We raced from the train station with the thoughts that we have probably missed the festival, until we stepped onto the soaring walkway. We were greeted by the rhythmic dum  dum dum of drums not only in our ears but we could feel every percussion through the concrete. We shared a glance and both smiled, they are still here! 

The darkness festival or Kurayami Matsuri happens during Golden week in Tokyo at Okunitama-jinja every year for the last almost 1000 years, which people carry around mini shrines in the dark. 

Nostalgia galore, Justin was in heaven seeing all the life size models of Nintendo characters. We also came across a One Piece and studio Ghibli shop in PARCO. I think I finally understand the excitement when people talk about going to Disneyland when we were seeing all the themed merchandise of our favourite games and shows. 

As a foodie, I could not miss the fluffy pancakes Japan is widely well known for. After much research, I settled on Happy Pancakes in Shibuya. They have a lot of locations throughout the cities.  I was pumped for a towering stack of impossibly fluffy pancakes served with a dollop of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. Justin got the Strawberry set and I got the signature.