Ikebukuro Key Chain
I ran across this post on one of my Google Reader bookmarked sites. It caught my eye because I am a regular to Ikebukuro when I am in Japan. I know the station and the area better than many of my Tokyo friends. (To be fair, they don’t live in the area.)
Ikebukuro Station is one of the busiest stations in Tokyo. Millions of people pass through there each day. It boggles the Western Mind as to how many people are in there and how they all navigate without creating a human gridlock.
When traveling in Tokyo, you need to be aware that not only do they speak a different language, they also speak Engrish. So in the train stations that can be sometimes confusing. Thinking about Ikebukuro Station reminded me of a couple of Engrish photos I’ve seen.
Tokyo Engrish
Sign in Ikebukuro Station for Sunshine City. If you don't know what Sunshine City is, you can certainly find humor in this sign.
There are two things that are memorable about the station besides the people, one is the Yamanote line sign and the other is the music that is played when you arrive or depart the station on the train. Yes, they play music to remind people that you have arrived. In the post above, the author found the sign in a gift store in Tokyo. It is a great representation of the actual sign, plus it comes with music!
Ikebukuro Keychain
So when I saw this Key Chain it brought back many memories, including some late night returns to the hotel after having gone drinking with friends where I was trying to navigate my way through the masses of people. Or some early morning adventures trying to get through the masses on their way to work, with my luggage. In any case, if you have been to Ikebukuro, you get what I am saying.
Well the author of that blog is offering a competition for people who blog about the key chain and link to his site. Thus that was the inspiration for this post.
You can check it out the keychain here: Ikebukuro Key Chain
