I know that most people will probably think I'm stupid after reading this due to the nature of the event. However, I want you to keep in mind that this is something that tons of people have been doing now over the last couple of years.
I'm not really sure when the stamp rally began and I'm sure that I could find out but that's not the point. I guess that I have to explain what is the stamp thing anyway.
Japanese love to stamp things and it is exactly as you imagine probably. I can only assume the reason is that stamping something makes people feel official or at least that is my theory. Everywhere you go then their is usually a stamp of some sort to get and that is why people typically carry little notebooks of paper around with them (like my wife). There are stamps in a post office (and I'm not talking about the letter kind), temples, or popular places. After being in Japan as long as I have then you just get used to them and I have to say that it's pretty fun after you get past the "What is fun about stamping a piece of paper?" part. Here are a few samples of things that my wife has managed to collect in various parts of Japan that she still happens to have with her.
The Pokemon part is the part that I feel that I don't have to explain. Because if you don't know what Pokemon is/are then please send me your address so that I can write you hate mail for a change or basically explain how much of an idiot that you must be for not knowing. I really don't know much about it but I have a general idea and that is good enough. Granted, I have a six year old but that is of no regard because I knew about it even before she was born. Also, Pokemon is still a pretty big popular cult nowadays.....movies are still made, the cartoon series is still going, games still come out, I mean, I thought the stuff would die out but nope it's still kicking pretty strong. So, go on Mr. "Japanese guy that created Pokemon" with your bad self.
The rally part just makes it sound good and I decided to look the work up in a dictionary just see what the official meaning is and dab-nab-it....it just so happens to fit my theory of feeling official by stamping something. Check out the meaning of the word rally below:
transitive senses
1 a : to muster for a common purpose b : to recall to order
2 a : to arouse for action b : to rouse from depression or weakness
intransitive senses
1 : to come together again to renew an effort
2 : to join in a common causeI think we should go with the Transitive sense 2b (see, I'm starting to sound official already)
to rouse from depression or weakness.
I guess we could translate the Pokemon Stamp Rally into = A Stamping effort to rally the Pokemon from depression or weakness. I'm starting to scare myself because that actually makes sense......whoa, scary.
The Pokemon Stamp Rally usually starts during the Japanese Summer vacation time which is around late July and early August. What you have to do is get a paper from various stands around the train stations then fill up a paper with 7 stamps then head to a goal eki (means Train Station is Japanese). When you arrive at the goal Eki then you are given a stamp book, some advertisement junk (about Pokemon, of course), and a little gift (more about that later or I should say another story).
The part that I don't like is the time limit...it starts about 9:30am until about 4:00pm for about 20 days or so. This year it ran from July 30th until August 20.
I almost left out the most important part unless you picked up on it by now. That's right, it's sponsered by the Japan Rail Lines. So, the point being is to go to the different stations in the Tokyo area and get "Stamped". Here's a map but it's in Japanese, however, this will give you an idea. There were 100 stops this year.
If the above picture comes out too small then try saving it and looking at it that way. I originally made it as wallpaper after we finished.
I know, I know, you thinking "Why would I waste time on doing that?" well, because you get a chance to win prizes after you fill up your book and send it in. We just got back our stuff a few weeks ago but unfortuately didn't win anything but it's still fun. I mean, you have to go to about a hundred different stations and get the different stamps because each station has a different Pokemon stamp.....now how cool is that? I personally love the trains and think that it is one of the best mass transportation systems in the world. It took me (with my daughter and my wife somedays) period of about 5 days to get all the stamps. It's the trains and crowds that hold you up. You have to basically pack a lunch to take with you and bring lots of change for drinks, etc. My daughter and I brought our Gameboys and my Ipod Shuffle to entertain during some of the long hauls. Here is a picture from the last day of our travels at our final station.
The first weekend when it starts is pure madness. Hundreds of people are trying to do this to and at some stations there are only a couple of stamps so that means lines, lines, and more lines. Plus, you have to make a dash to find the stamp location and race all the other kids and adults that are trying to do the same thing.
Basically, the whole event boils down to lots of fun and it is. I got a small train pass (meaning that it is pre-paid up to a certain amount) and a certificate with my name on it telling me of how great I am and what a feat that was accomplished by me.
Here's pre-paid train pass up to 500 yen or $5.00 American dollars. Yeah, I'll get really far with that one...yeah right, basically one stop over and back. I'll save the card as a collector's item. It just makes you feel great. I have pictures of course so enjoy.
Here's pictures of my stamps from my book. Yeah, baby....oh, yeah!
Ja, mata ne (Well, next time)
Buddha S.
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Topic: Pokemon Stamp Rally 2005 (Read 2999 times)