Back from Japan!

I was in Japan for about 2 weeks. It was quite the experience. I don’t know how else to put it. While it was fun, it was also tiring. While I enjoyed it, I also hated it. Either way… The best way to express myself is to show you what I experienced. Below is gallery of photos and some commentary about my most recent trip. Enjoy!

Lately when I’ve been going to Tokyo, I would take the Skyliner (only 34 minutes to Tokyo!) to Nippori and then the Yamanote JR line train to wherever I’m staying… This trip (like my last trip in June), I stayed in…

Akihabara! This stop is full of everything the geek would love. From anime, manga, toys, video games and more. You’ll definitely find something to love here…

I just so happened to arrive on the launch day of Super Smash Bros. 3DS! If you haven’t heard, they shipped/sold over 2 million copies of the game during the first few days of launch!

Right after checking in at Yodobashi Akiba, I went over to my favorite ramen spot in the world, Jangara Ramen. ^.^

I was kind of surprised to see ‘Migi’ from Parasyte, not to mention merchandise from the manga. It’s an old manga I read many years ago. I loved it. Later on in the day I found out that there were two live action movies and an anime series coming out for it! WOW!

The following day I made a trip out to Kichijoji to visit K-Skit, one of my favorite sneaker stores in Japan!

I was so stoked to see these OG 1997 Jumpman Pros! Definitely a classic.

Later I went to Nakano Broadway to see what kind of cool stuff I could find… I saw this sad yet awesome Ghosts N’ Goblins shirt and…

…this AMAZING Castlevania inspired shirt. Wow. Look at the leather pocket pouch, lol.

I saw the limited edition Super Mario Bros. Converse that I featured on this site a few weeks back. However they didn’t have my size. 😦

Now for the business part of the trip. Tokyo Game Show! We set up our booth and prepped it for the fun filled weekend we had planned.

We showed off a prototype Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- Arcade FightStick TE2! The reception has been great so far…

I’ve been to Japan so many times now… but it still gets me every time knowing a product I helped design made it to retail store shelves there. It’s a good feeling.

Without a doubt, the gods of the Japanese pro gaming scene. Mago, Daigo and Tokido striking a pose during our photo shoot.

We were blessed to have Christine and Vampy join us at TGS to help out at the booth each day! Christine is just my favorite person and Vampy is an amazing friend that has always been a great supporter of my company. More exciting though… they were able to debut their awesome cosplay…

…JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure! Stardust Crusaders! Vampy’s Jotaro and Christine’s Dio were definitely on point!

I got to meet up with the amazing Kana Ueda again! I last saw her at EVO! Thanks again for your support as always!

During Street Fighter day, Vampy dressed up as her Juri and Christine was Sakura! Above is a picture of Ono-san taking a picture of them! However he should be focused on my awesome Nike AirMax LeBron 11 Lows and Ultra SFIV TE2 FightStick 😛 !

I wish I could have included every photo from the trip, but that’s a lot. Instead you should check out my instagram page here: instagram.com/MarkMan23