was massively Japanese. It started with a visit to the Nerima Animation Carnival. We went to the Toei Animation Studio gallery and then took a bus to another part of the festival where we watched people make mochi and then got to eat some mochi while it was still warm! Fresh mochi! Sugoi! And we got free amazake, yum. Then another bus to another venue where we watched an amaaaaazing live action Fresh PreCure show. It was life changing.

After the anime thing, we switched to traditional Japanese activities. We went to a garden/cultural center near my place for tea ceremony and lacquerware. The tea ceremony was really lovely and interesting, but it was so uncomfortable to kneel for so long! My legs were just painfully asleep. But I really enjoyed it anyway! I looooooved the lacquer. We decorated some sake cups; it took a long time, but I had fun!

Three of us went to an izakaya after because we wanted to have Japanese food for dinner. It was nice. And after that I met up with my friend and his co-worker in Shinjuku at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office observation tower - amazing view of Tokyo! - and after a lot of wandering around in underground passageways, we ended up doing some karaoke for an hour.

Today I plan to go to Omotesando and maybe Meiji Jingu before meeting up with friends in Shinjuku later. Will be maybe slightly less Intense Japanese Experience Explosion than the rest of the weekend has been, but it should still be good for the Japanniversary!

Enjoy some pictures of me eating fresh mochi, the place where we did tea and lacquer things, three of our cups (mine is the flowered one), some lovely cupcakes that were made for us, and a delicious salad that was part of our dinner. And enjoy 30 seconds of mochi-making (you can hear us talking, sorry).