池袋

My kids were given five tickets to the movie 「西の魔女が死んだ」 (“The Witch Of The West Is Dead“).

The tickets were valid for yesterday and the day before (Friday) only, and only at one 映画館 (movie theater) in 池袋 (Ikebukuro, Tokyo).

Friday is a 平日 (weekday), so we planned to go yesterday. But when we got to the theater, they announced that the theater was full. We decided that the next showing was too late and we just couldn’t see it.

Oh well.

Maybe I’ll rent it when it’s released on DVD.

The story of the movie is about a thirteen-year-old girl who is one-quarter English (her grandmother is British) who decides she doesn’t want to go to school anymore. Her parents send her to spend some time with her English grandmother who lives in the countryside.

There’s a rumor that her grandmother is a witch, so she asks her grandmother to teach her to become a witch. The grandmother agrees…but what she actually teaches her are important life lessons.

The grandmother is played by Stephanie Sachiko “Sachi” Parker.

Do you know Sachi Parker?

Probably not. But you probably do know the famous American actress Shirley MacLaine.
Sachi Parker is Shirley MacLaine‘s daughter.
She was raised in Japan by her father (Steve Parker). She’s fluent in 日本語 (Japanese).

So instead of the movie, we went to サンシャインシティ (Sunshine City).
サンシャインシティ (Sunshine City) is a block of buildings in 池袋 (Ikebukuro, Tokyo) that include a shopping center, a convention center, a hotel, a movie theater, an aquarium, a planetarium, an observatory, offices, and more.

The observatory is on top of the 60-story サンシャイン６０ (Sunshine 60) building.

Click here to visit the サンシャインシティ (Sunshine City) website (in Japanese only).

Here are some photos that I took around 池袋 (Ikebukuro, Tokyo):

(Many restaurants in Japan have a plastic display of the menu out front.)

(Ikebukuro)