Chasing After Rainbows

The temple where the famous 提灯 (Chouchin) in Asakusa, Taitou Ward (東京都　 台東区　 浅草 ) is. Donation of 100円 is usually done for omikuji (おみくじ) where you draw one of the 100 sticks telling you to draw from one of the 100 drawers near it for the slip that tells you your fortune including great blessing (大吉) to half curse (半 凶). When the prediction is bad, fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree in the temple grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for pine tree (松 matsu) and the verb 'to wait' (待つ matsu), the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer. In the event of the fortune being good, the bearer should keep it. More comiket images would appear on another blog. Side note: I have managed to upload some of the videos form my school in 2006 on MySpaceTV. There are more on youtube, but I plan to move it from there. Also, that Minami-ke: Okawari trailer I uploaded some days earlier has reach la...

Nothing happened. Just that the Comiket 73 at the Tokyo Big Sight or 東京ビックサイト (International Exhibition Center; 国際展示場 ) had took/is taking place from the 29-31 Dec. The crowds are like crazy. How crazy? Well think of it as a subway train in the central area of the city fully packed with people. Photos were forbidden there except the cosplay area. Also, to get in, there is an extremely long line and had to wait for an extremely long time to get in. Had to head there early to avoid the crowd, though the earliest train to there is already crowded (note that the Taxi fare rates there are the 2nd most expensive after London). The image on the right would give you some idea on how crowded it is from the previous comiket. Below is an overhead image from Google Maps/Earth showing the location. It's just next to Tokyo Bay. The Big Sight is just on the right of the text 国際展示場正門 in red.