Random Japan

As I was writing a blog update for this month, where I was going to cap off my coverage of Japan, I decided that I had enough to make one more post. It's not a lot, just two more things to mention. One is a store at an Aeon Mall in Asahikawa where I walked around a place called Village/Vanguard. The small store squeezed in a wide variety of things, like toys, clothing, manga, and candy. One of the photos I took is of Monchhichi toys. If you are a kid of the '80s, you'll probably remember Monchhichis. The toys first released in Japan in 1974 by the Sekiguchi Corporation, and then Mattel brought them to the U.S. in 1980, and in 1983 we got a Monchhichi cartoon. According to Wikipedia, there are still some stores selling them in North America and they continue to be popular in Europe, and I'd have to assume Japan too.

I showed some Pokémon photos in the A Few Things From Japan post, and I have a few more. As I wandered around Hokkaido, I took photos of six Pokémon manhole covers. These can be found throughout the whole country and there are many more in Hokkaido than the six I photographed. I also noticed that Vulpix appears on all of the manhole covers I saw. That's the same pocket monster that was on the ANA airplane I flew on, as well as a vending machine I found next to one of the manhole covers.

That puts a wrap on my trip to Japan. Sorry if I wrote too much about it. I hope some of you enjoyed the posts!