I’m writing this a week after my return from Japan. I’m feeling flat and can’t believe it’s already so far behind me. I fell in love with the country in 2000 when I went there to interview some key players in the world of videogames for a TV documentary called Thumb Candy. I’ve been there a couple of times since and even got engaged there.
Eighteen months ago I gifted a trip to Japan to my two kids as Christmas presents. If I’m honest, I hadn’t quite done the maths and was a little naïve on how much it would cost. Luckily (for me, not the residents of Japan) COVID had the whole place locked down until early 2023. This allowed me to save every single penny I could to make sure my kids had the best time ever.
I was planning a big trip to Akihabara and retro shops like Super Potato. Well, if you want to make God laugh, make plans. We did get to Akihabara, but it was very late on our first night. We were too tired to do much except grab a McDonalds (very nice teriyaki burger) and play on some of the grabbing machines. Never mind.
The main thing that grabbed my lads in Japan was just how busy Pokémon Go was. At first, I was a little angry that they were spending most of their time playing, until I realised this was an amazing experience for them. Gyms full, battles overflowing with players. The squeals of joy from them was life affirming. I do wonder why Tokyo needs at least four Pokémon stores… but there you go.
The last three days of the holiday were spent at Universal Studios. I am not a roller-coaster fan so I was very happy to grab a coffee while K and A went off and rode the Flying Dinosaur and HollywoodDream
