It's worth visiting both during the day and at night.
Kazuemachi Chaya-Gai District | Review by Jessica Lee
Other Reviews by Jessica Lee
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Aomori Nebuta Festival
The Aomori Nebuta Festival is held in central Aomori City between August 2 and 7 every year and attracts as many as 1 million visitors every year. With records dating back to the late Edo period (around 1842), this historic festival is one of the Three Great Festivals of Tohoku and is designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.
The lanterns (Nebuta) here are absolutely massive and incredibly detailed—it's honestly mind-blowing! The lights and colors are super vivid, and they almost look like they're moving and alive. Each float has its own theme, like famous warriors or mythological characters, and the craftsmanship is just stunning.
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gashacoco Ikebukuro
Just about a 2-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station, “gashacoco Ikebukuro” is a specialty shop dedicated to capsule toys. With a sales floor of about 150 tsubo (about 495 m²), it boasts around 1,500 capsule toy vending machines. The lineup spans a wide range of genres, including anime characters, Heisei retro, and food motifs.
The colors of the chopsticks are really soft, and they feel nice to hold. You can tell they put a lot of thought into designing this gift. Little events like this make me feel the store really cares. It's so much fun to collect souvenirs while playing the capsule machines. I was genuinely happy!
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Otsuka Museum of Art
The museum houses more than 1000 works, ranging from antiquity to the 20th century and collected from over 190 museums in 26 countries. The full-size faithful replicas were created using a special technology on ceramic plates. The paintings are reproduced onto ceramic plates which, the museum claims, will preserve their colors and shapes for as long as 2000 years. The museum particularly wishes, with its unique methods, to contribute to the recording and perseveration of the world’s valuable cultural heritage.
Instead of just seeing them in books or on a screen, you can get up close to over 1,000 famous works from 26 countries here. If you're an art lover, this place is a must-visit.
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