Cat Cafe!

They have these little cafes in Japan where you pay to play with cats. 

The cats all hated us. :(

Pokémon Center, Tokyo

Hakone

We're a bit late in posting these, but we went to Hakone last week and stayed in a ryokan. It was traditional, Japanese themed, so we slept on tatami mats and were served a Japanese breakfast the next morning. The view from our room was of the beautiful mountains in Hakone and a river, so we really got the full experience. There was an open air onsen on the top floor, overlooking the mountains and river, which was super refreshing. When we were leaving, the hotel owner came out and wouldn't stop giving us gifts, telling us he was our 'ojiisan,' which means grandpa. He was super cute. We didn't get to see much of the town, but from what we did get to explore, everything was mountainous and beautiful. 

Our beds

Headed to the onsen in our yukata!

The view from our room.

Traditional Japanese breakfast.

No Nukes!

We went to Shinjuku today to participate in an anti-nuclear protest. There were tons of people lined up in lanes that had been shut down on the roads, marching with police sectioning everyone and maintaining order. Completely different than rallies and protests in America. There was a real sense of community, and Tyler and I even jumped in and joined for a while. A little, old woman immediately came up and sincerely thanked us, beaming. She was cute. We've been told that this was one of the largest anti-nuclear rallies in the world, as there were many parades of people all across Tokyo.

Tokyo Disneyland

On Tuesday, we went to Tokyo Disneyland. Not much of a difference from the US Disneyland besides Japanese-speaking rides and a recurrent Easter theme. Everything was mostly written in English, but it was still really fun! There were these Disney-themed, giant Easter eggs scattered across the park, which was really strange.

Alice in Wonderland restaurant

In keeping with our awesome, Tokyo restaurant adventures, we decided to celebrate some of our fellow study abroad students' birthdays at the Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant in Shinjuku on Saturday. It was super cool and complete with Japanese Alices! Several drinks were inspired by familiar characters such as the queen of hearts, the cheshire cat, and the mad hatter! After the restaurant we experienced Tokyo nightlife in the Ni-chōme district of Shinjuku.

Next weekend, there's going to be a HUGE nuclear rally in Shinjuku that we're hoping to go to. It's supposed to be the largest in the world, ever. We're going to be a part of history in the making!

Hachiko!