First things first: I know you're all desperately waiting for news about the Ghibli Museum (not) and I did go purchase tickets this morning. We're going at 4:00 pm on Friday, and I am already counting down the hours. I'd take Studio Ghibli over Tokyo Disney any day.
Our first stop was Shibuya, where we viewed the gigantic intersection with what seemed like a million people milling about in the middle of the street and the statue of Hachiko, Japan's famous loyal dog who waited for his master at the train station every day even after his master had died.
From there, we walked to Harajuku, where we visited the Meiji Temple, created to honor Emperor Meiji. The temple was lovely, and as an added bonus, we got to witness the end of a Shinto wedding.
The rest of Harajuku is mostly shopping, which we did a ton of. I bought a lot more than I intended to, but heck, why not. We visited Book-Off, a cheap Japanese bookstore chain that I've been dreaming about going to see for years. I splurged on one of Murakami Haruki's books, and I also bought the first volume of my favorite comic series, Fullmetal Alchemist.
There was an awesome four-story toy store than had a rather significant Ghibli section, and I may or may not have bought several things (I think I've caught the Japanese enthusiasm for consumerism). After walking back to Shibuya and wandering around aimlessly looking for a restaurant that would be able to cater to a vegetarian, we decided on Udon for dinner, and it was delicious. We also took a quick trip to an arcade for a game of Dance Dance Revolution. I didn't think we'd be the only women in the entire arcade, but we definitely were.
Tomorrow: Akihabara and the search for a new bag (because the strap on mine is three minutes from ripping in half).