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10 Crazy Awesome Things To Do In Japan
06 February 2016 | 00:43
We’ve all heard that the Japanese are completely next level. They’ve got unique style in all categories: Food, gaming, music, style, movies, etc. That’s the reason we decided to start our trip across every country in Asia with Japan. We’re hoping to get a roundhouse kick to the face with culture shock, and that’s exactly what happened. Here’s the top 10 weirdest things to do in Japan.
1. Robot Restaurant
Let’s cut straight to the chase - the robot restaurant is one of the weirdest experiences in the world. Imagine a ballet performance of 10-foot tall robots, sexy queens of the galaxy, explosions, space gorillas, 40 foot-long robotic snakes, and sharks with laser beams on their heads. Take all that, and multiply it by 100. That’s the robot restaurant. Word is they spend 250 million on the facility and production. You can watch it all for $60. Not cheap, but very worth it.
2. Twenty-Storey Karaoke Hotel
Right across the street from Robot Restaurant, it looks like a Hyatt or Hilton. Nope, just an entire hotel is dedicated to Karaoke. Select your room, drinks and ridiculous costume from a wardrobe. We quickly morphed into a gang of power rangers, panda bears, pink bunnies, French maids, and pirates. Then sing your heart away until the wee hours of the night. There’s nothing better.
3. Maid Café
Just when you’ve thought things are getting too weird, step it up with a visit to a maid café. Find the secret elevator and walk into a bar surrounded by stuffed animals. Watch middle-aged women dressed as maids / schoolgirls perform insanely energetic and fast-paced J-pop songs. Everything is 3 times faster than it should be. And just when you’re finished appreciating just how weird this place is, next to you are two high school boys drinking milkshakes and studying for their math exams. Which makes it not that weird. Or weirder…
4. Takeshita street
Lol. Even the name is gold. This insanely busy street is home to the famous Harajuku girls. They have next level style and swag. Don’t worry, I know you want to just walk up and take selfies with all of them. Don’t be shy, they’re used to it.
5. Owl & Kitten Cafés
Yes, sit at a traditional coffee shop and enjoy a nice Japanese comic book with an owl on your shoulder or a few kittens sleeping on your lap.
6. Restaurant with Unusual Servers
A sake house north of Tokyo has two monkeys that will deliver hot towels and beers to the table. They accept tips in soybeans, and will serve only two hours a day before playing with each other and loyal customers.
7. Electric City
Akihabara, aka “electric city”, is considered the times square of Japan. You’ve never seen so many lights, energy, and people at one place and time. After entering the 6-floor Sega store, expect to come out 2 hours later with no money and a huge smile on your face.
8. Monkey Mountain
Climb a few hundred stairs at Arashiyama Monkey Park, aka “Monkey Mountain”. At the top you have hundreds of monkeys freely running around and hanging off of things. They’re never caged, in fact during the feeding you are the one inside a chain-linked fence handing them apples out in the open air.
9. Bamboo Forest
Arashiyama Bamboo grove is the tallest bamboo you’ve ever seen. It’s inane beauty is guaranteed to take up all of the storage on your camera. Surrounding the area you have very traditionally dressed men and women. This place can’t be missed.
10. Japanese Anime Comic Shops
After walking down 10 flights of stairs and getting deeper and deeper into unknown underworld, we were a bit afraid of the weirdness we’d come across. Low and behold, it’s just your everyday bookstore. Except in this case, thousands of Japanese comic books. Flip through a few of them to realize just how little you know about this incredible country.
Well my friendly Samurais, that’s it. Do not miss this place while traveling Asia. Make sure you stay at Homikan while in Tokyo. Cheaper than those little capsules they give you, and much more tradition. Say hello to Kunio (the CEO) from Global Degree!