Fujisan peeking above the clouds

i miss you peach water

for some reason there was this spidey guy near my dorm unit...

maybe it was fate..?

the riverbank I crossed on my walk to the station

the crosswalk I sometimes ran into my professor on

downtown hirakata

let's go check out that daiso!

needle felting is a fun hobby..!

let's check out that tsutaya bookstore now

paripi koumei was poppin at this time..

onimai !!

my first sunset in hirakata

takoyaki from osaka is so good. the pigeons also agree!

it blows my mind how much secondhand treasures are here. thrifting became my new passion

she was literally like $2!! such a steal.. I had to, she's so cute

so surreal.. yes we're in a village vanguard

"bartholomew"

can you see them?

checking out kawaramachi for the first time

strawberry matcha dorayaki

there's a round 1 here! let's go play for a bit

this was my first time seeing the printer for project diva arcade!

let's explore the jungle that is donquijote now

now we're off to kiddy land

this is lowkey the cutest melody ever..

Yasaka shrine.

I took a walk around to the park behind it, and there was a couple going at it in broad daylight on top of a hill

erm

some omikuji fortunes tied up to ward off bad luck

let's take a night visit to fushimi inari taisha now

It was so nice that there were barely any people at this time. It was both peaceful and a little spooky at the same time.

there's a little cryptid in the bottom left

a few more little cryptids

I think I'll forever regret not playing this gachapon

today, we're going to Nipponbashi. It's a recommended stop for otaku in Osaka!

this is the interior of a k-books, which is another secondhand otaku goods store

these hololive goods are signed by the members!

we're going to take a peek in this animate - a popular chain that sells anime goods!

the outside of a super potato - a retro games store

napo napo napolitan!

kakigori at a summer fireworks festival!

yakisoba. it tasted a little sweaty

ichigo ame

it was super crowded and very hot at this matsuri

I had to find a spot to sit down in the grass/dirt, and tried to avoid the large bugs that wanted my snacks..

it's a hibiscus

a rainy day in ninenzaka and sannenzaka

kyoto's ancient streets

below are a few pics from a day trip to Nara, the city with a lot of roaming deer

I visited Nara before the Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan anime was released. I wonder if the park became more busy after that trend started..?

There were a lot of schools taking trips to Nara on the day I went. I specifically remember one student that ran into me at top speed, because I guess he was excited about the deer and didn't see me.

I remember buying this ice cream cone from an older woman working in the park.

That night, I went to a fireworks festival in Hirakata. Most of my experience was trying to navigate through this massive crowd.

I fear it was the most congested I had ever felt; all of our bodies were forcibly squished together.

I ended up having to watch the fireworks mid-walk home, but it was still a great view, honestly.

I walked over 10 miles that day.

The next day, a typhoon hit.

This place (Pomme no Ki) is supposed to have pretty good omurice.

It was satisfying, but I usually liked the runny omurice with demi-glace on top from a cafe right next to the school better.

Luckily for me, a collaboration between Vocaloid and Can Do (a 100 yen store) started.

The theme appeared to be a pastel pajama party.

I bought a few stickers and keychains from this collection.

My next day trip was to Takatsuki.

It was there that I tried the shine muscat grapes, which my criminal justice teacher absolutely raved about.

Delicious, delicious mont blanc...

Spicy, oily mazesoba...

This is a lighter with Yohane on it, which I thought was kind of funny.

My favorite mazesoba place, Roman.

It's right outside the school gates.

Found this adorable Kirby clock on one of my frequent thrifting sprees.

Plus a Monogatari glass that has Kanbaru in booty shorts (lol)

An "invisible" anime figure of Akari-chan from YuruYuri.

I craved popcorn so often while I was in Japan. It was like...nowhere...

yukimi daifuku my beloved...

a nice, cold and big strawberry parfait... the frozen fruits were refreshing on the hot, humid days

How my shelves were turning out at this point! I printed out the cute artwork by paying an artist online (you can do it at 7 eleven)

I believe this was a konpeito/sugar candy stand at Nishiki market.

Eyeing the rainbow cheese-filled corn dog and getting ideas...evil ideas...

Old school candies sold for literally like, ~15 cents. God I wish I could get a lil candy for that price in the US.

A bunch of cute kids' toys!!

These taiko drums have been through some shit.

I pulled sugarmin back to back.. I cannot make this shit up...

The Indian curry in Japan tends to be a bit sweeter... Still super delicious, and that naan bread is so fluffy and a good size, too...

This sidewalk was just too cool - like I went back in time. It was great to see Noizi Ito's (I believe) artwork out and about on the streets. I really adored Nipponbashi. It was full of cute and cheap otaku goods, and I feel it was less hectic than Akiba. I also feel like it was less newgen, in a good way.

*drool...*

this shit is NOT FOOD BRUH

this place was SO GOATED I'll miss it forever

an incredible find... shugo chara gachapon!! I needed that Amulet Heart rubber strap... First I got King Tadase, and then I got Amu!!

One of my favorite streets to walk down - Teramachi-doori!

I remember seeing this mario statue years back, so he's been here for a long time. He is at the B-side Label sticker shop.

I think down this street was a shop on the upper floors selling all kinds of Kpop photocards/misc goods.

I really loved riding the trains and looking out the window at the scenery. I wish I could ride the trains more often.

Cafe Au Lait soft serve

I bought a lot of clothing on this day...

ngl, probably the weirdest girl dinner I ever had...

big fan of the Kirby pattern on this sweater

some spider lilies... Apparently, they're culturally connected to the afterlife. I think they will appear in Silent Hill f.

Pumpkin spice latte with a pumpkin basque cheesecake slice

One of my favorite thrift finds... he's so cool.

A little peaceful, but a little spooky, too.

Zaru Soba, from a konbini.

Halloween at Mister Donut

Tiramisu with ice cream

Pretty sure this is a fake credit card.

This Haruhi figure changes colors based on its surface temperature, so that's pretty sick.

Vtubers were so big that they were even at the konbinis.

Not sure what this Barbie stand was about... Looking back at this though... Isn't that a face in Dress to Impress..?

Amerikamura!

Shinsaibashi Big Step

A Too Faced storefront! Super dazzling

Some sick 13 sentinels merch from Cospa

The EVA?!

Hokkaido milk soft serve... very creamy milky!

my new drip

Osaka pride festival! I hope there are even more attendees in the coming years. Very neat experience

Very unique soft serve flavors...

I got the sake one

Koro-san promoting the release of Sonic Frontiers!

I ordered this okonomiyaki from a stand by the train station while I was walking home one night. The people who were making it looked like they worked hard on it!

a protein-filled satisfactory meal

my other drip

Ichigo on a coke... and a coffee coolish

I really liked these bonbons

pizzaman!

one night the school sent out a message about some deadly spider on campus...

a bittersweet mont blanc with black coffee

caved and tried the rainbow cheese dog..!

a shopkeep doodled this little miku with some Po Pi Po lyrics~

"Ichiban osusume nano wa midori no juusu!"

"The most recommended is green juice!"

I put together a gift for one of my online friends!

Spy x Family collaborated with Burger King to bring us the Peanut Butter Royale...

I stood there debating getting this Yoko for a long time... I kinda want to find her again and get her

These square chocolates were pretty nice. I won a few here at an arcade. My favorite flavor to get were the Kinako ones.

There were always a lot of these water bottles spread all around plants and stuff. Apparently residents place them down like this to deter cats from pissing there or something.

A goated arcade that was nearby, so I frequented it a lot. It doesn't look like this anymore... and it used to look cooler ;w;

as expected...my otakuness took over..!

this santa looks like he's flipping people off lol

this was a very rich matcha ice cream from Kyoto! the matcha flavor was fantastic

Shake Shack in Kyoto, with a matcha ice cream

strawberry season

pizza rice bowl...

cat cheesecake

delicious, creamy garlic ramen

the cutest christmas parfait ever

there was the official idolmaster shop here!

the original Idolmaster arcade machines here as a legacy piece for producers to enjoy. I had the chance to play on one and print out my own producer card!

notes and doodles from previous producers

I think this was a chocolate banana shake

I took a bus all the way to Odaiba just for Joypolis to be closed lol

a dinosaur at toys r us

before they cancelled his ass

some cool statues below! each location has their own.

some yokai watch stickers for good measure.

a quick stop to Nakano broadway, where they sell a lot of vintage and second-hand goods.

sadly, I don't have a lot of pictures of those, but I do have this picture of that super tall rainbow ice cream you can get here that went viral like ten years ago.

let's head over to Harajuku now, the center of kawaii!

probably the coolest pic I have from Harajuku - this is the Moshi Moshi Box clock made by Sebastian Masuda. It was once a landmark for Harajuku kids, but sadly it was taken down in 2019. The last time it was displayed in public as of writing was during his Yes, Kawaii is Art" exhibition exhibition in Los Angeles (2024).

the infamous crepes.

I probably won't go back to a maid cafe ever again, but...at least I got the cutest crepe ever!

now, some misc photos:

this was around the time Love Live (particularly sunshine) was EVERYWHERE. Lucky for me ~

you know my ass was scream singing bokura wa ima no naka de

this pic goes hard