So yesterday I started to pack away the manga that I bought since arriving in Japan and made a list detailing it (you can see the list here). I planned on heading to Nippombashi today to pick up the one or two missing from a series and also to enjoy the fine weather. Calling around one of my friends was also up for it, but first we went to a manga shop in Shinsaibashi.

Everyone loves a sale right, especially ones with lots of variety and end up saving you a lot of money, right?

WRONG!

Today I learned the hard way that when you buy things cheap, lots of things, so much that you fill a (large) back pack and are still carrying things in carrier bags (pretty nicely made paper carrier bags) you actually end up still spending a pointless amount of money. Only difference is you have a lot more stuff … heavy stuff … stuff that’ll sting you in the arse once more when you’re trying to send stuff home and have to pay an arm, a leg and a left bollock just for the cheapest and slowest delivery. Rant over, moving on.

I’d walked past the まんだらけ (Mandarake) store in Shinsaibashi once before, but didn’t have time to go in. I’ve been in the Umeda branch a good few times so thought I’d have a fairly good idea of the layout, which in turn figured out to be completely different, and much larger than I’d anticipated.

Mandarake had the first of the day’s wonderful sales in a 105 yen sale, with a huge section cut down in price. On top of this they were also having a 3 for 2 sale, meaning (if my maths is right) the manga was 70 yen each (48p). By horrible (ish) coincidence I found a ton of Higurashi books that I didn’t have, so swiped them up at a bargain price. I saw “swipe”, but that was nothing compared to one guy who stretched rapidly across an aisle grabbed a book and shouted “ゲット” (getto, Get) in celebration. Honestly this is something I’ve only seen in anime and manga, so I’m glad to see it really happens.

After (almost literally) buying the whole sale sections supply of Higurashi mangas, we went to the stores own cafe on the same floor as the sale and the cosplay section, yes this was a cosplay cafe. Not technically a maid cafe, especially compared to the one we went to last time, this time it was a Mother Cafe.

To be honest with the way various websites are talking about them, you’d be forgiven for expecting a lot more “mothering”. When I went to the top floor and saw it I thought it was just the name of the place, and that the staff being in maid-esque (more like house-cleaner than your traditional maid) attire being due to the fact that they were right next to the cosplay section. It wasn’t until we’d sat down, ordered, were half-way through our melonade (melon soda) that I noticed a small sign acknowledging (that’s an ugly word isn’t it) the waitresses as ‘mothers’.

We did have a really friendly conversation with our ‘mother’ about a variety of topics. Ranging from how long we’d been in to Japan to why I’d bought so many frickin’ Higurashi mangas. It turns out she was a fan also. Both my friend and I agreed that before going back to the UK next month we want to pop in and see ‘mom’ again (whether or not it’ll be the same one we won’t know), but above all that I was thankful that she didn’t say that my Japanese was good (that’s the key to wipe my memory of any and all Japanese language skills I have).

From here we walked down toward Nippombashi, and after stashing my heavy-ass purchases in a coin locker at the train station, we headed off towards Den Den town. After a while my friend headed back so I went on around a huge selection of anime shops, manga shops, game shops, electronic shops, doujinshi shops, and shops I wouldn’t take my nan in. Yes folks I made sure to get a hellova good nose around today and went in many shops for the first and last time.

This is where things began getting tricky for me in buying manga that I didn’t have. Off the top of my head I could only remember a few holes in the collection, such as volumes 7 and 8 of Yotsuba, but, as I mention in the list, Higurashi is a pain in the arse and trying to remember which I have and don’t have is like trying to memorise the distinct features of 101 dalmations.

My original plan was to take a photo on my phone of what Higurashi’s I had, and check the list via my phones (meagre) internet connection about the others. Part one worked just fine, and in Mandarake I referred to this so that I didn’t buy more than I needed (wanted). The problem was checking the others. When I tested it last night it worked fine but today my phone just wanted to be a whiny little toe stub, not getting online at all, leaving me in the dark when I didn’t know whether I had a certain issue of Genshiken (I didn’t). I then hit a snag with my Higurashi plan when I realised with the 17 (or so) books I’d bought earlier now in a locker, I had no clue which I had and which I didn’t.

Buying only what I was certain I didn’t (all at prices in the margin of 100 to 200 yen or so) I conceded that I would make one final trip to Nippombashi soon, real soon. But not tomorrow, because I’m seeing Rie Fu in Nishinomiya Gardens … hopefully.

Today’s Shopping List

• DVDs
• Brave Story (2 disc edition)
• Heroes vol 1 (in Japanese of course)
• そのひぐらしのなく頃に (Sono Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni) – What appears to be a fanmade movie based on the Higurashi series. I don’t want to say it’s poorly made because I haven’t watched it yet, but the box seems very cheaply done >_<

• CD
• ひぐらしデイブレイク (Higurashi Dei Bureiku) – Original Sound Track (this is the soundtrack for a doujin game called Higurashi Day Break, based on the fames Higurashi franchise. I did see the game today, but that was a bit too costly)

• Sound Novel (games)
• ひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni)
• ひぐらしのなく頃に礼 (Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Rei) (for those who are wandering what happened to 解 (kai), I’d already bought it)
• うみねこのなく頃に (Umineko No Naku Koro Ni)

• Art Book
• Erementar Gerad “Red” by 東まゆみ (Azuma Mayumi – Azuma being a family name)

• Manga (aka the big chunk)
• げんしけん (Genshiken) volume 2
• よつばと (Yotsubato) volumes 7 & 8
• 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuuutsu) volume 3 and a special edition of volume 4 that included a Haruhi figure
• Higurashi – both books from the 綿流し編 (watanagashi hen)
• Higurashi – both books from the 祟殺し編 (tatarigoroshi hen)
• Higurashi – both books from the 暇潰し編 (himatsubushi hen)
• Higurashi – both books from the 鬼曝し編 (onisarashi hen)
• Higurashi – book 1 (of 4) from the 罪滅し編 (tsumihoroboshi hen)
• Higurashi – book 2 (of 2) from the 宵越し編 (yoigoshi hen)
• Higurashi – from the previous anthology (where I had two random books, 12 and 13) books 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 (out of 17 … *sigh*)
• Higurashi – (from a case-based anthology) books 1, 3, 4, 7, 9 (out of 19 … *even larger sigh*)
• Higurashi – (from a 4-panel based anthology) book 4 (of 14 … T_T)

Damn that Higurashi >_<

So yesterday I woke up with an odd shaking and feeling of wobbliness. I’d originally put it down to me just being plain old knackered (seeing as it was about ten to seven in the morning), but it wasn’t until I went down for breakfast I was told what had really happened.

At roughly that time an earthquake occured in the Fukui Prefecture, and we felt it here in Osaka. Some people at Uni (living in Kobe) also felt the quake. Not a big one mind you, in fact with a lot of people sleeping through it and what appeared to be no mention of it on the news, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this never happened. But it did, my first earthquake in Japan and it barely made me budge. Not like the one in Leeds last year. So far I’m two-for-two then.

As part of my Education & Culture class, yesterday we went to a Japanese high school to both ask and be asked questions by students, and also to observe a homeroom period. The only times I’ve seen a Japanese school prior to this were from media resources, and of course they were fictional. Films such as Battle Royale and anime such as Myself, Yourself and Azumanga Daioh, had given me some insight and prior knowledge of what they might be like, but given this comparison you could also claim that you can tell what London’s like just from watching Eastenders.

The school building itself was ironically very reminiscent to those titles mentioned and I found myself liking the building and atmosphere more and more as time went by. It was rustic, there were cracks in the white, (well … dingy grey) walls, and due to a lack of a central heating system it was frickin’ cold, but they were some of the aspects I found quite indearing. Though truth be told I was thankful when we ended up in the AV room and found that it was warm.

Throughout the time there I spoke to four groups of 3-4 students in different environments. The first group took myself and another Konan student for a short tour of the site. Due to us having only ten minutes or so, I can honestly say that it was shorter than a stereotypical Japanese mini-skirt. However in that brief look around we did get to see areas such as the lunch room, sports ground (no grass of course, just gravel … goodluck there football goalies) and some of the class rooms also.

Everyone then re-assembled for a short period of general chatter. As well as finding out the opinions of the high-schoolers about their schools, I also learned a few things about my fellow Konan student.

The next stage of the visit was to break into other groups where we’d be interviewed individually by groups of three students about our experiences in Japan. During my interview sessions with the two groups I came to realise how little I’ve actually accomplished since landing in Japan, especially in comparison to things I’d wanted to. However, this is also countered by doing things that non of the other 留学生 (ryuugakusei, exchange students) have done, like the Okamoto to Juso walk for instance.

The final conversation was in a room with refreshments (woohoo! Fanta and biscuits!) where we chatted with three more students, only this time I was joined by another two Konan students. Again this conversation was quite open so we talked about whatever things popped into our heads. Unfortunately my dead goldfish in a sieve type memory means I can’t remember a lot of the conversation, but I do remember that we discussed that they liked, and were rather proud of, their uniforms, the fact that they’d all been to Taiwan … oh wait, that was the first group … and that there are some teachers they don’t like.

When compared to the UK, Japanese schools are very different, and since the visit I had the liberty of reading a little bit more about them. Unfortunately the only things I read were how they differed from North American schools, but from what I can tell one of the main differences is the number of years of compulsory education. In the UK, starting with infant school (or primary school if your infant & primary school years are combined) you have 11 years of compulsory education, with the option to leave (and hopefully get a job) when you’re 16, unless you were born later in the academic year. However, in Japan you don’t have to start school until you’re six years old, with the option of leaving at the age when British students begin their final year, giving just 9 years of compulsory learning.

Wanting to save myself a tidy 180 yen (£1.33) I chose to walk from the school to Okamoto train station, and put that money to my food on Sunday. The walk took longer than expected by about half an hour or so, but oddly enough I arrived home at the same time as if I’d have stopped in Konan’s Ajisai room until it’s closure at around six.

I’ll end this by saying that I didn’t sleep much last night. I was compelled to watch the end of Higurashi No Naki Koro Ni (Kai) (about 10 episodes I think), which kept me out of bed until about one. By which time I was in such a state of awesomely smily happy joy that even though I went to bed I kept running through various aspects of the story in my mind. Seriously folks, if you must watch any series for the sheer experience, this is the one. Won’t spoil any of it by saying what happens, so maybe I’ll write a review one day.

Oh and in other news I finally found my student ID … in my bag.