So for those who do not know Akihabara was originally the tech centre for Tokyo. It was where you went for gadgets, electronics and general maker type project pieces. And that element still exists, but the majority of the space is now dedicated to the ‘otaku’ fandom space. Anime, manga and video games. I went there for souvenir shopping, and just to see how crazy the collector market can get. And it can get crazy.
So I start my day off taking the subway without direction for the first time. And I did it. Score one for me being able to look at pictures on a map and plot a route. Actually the subway was wonderful. Full phone reception underground, clean trains, clear loading/unloading zones for doors. Very well organized. Any way I popped out a block away and walked into a book store. It was really interesting and set the stage for almost every store I would visit all day. The building was very small, about the size of a god sized coffee shop, but it help nine floors the same size, each one filled with books. I walked through the levels and each level was dedicated to a different type of book. They had half a floor just for trains, with books, gifts, and collectibles. There was a section of books for women. I assume that actually, not being able to read Japanese, by the barbie like pink air that I walked through. Maybe it was a section for adult men, but I doubt it. There were sections for computer skills books, learning languages. Everything you would expect to see in a chapters, except each section was a floor instead of just a few shelves with a text label above. I did not buy any books.
Next I visited a Starbucks for a delicious, if unhealthy breakfast of chiffon cake and liquid ice cream called the Vanilla Cream Frapachino. While eating I had a chance to chat online a little, which was nice. My day was very pleasant, and the breakfast of champions was a good start.
After coffee, I had the most amazing video call with my girlfriend. I probably kept her from her work for way too long, but it was important. Also she was as bad as me for hanging up, so I am not completely to blame. We finally stopped chatting when I was told I was not supposed to be where I was. But I did get a chance to show her around what I was seeing myself, for a few minutes before the crowds made it impossible to chat and walk.
I headed over to where the crowds were thickest and ended up in a ten story collectible building. Each floor was one or more shop(s) dedicated to a certain type of collectible. There were figurines, trading cards, board games and RPGs, video games, craft stuff. Dolls. The dolls were a bit much. So I had to take a few pictures. Once I got to the top I headed back down for my next adventure.
I entered a lot of different buildings, some small, some bigger. A lot of repeat after a while. Video games, mostly new but I did find a retro video game store. I had thought about buying am old console but they wanted over $600 for it and I would not want to spend that much. Lots of collectible cards and figurines. The other thing that was there, which I did not look at was pachinko machines. These are a form of gambling in Japan, where you buy a bucket of metal ball bearings and run them through a slot machine like thing which either keeps them or gives them back, sometimes with more. At the end you have a bunch left over, maybe more, maybe less and you can trade them in for stuff. I have watched a video that explains it better, but since I do not enjoy gambling I did not partake. Lots of lights and noise though and certainly a lot of people.
They also have a few toy stores that have the turn style capsule toys. This was a thing when I was a child but I have not really seen them back home in a long while, and they were always targeted at under eight I would say. The ones here are targeted at people. All people. I saw kids and adults alike in the stores, different ages, both genders. My guess is due to a lack of space, and the kinder egg like nature of some of the toys inside the capsules, people like to use them as decorations for offices and homes without buying large ornate home decor items. Again this was not something I partook in myself. It was fascinating though.
Also fascinating was the amount of foreigners. There were times when I thought the tourist population exceeded the local population. I am sure that was never true, I just noticed them more, but it was definitely a greater number than I have seen so far. It was also interesting to hear bits of conversations that were not in Japanese. I definitely heard Spanish, English and German. I may have heard other languages but I was not sensitive enough to it to recognize them.
After a number of hours walking in and out of shops I decided to get some food and head home. I went to a place that seemed to advertise sushi according to the map in the lobby, but was actually a french bakery. So I stayed for dessert instead. Nutritious meal number two. I had a lemonade that I was sure was alcoholic but turned out to just contained fermented additives so it had an alcoholic taste without it being alcoholic. And I had a shaved strawberry ice thing. It was all super tasty, and helpful in getting my body temperature down after being in the hot all day long.
Finally I challenged myself to get back home by subway and failed. Instead of thirty minutes and three trains I hoped a wrong line and it took me just over an hour and five trains. I was also nearly asleep on the last train, it was half the journey at least. When I entered the first station it was light out. When I finally emerged from the last station it was night. I felt like the subway station had stolen an entire day from me, transported me through time to this dark and tired place. So I went home (half a block from the station) and slept. The sleep was nice. After a few hours I woke up, bought yogurt and a drink and now this. Overall a very good day. I spent most of the money today on sugared goodness but I had fun.
Tomorrow I will be visiting a contemporary art exhibit. I am really looking forward to it. Until tomorrow.
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