2024年6月5日

A Day of Animal Crossing in Real Life

I’ve been a fan of Animal Crossing since I was little, and recently I’ve been playing it again (New Leaf, specifically). And it got me thinking about what it is that I like about this series that has kept me coming back to it for these 20 or so years. Different people will cite different reasons for why the series appeals to them personally, but for me I think it’s that it fills me with a zest for life - not for an out-of-reach fantasy life or sci-fi life, but for the life I have right now. It reminds me of the joy to be found in my neighborhood, in the simple activities of owning my own little room and decorating it to my liking, of planting flowers around my house and tending to them, of writing a letter to a friend and sending it at the post office, and so on.

Mailing a letter in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

As I was playing and thinking about these things, it occurred to me that these themes overlap nicely with the theme of this blog - of the tiny adventures to be had in your neighborhood. Maybe that’s not a coincidence - maybe playing the Animal Crossing series since I was a child had a big influence on my values as an adult, and maybe if Animal Crossing had never existed, neither would this blog.

In any case, I decided that for this blog entry I would go on a little adventure inspired by what I love about Animal Crossing - a full day of Animal Crossing in real life. And so I came up with a list of real-life activities derived from the game for an ultimate “Animal Crossing Day”.

The List

In deciding what activities to include in the list, I considered what activities are the most iconic mainstays across the Animal Crossing series. I also tried to only include activities that most people could reasonably do in the spur of the moment - so no getting your hair done at the salon or paying off your mortgage. In the end, I included 7 activities on the list, which you can download and print using the link below.

Animal_Crossing_Day.pdf (504kb)

Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to encourage others to try this challenge without first undertaking it myself. So after finalizing the list, I reserved my next free day entirely for Animal Crossing.

As a quick aside, for my Animal Crossing day I tried to use my phone as little as possible, and to get to all my destinations by walking, and I would encourage anyone else who tries this challenge to do the same. I don’t think it requires much explanation that if most of your day is spent in a car and/or with your nose in your social media feed, it’s not going to feel very much like Animal Crossing. That said, some neighborhoods are more walkable than others, and different people have different needs, so feel free to adjust these guidelines (and the list itself) to suit your situation. The goal should be to have fun and to push yourself to explore and enjoy your neighborhood a little more than you normally would.

Starting my Animal Crossing Day

I decided to start my Animal Crossing day off by writing and sending a letter. My little sister in America recently moved out of our parents house and got her own apartment, so I took this opportunity to send her a congratulatory message. As it so happens, in my giant collection of stationery I have this Animal Crossing: City Folk letter set which was a Club Nintendo reward in Japan. It features a variety of paper designs that look just like the ones you can buy in the game. Of course, any stationery will do for this activity, but I can’t think of a better use for this Happy Room Academy paper than for celebrating my sister getting her own place.

After finishing my letter, I headed out to my local post office and mailed it.

“Catching” a Bug

If I was going to find a critter more interesting than a housefly, I figured the local nature park would be my best bet, so I headed there next.

As explained on the list, for this activity, you want to try to find a bug or a fish in the wild just like in Animal Crossing, but you can simulate “catching” it by just taking a picture of it with your phone.

Komaba Park is a fairly humble park, but it’s lush with greenery and has some nice walking paths through the woods.

It was along one of those walking paths that I made my “catch” - this pill bug.

Although I could've sold him at the shop for 250 bells, I decided to let him be. I enjoyed watching his movements for some time, and then I continued on to the next item on my list.

Visiting a Museum

There’s a museum in my neighborhood that I had been meaning to go to for a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity. It’s called Nihon Mingeikan or The Japan Folk Crafts Museum (homepage). Unfortunately, photography was prohibited in the museum, so I can only show you the outside.

The museum was amazing - both the building itself, and the artifacts on display. I would highly recommend it to anyone who lives in or is visiting Tokyo and is interested in folk crafts. I don’t hear it talked about a lot or mentioned on any Tokyo must-see lists, and there weren’t many people there when I visited, so to my mind it’s kind of a hidden gem. I felt fortunate to live in a neighborhood with such a beautiful and historic museum.

I had now finished 3 out of 7 items on the list. As I walked around my neighborhood from location to location, I checked off each activity with a stamp.

The Clothing Shop

This activity is of course meant to recreate the experience of shopping at Able Sisters, and again I was lucky to have a place in my neighborhood that fit the bill perfectly - this local clothing store called Panama Boy (Instagram).

Here they sell a mix of secondhand clothes and original handmade and upcycled clothes. I think the original clothes are made by the shopkeeper or other staff in a workspace behind the counter. This felt perfect for my Animal Crossing day, because it reminded me of Sable working away at her sewing machine in the corner of Able Sisters, presumably making all the clothes for sale in the shop.

But handmade clothes understandably come at a premium, and unfortunately, at the moment I find myself between jobs (or rather, I have a job lined up, but the Japanese immigration system has been processing my visa application for over 2 months now, during which time I can’t work). So I decided against buying one of their cool but pricey handmade garments. But I still wanted to do something to “change up my look” as the list says, so in the end I bought this cute ring and wore it the rest of the day.

Getting Coffee

This coffee and ice cream shop, Suho (Instagram), opened up in my neighborhood this year and I hadn’t tried it yet, so I decided to go there.

Just like at the Roost, I took a seat at the counter where I could watch the barista make my drink. But unlike at the Roost, the barista was friendly and talkative. They had a no photography rule, but he let me take a picture of my drink. I also got this free puppy sticker, I think from a magazine they were featured in.

It’s not in the picture above, but I ended up getting a scoop of ice cream too, and I really enjoyed the bitter and sweet combination of a latte with ice cream.

Shopping for Something New

For this activity, the list says to “change up your room” by shopping for a cute new decoration, ideally something secondhand, à la Re-Tail. I decided the best shop in my neighborhood for this activity was this little vintage shop called Ditty Tools (homepage).

But again, money is tight, and vintage stuff can be pricey. While I really wanted the cute vintage suitcase, or the funky vintage mantelpiece clock, I had to settle for something much smaller: a cute little vintage printing set.

My purchase. I like this wrapping.

Back home with my purchase

New letterhead for all Puchi Boken Zukan inter-office memos

I don't know if you can call this purchase a “decoration”, but I think it’s cute, so I found a nice place to display it.

Winding Down

There was one item left on my list - gardening. I thought for this part I might plant something new, but it was late, I had spent the whole day walking, and I was tired.

So I watered my houseplants,

…stamped off the last item on my list and enjoyed looking at the little treasures I had accumulated over the day,

…and climbed into bed. Where, appropriately, I winded down with a little nighttime Animal Crossing.

Nothing quite like that nighttime Animal Crossing background music

Final Thoughts

There were things in my Animal Crossing day that didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I slept in later than I had planned, which meant that I couldn’t spend as much time looking for bugs in the park as I would’ve liked. I knew my budget would be limited, but I was hoping to find some stuff that would give me a little more bang for my buck. In retrospect, an older, Showa-era-esque coffee shop probably would’ve given more Animal Crossing vibes.

But even if everything didn’t go perfectly, by taking inspiration from Animal Crossing, I was able to find the motivation to familiarize myself with parts of my neighborhood I had never visited before. That might not sound significant, but as someone who struggles to find the motivation to do a lot of things (hence me having never visited the folk crafts museum despite living so close to it for almost 3 years now) a little motivation can mean a lot. I also felt a greater appreciation for the fact that I live in a neighborhood in Tokyo where I was able to do all 7 of these activities within walking distance.

I don’t get a lot of traction with this blog (and that’s fine!). But should someone someday read this and decide to try an Animal Crossing day of their own, I hope that they too will have fun, get to know their neighborhood a little better, and - even if only temporarily - maybe feel a little more zest for life.