REPORT HOMEPAGE

Three Monday Observations
JUNE 23, 2003

Magazine (and Character) Mania
JUNE 24, 2003

Another Day of Adventures
JUNE 25, 2003

Nostalgia and Fantasy
JUNE 26, 2003

Leaping into the Twenty-First Century with Gusto!
JUNE 27, 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nostalgia and Fantasy

Thursday proved to be one of those unique days when the world seemed to pull back a bit from the mundane and commonplace to reveal glimpses into (in my case) both a long-ago past (centered on my academic year at International Christian University in 1961 - 1962) and a very special world of fantasy (as represented by a visit to the Ghibli Musuem, an homage to the great anime director Miyazaki Hayao). Both of these experiences took place in Mitaka, a suburban enclave located to the west of Shinjuku, about thirty minutes from my hotel in Ikebukuro. In between these two visits, I also managed to work in yet another of the megaplexes that have been built in various parts of the city over the past couple of years, this one the Ebisu Garden Plaza near Shibuya just a skywalk journey away from Ebisu Station on the Yamate line.

Click on any of the pictures below to learn what I experienced in each location ...
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN
UNIVERSITY
MITAKA
GHIBLI MUSUEM
 MITAKA
EBISU GARDEN PLAZA
 EBISU

Click on any of the report titles in the column 
at the left to continue.

This report, detailing on-site observations made in Japan between June 19, 2003 and June 27, 2003, has been prepared by Lee A. Makela (l.makela@csuohio.edu) for the use of interested friends, family and students at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, especially those who enrolled in HIS 372/572, The History of Early Modern Japan and HIS 373/573, Contemporary Japan in Historical Perspective; please contact Dr. Makela with any comments.