
Time for craaaaazy Tokyo! Ofcourse Tokyo is the place to be to experience some weird crazy stuff, it is closest to the image of Japan most Westerners have, and sometimes I think in Tokyo they tend to exaggerate some of the craziness because they know tourists love that. So the crazy things we experienced were usually crowded with foreigners, and not so much a Japanese thing. Didn’t make it less crazy though!
Sooooo let’s kick off with….. the Kanamara Penis Festival!!! Yes! A whole festival dedicated to penises. The original shrine is pretty old, but the festival that started in 1969 became more of a tourist attraction, the ceremony is even in English :-p. Originally the penis shrine was mostly visited by prostitutes, to pray for good health. Now, once a year, people gather around the shrine to dance with penises and eat penis lollies. Yes.
Anyway :-p It sure was a unique experience! But I have to say that the thousands of foreigners there and English explanations made it more of a show than an actual genuine festival. Didn’t make it less funny though hahaha.
So on to crazy thing number 2: Capsule hotels! As you might know, Japan is overly crowded, Tokyo even more so than where we live, and there simply isn’t that much rooms for hotels. But instead of having dorms with bunkbeds, in Japan they got the idea to make each bed into a tiny little room. That means dormitory prices, but hotel privacy! I have to say, I did like my little pod. It was very luxurious with television and all. I could barely fit though, a taller person than me would have his feet stick out of the curtain haha.
The view from the hotel was also awesome, really cyberpunk feeling :-) I did not sleep well though, since it does feel a bit like a coffin and is a bit claustrophobic…
Crazy thing number 3: The famous Robot Restaurant!!! I’m not sure what the story is behind this show, but it sure is crazy. Ofcourse, zero Japanese visitors, only foreigners, but even though it is entertainment for tourists, it is pretty unique I think :-) Basically, it is a 2 hour show of robots, girls and lasers. Completely crazy and over the top. We really had to just let go and let it happen :-p
Dancing robots!
Laserbeams!
Robot fire creatures!!
That battle with girls with guns!!
Who then get eaten!!
Crazy!!
CRAZY!!
CRAAAZZYYYYY!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Ok yeah that was definitely a uniquely weird experience :-p There were people in the audience who could not handle it and left halfway hahahaha. We too were exhausted after this sensory overload :-p So we retreated to our hotelroom in the middle of the Shinjuku party district, named “Egg Benedict Cumberbatch”. Yes. Crazy Tokyo.