Sunday, October 06, 2024

Japan Trip 2024 day 7: Imai Miki in ROHM Theatre Kyoto

 

I have not been in Kyoto for a long time. Last time I was here, my friend from Shiga took me around and I remember there were too many tourists and the highlight was the yakiniku.

I know her! Takaichi Sanae was running against Ishibashi when the picture was taken.

I am back in Kyoto with a greater appreciation after playing Rise of the Ronin.

I remember coming here my first Japan trip and I appreciate it more because the temples in Kyoto are on a different scale from the rest of the country.

I was debating a long time whether to stay in Osaka or Kyoto and decided might as well stay a night in Kyoto. I dropped my bag at my hotel...

... and made a straight line to Surugaya. I wanted to see Kyoto sights from Rise of the Ronin but I just didn't want to deal with the tourists.

First time I have seen Capcom's Dungeons and Dragons PS3 for less than 10,000 yen! Maybe Should shave gotten it in hindsight especially with tax exemption but I have the game on my 360 anyway.

Radiant Silvergun for 20,300 yen! I have this game digitally on 360 and Switch but playing it on a 6- button pad is the right way to do it.

Original PS3 able to play PS2 games for 41,300 yen. Would make life a bit easier.

Found this at a book off. Mortal Kombat for Mega Drive. Very rare and ok price. Did not buy but should have bought it, maybe. It just wasn't that good of a port compared the the SFC.

Rumours of Astro Bot being sold out in Japan were not exageratted.

I think the reason I did not get Mortal Kombat was that I decided to splurge on some Kobe beef after the disappointing dinner in Kobe.
No way I could afford the sirloin steak so I went for the 200g lean steak for half the price.

There is this metal round baking stone next to the beef to cook the meat before you eat it. I should have gone for garlic rice. It was very good but I really can't justify the crazy price. Better to spend it at yakiniku.

Went to another book off.

Got Golden Axe for a pretty good price because there is a small hole in the plastic and Silpheed for PS2.

The price of the New 3DS LL SFC edition is crazy! I spent so much time debating in my mind about buying this because I already had a New 3DS LL but is it a beauty to look at!

Buy 2 get 100 yen off? How does Japan know exactly what I want? I regret not trying the other two spicy and savoury chickens as I most went for famichiki in the middle.

Decided to do some touristy stuff so this Jodo Shu Head Temple Chion-In looks like it was definitely in Rise of the Ronin.

Magnificent.


 
Beautiful sky. Weather was hot and I was slamming pocari sweat like crazy.



Decided to head to concert venue at ROHM Theatre Kyoto.


Arrived with plenty of time to spare! 

Decided to explore around and there were musical performances.

Hmm, where could this huge torii gate lead to.

This building looks familiar. Unfortunately all the stalls were closing.

Definitely was here in Rise of the Ronin.

Imai Miki goods sucked. I just bought the clear file.

If you don't know who Imai Miki is, one of my earliest jdoramas I watched was Brand and the theme song was Goodbye Yesterday which I really like. She is very famous for Piece of my Wish and Pride, two also very good songs.

The Kyoto Museum of Crafts and Design was just opposite.

Lots of stalls selling craft stuff.

The artificial moss looks really good but I didn't want to get in trouble bringing soil back.

Waiting for the doors to open. Everyone is a lot older than me lol.

Unfortunately, I was in the last row and could not really see anything.

Everytime I mention I am seeing Imai Miki, the first reaction is how rich the husband is and where she is living overseas, lol. I realised during the concert that I actually know more than just 3 songs like Miss You and Hitomi ga Hohoemu kara. I must have listened to a lot of her music when I started watching jdoramas. Goodbye Yesterday should have been the last song IMHO. 

She was talking about how the songs remind people of their youth and how their generation had so much more to give. It had the feeling of a concert for people nearing retirement or a concert about nostalgia. So different from Ulfulz and Sambomaster.

Decided to have some ramen and gyoza for dinner.

Full moon and you can see Kyoto tower in the background.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your trip looks go-go go.
Hope you get some down time to just have a bit of serendipity.

Don't you find there are never enough meals in a day to eat all the delicious things. Enjoy.

P.S. Given the legendary quality of some Japanese eggs, my personal pilgrimage would be based around pudding.

Robert said...

Whoa, very cool. It would be my dream to (1) visit Kyoto and (2) see a show by someone from the 80s/90s like Miki Imai (the ultimate would be Akina, but she seems to be mostly retired). Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

Akiramike said...

@Anon: Yes, it was a go-go- go trip because of the 2 week JR pass.

@Robert: Kyonkyon is still performing and so is Sakai Noriko!

Akiramike said...

@Robert: Forgot about Matsuda Seiko and she had two shows in Nagoya the week before I arrived in Japan!