I visited Sanrio World (AKA the world's largest collection of Hello Kitty merchandise) this past weekend.
Like most Japanese stores, it was completely overwhelming. The store itself took up an entire floor of a department store in Ginza, which is no small feat; and this floor is completely packed with ADORABLE THINGS. It was hard to contain my excitement - I practically ran laps around the store, hugging all the stuffed animals and "ooh"-ing at the tiny and obscenely cute toys.
I felt kinda bad for the employees at the store - they're pretty much required to say "irashaimase" or "welcome" every time you approach them. Needless to say, I heard "irashaimase" a lot during my time at Sanrio World.
That's one thing that I still have not gotten used to yet here - the fact that pretty much every employee in every store I have visited is literally ECSTATIC that you have blessed their establishment with your presence. They thank you for walking into the store, they thank you for admiring their wares, they thank you for buying something, they thank you for paying for your item, and then they thank you for leaving. They're insanely helpful, and very efficient. Even on my best day working at Stop and Shop, I was NEVER as happy or efficient as these Japanese retail workers.
Still, to be fair, Japanese merchandise can be quite expensive, so you're paying for the excellent service, in a sense. Ginza in particular is a very high-end shopping district - on one street alone I saw stores for Chanel, Gucci, Dior, Cartier, Mikimoto, and Harry Winston. If I was "Oprah rich" I would've done some serious shopping here - but since I'm not, my friends and I decided to leave Ginza after Sanrio World and went to Shibuya to walk around instead.
And that's how I met this little guy. He stole my heart. You can't get a real sense of how tiny he is, but he's literally no bigger than one of those extra-large Nathan's hot dogs - the Japanese have mastered miniaturizing their dogs here. Unfortunately, he was 80,000 yen - the equivalent of about $850 US dollars.
I think it's some sort of nation-wide requirement for every Japanese dog owner to dress their dog in ridiculous sweaters. I have seen Japanese women walking golden retrievers in sweaters. Just the other day I saw a woman walking a miniature Greyhound wearing a cable-knit sweater and jeans. JEANS. I'm not kidding. It's a shame I can't take pictures without the owners noticing - I'm sure they would be very upset with some gaijin taking photos of their stylish pet. And a very large majority of the dogs I've seen here are super tiny - they can fit comfortably in a handbag and sit quietly on the train. I have to say, most of the dogs I've seen don't look very happy - but I guess if my owner dressed me up every day and carried me everywhere I would hate my life too.
Well, that's all for now. Someone has mentioned watching the Fifth Element in Japanese, and that sounds like a hilarious time - sayonara for now!
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