From academic to teddy bears, all in the same day.

Last weekend, I went to Tokyo proper, to go visit a few old haunts and as an excuse to get out of Ebina. First up was Sophia University. On the severely small chance that you don't already know, I studied abroad there for a semester. It's apparently a very good college, to the point where Americans on base act impressed that I went there. It's like going to Tokyo U., but for people who want to know languages; it's also frequented by children of the Yakuza, making it very safe to attend. Popular reactions to hearing that's where I went have been "honto ne?" [really], and "Sugoi!" [wowgood], although "...damn, you're smart," was definitely the most amusing. What they don't know is that it was the only Japanese school my college had a program with, since we were required to go to Jesuit colleges, and I didn't even take an entrance exam. So what you should know right now is that this school is a magnet for ridiculously smart Japanese people, and a ton of foreigners (like 100...wow). Being there was a bit like going back to your undergrad place 3 years later... everything's familiar but you recognize no one. I saw one guy I could have sworn was the Norweigan guy from my religion class, but then I heard him speaking Russian. Not so much him, no. The foreign component must be growing; during the hour-ish I was there, I head people speaking German, Spanish, Russian, American English, British English, Australian English, Japanese (duh), Chinese, and something that was not Russian but was also Eastern European. I also saw a gaggle of nuns heading into the library and watched two professors debate their ideas over ice cream, outside. It was maybe 40 degrees. I got there just in time for lunch rush, and since I was not going to wait in those lines to deal with than amount of people, I ate combini yakisoba. It was like old days, me being lazy. I may not have loved all the classes and the school itself at the time, nor do I now, but you have to admit that it is pretty. And, man, I still love that cheap, poorly-made yakisoba.
Rufus decided to see what the course electives and programs offered are. Since it's almost spring, people are preparing for graduation, and newcomers are looking for what classes they will take or what programs they may want to enter. Because of this, there was a shop downstairs selling the graduation kimono. Girls, by the way, wear pink over darker pink. I have no idea what boys wear since it wasn't displayed. Unless they wear pink...
The main gate, which hardly anyone uses since it's on a side street. Yeah.
The view from the side gate's entrance way. I do not miss running down this pathway to get to my morning class on the opposite side of the campus; not at all. The second building on the left, by the way, is the library, while the one you can only just barely see in the back houses the largest cafeteria and some classrooms.
The path running alongside the sports field on a hill. By the way, that branch is low. Don't smack your head/neck. I had to duck pretty low to get by myself and I'm short even in Japan.

From there, I went to Harajuku. There are no pictures, since I spent my time drooling at Kiddyland, one of the best stores in existence. http://www.kiddyland.co.jp/en/ They now have a floor dedicated to Studio Ghibli, which if you know me, turned into a serious issue. That brings us to Rufus' new friend, the littlest Totoro, the big version.

Good god, is that store amazing. One day, when I am a millionaire librarian, I will go on a shopping spree there. It is five floors of cute. There is also a floor dedicated to Snoopy, and another where they play The Simpsons in Japanese, which is weird, by the way. I could literally talk about the store all day, but I'll spare you and just tell you that you NEED to go there if you ever get out to Tokyo, even if you don't like cute. It carries everything from Gegege no Kitaro to Gundam fighters to a four-foot-tall Totoro to Hello Kitty to earphones shaped like cars to The Very Hungry Caterpillar bento boxes to Moomintroll. So I went there. I was there long enough to necessitate leaving Harajuku so I could see the park while it was still light. So...on to Yoyogi Park.
I love that park. I love it more than I love Kiddyland. I may even love it more than I love melonpan. My hour there didn't do it justice. I will be back on a weekend when it is warmer and give the day to that park, where skateboarding businessmen hang out with Rockabillies, goth lolita, Rastafarians, and classical musicians. It's a place that has a shrine (of course), several ponds, a museum, and is a forest in the middle of Tokyo. Think Central Park, but not as scary and much, much cleaner with far more trees. Also sacred, because, the park is literally on sacred ground. Here's the gate into the park from Harajuku. This is the side of the park with the shrine, by the way: They have a very large rack full of barrels of wine from around the world. This one is from France. The bottom sign in Katakana reads: "domenne kare."Ever wonder where Totoro got the idea of the giant sacred tree? These trees are tiny, compared to some.
From the shrine into the park. The shrine gates, followed by tori gates. Those doors, by the way, are about half a foot thick.
Sadly, it was getting dark and, you're welcome mom, I decided to leave before that happened. So, I headed out, being cheap and deciding to leave by way of Yogogi-Uehara instead of Harajuku since it's closer to where I live. It was a bit of a hike, but it's ok. I saw parts of the park I'd never visited before. On the way out, I passed the Tokyo Equestrian Club. That's where I saw this:I just had to take a picture. There is no way the sign-maker didn't know exactly where that came from. The rainbow font and trotting pony make this sign, in my opinion. I think I'll leave you to ponder that sign. Next time, I get around to the onsen, Sagamino, and a bird park I found by wandering around random neighborhoods.