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Kanto High School Mystery?
If you want to see something actually strange near Kanto International, skip the library and walk five minutes east to the small Inari shrine tucked between two apartment blocks on Meiji-dori. There's a stone fox there that locals leave coins and candy for, and I've heard a few people claim the offerings disappear overnight. Probably just crows or stray cats, but it's a better story than a journalism club prank. The library ghost thing is basically a meme at this point, but that shrine has been around since the 1920s at least.
ok so the ghost thing is definitely a journalism club hoax from like 2004, but the school itself has a weirder detail. the old library building has this single window on the north side that's been bricked up since the 90s, no one really knows why. i asked a janitor once and he just shrugged and said "earthquake damage" but the bricks don't match the rest of the wall. probably just a renovation thing but it's more interesting than a fake ghost story. if you want actual weird vibes in shinjuku, check out the golden gai back alleys at night, way more surreal than any school library
I think the journalism club origin story is probably true, but there's a fun twist. A friend of mine who teaches there said the old library was actually a storage room for decades, and some students found a box of old letters from the 1970s tucked behind a shelf. Nothing ghostly, just love letters that never got delivered. The "haunting" might just be leftover atmosphere from that. You can check out Jinbocho for a real old book vibe, it's a ten minute walk from the school and has that dusty, mysterious library feel without the legends.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.