meghan9436

This is Part 2 of the blog update about my spontaneous trip to Mishima and Tokyo. For your convenience, you can read Part 1 here. I will be posting a vlog on YouTube about this trip in the next few weeks, but I wanted to keep the focus of this vlog mainly on the things that didn't get recorded on video.

When I got to my former home station, nothing had really changed. The smaller stores and restaurants immediately outside of the station were completely the same. On the way to my old flat, I did notice one major closure that I am intentionally leaving unspecified. Other than that, I was so surprised that pretty much nothing had changed in the almost six years that I had been gone.

I didn't check Google Maps before I left the station, and I was able to navigate to my old flat solely on my memory alone. When I got to the flat, some new security measures had been implemented, but I was able to get inside easily. I got chatting with some of the new travelers.


I edited the photo to block out identifying notes.

I wrote お久しぶり！！ただいま！！ (It's been a while!! I'm home!!) on the message boards prior to going upstairs. When we got there, I was formally introduced to the new crowd.

I can't even. 😂🤣 One of my old friends introduced me with, "This is Meghan, and she likes The Room." A new flatmate then made a comment about Tommy Wiseau.

Okay, so back in 2017 I was still on this kick with The Room (2003). I translated that movie line by line, and it sounds just as stupid in Japanese as you would expect. It is inappropriate to quote this movie at the best of times, so in the context of living in Japan, OMGGG. But this area of Tokyo is pretty progressive and foreigner foreigner friendly, so everyone had fun with it. I think? But for many years, I drove my friends crazy quoting this movie.

You really have to see this movie to believe it. If you search for The Room Best Scenes on YouTube, the highlights of the movie will come up, and you'll see what I mean. But I think this movie is best experienced with friends at a public screening at your local art house theatre if you can. Bring spoons and footballs. You can get bonus points if you dress in a tuxedo or a red dress.

So, that was a fun ice breaker! The Room. But anyway, we took photos together, and I looked back on the old photos from previous years. It took some time to find me, but I was on the wall! I was surprised at how much had changed at the flat, and how much remained the same. Undoubtedly there were incidents that occurred in the time that I was away that necessitated other security changes. But the flat was upgraded a bit with a new TV that was was equipped with casting and a Nintendo Switch. The other rooms had also been upgraded.

During our reminiscing and catching up, there was an interesting individual who came by. They kept butting in with unrelated chatter. In the moment I just thought it was kind of weird, but I brushed it off. Other flatmates aplogised a few times for their behaviour. Again, I just thought it was funny and I brushed it off.

I played my usual setlist, and it was pretty well received. I have to admit that I low key enjoyed the attention that I get from playing for other people. Forget dating apps! Get your favourite instrument and play for people instead. You'll make a connection or two. 😅 I'm not sure what it was at the time if it was denial or questioning my own experience, but the subtle flirting from one of the guys was confirmed later on. I was flattered. 🤭☺️

Due to a policy change, I was unable to stay at the flat on such short notice and I had to make other arrangements. However, I was graciously allowed the shower that I desperately needed after the long commute.

After we said our goodbyes, I spent some time at my old stomping grounds in Shin-Koenji. There, when I was wandering through an alleyway, I came across the brick and mortar Granpries location completely by accident. The store shutter was painted to match the art on their Twitter page. Or maybe their Twitter page was designed to match. Whichever the case, I came across their Twitter page first originally. I think it was because I was searching for 1990s vintage, but they specialise primarily in vintage Showa era items. I do want to come back to this store during my next visit to Tokyo. It, along with every other store on that strip was closed when I was coming through.


During my travels, I also got caught in the rain.
I'll have to come back here when the time and weather is better.


I got a creative breakfast at McDonald's.

I used the time at McDonald's to get caught up in my Traveler's Notebook to reflect what happened up until that point. My corner at the restaurant was quote cozy because it was away from other people, and I could see outside as it was pouring rain. As soon as I got up, a senior man got up from further down the counter to take my spot. I was so zoned out into my own world that I hadn't realised how busy the place got by the time I was finished.

After I finished at McDonald's, I returned to the flat. It was the time of morning where kids were still on their commute to school, carrying their redoseru backpacks behind them. When I got inside, I kicked back for a few hours where I continued to fill my Traveler's Notebook.

Initially I stayed in the main room, and it quickly became much more apparent why this individual was so problematic at the flat. Quite literally every other flatmate peaced out to the adjacent room.

From here on out, I will call this person Kimura. I recalled the night before, that Kimura approached me and said Happy Birthday to me, even though they didn't know me, let alone my birthday.

As I sat there at the table, filling in my Traveler's Notebook while listening to assorted YouTube videos (probably true crime podcasts), Kimura kept going on, and on, and on. I couldn't catch all of it, but it was most definitely a word salad. UberEatsに注文する。(Place an order from UberEats.) Softbankの携帯電話でかける。(Make a phone call with a Softbank cell phone.) Family Martにご飯を買う。(Buy lunch at Family Mart.) He kept saying these types of things repeatedly for hours, so it was easy enough for me to tune out. Not so much for others. And admittedly, I was slightly bemused by the situation.

My breaking point finally came where he went on this tirade where I could understand every word they were saying. Loosely translated, and paraphrased here: Thank you God, for this rain that has fallen today.

I can't remember what he said after that, but I recall interrupting this religious tirade to ask another flatmate a question. It felt really awkward talking even though I had the right to. I joined the others in the adjacent room, but I had mixed feelings about this situation.

I had several past work situations where I was ostracized by the entire office, and excluded from events. It was not a good feeling to come in the following Monday morning and hear all about the weekend parties that I wasn't invited to. But if you find yourself in that situation, it is so important to read the room, understand your place in the pecking order, and don't ask to come along.

My bleeding liberal heart felt for Kimura! None of us were in a position to diagnose Kimura. The situation could have been drugs, a psychotic episode, or a combination of the two. When I recounted the situation to another friend later, they said that it is more likely a psychotic episode if the person in question is going on a religious tirade. Everyone was taking bets on how long it would take for Kimura to get kicked out.

But, I said to my flatmates that if Kimura is just talking to themselves, and even if they are doing drugs, if they aren't hurting anyone or leaving needles everywhere, who cares? When we see situations like this, this is a failure on society, not just in Japan, but worldwide. Mental health is still stigmatized so much, and it isn't given the same level of priority as our physical health. We got into a deep discussion about those societal failures, but...

But, the situation escalated rather quickly. Kimura was in fact, not harmless. It came to light that the situation escalated rather quickly. It was very much an Oh shit moment. Upon learning what happened, I said to my flatmate "Well, that changes everything." The conversation then shifted about what it would take to have someone involuntarily institutionalized, because that is honestly what the situation warranted. If the police had to be called, I urged to stress on the fact that it was a mental health crisis. Luckily nothing else happened, and the day carried on as normally as it could have, with Kimura talking to himself for hours outside. The situation served as a reminder to me of how lucky we are, no matter the challenges we are facing ourselves.


Lunch from a combini run. My diet hadn't really changed at all even though I came up to Tokyo from Nagoya.

Some of the other flatmates I was waiting for were still sleeping by this point, so I said my goodbyes and I took my leave. I only had a few hours left before I would have to return to Nagoya. Another traveler left at the same time that I did to take in more of Tokyo.

I wanted to keep this a low key trip. I considered going to Shibuya to check out the new Fangamer location there, but I wasn't in the mindset to want to deal with big crowds that day. Instead, I returned to Azabu-Juban, the location that inspired the setting of Sailor Moon.

The following are throwback photos from the area that I took on June 30, 2017. Usagi's birthday! 😊

 
This is the Sendaizakaue bus stop. Although the location looks nondescript, this is the setting of the story line where we got to meet Rei/Sailor Mars. In case if you aren't familiar with this aspect of the story, Rei was initially scapegoated for the buses that had been disappearing in the area.


This is an alternate view taken from the bus stop. Tokyo Tower is just peeking out in the distance.

This is some of the bus stop information.

Due to the length of this entry, I have decided to make this a 3 parter. I might leave most of the details for the vlog, but we'll see. At the rate I'm going, I might actually smash the NaNoWriMo quota without even trying!