The time draws near...

[Mr. BIG]

Ikebukuro's cool, man.....last summer me and a Japanese buddy went looking at universities in Tokyo and we stayed in a capsule hotel in Ikebukuro--it was the sleaziest place I've ever been to!!

We walked around some of the hot nightspots in Tokyo like Shibuya and Shinjuku (I'd never chilled in Tokyo at night before that), and I could totally tell once we got back to Ikebukuro--there was no more used American clothes or kin-patsu to be seen anywhere; all of the sudden we were surrounded by shifty middle-aged men and even sleazier looking Latin-American/Somewhere-in-Asian streetwalkers. One of the ho's actually came up to me and asked if I "wanted a massage"--I pretended not to speak English, then recluded with my friend back to our capsules.

That's my Ikebukuro story--that and during the day I visited Rikkyo Daigaku which was just up the street (I figured the capsule hotel story was more exciting).

Keep up the good work, Crispy!! And have a blast!!

[GomiGirl]

Crispy,

Sounds like you are getting around fine!! Sure Ikebukero has a really dodgey side with all the brothels and the other side with all the shopping.. I suppose depends what you are looking for.

Enjoy your time here... if you want to get some really good information about doing the tourist thing or even info on places to head for a weekend exploring or whatever, there is a tourist office in Yurakucho (right near the station and Bic Camera - the old Sogo Department store). All the info is free and in English and there is heaps of information about everything you could possibly want to see or do from the obvious tourist stuff to the really obscure out-of-the-way places/things to do. The staff are also great.