Akihabara had a lot to live up to.
Yakiniku!
One of the most famous divisions of Tokyo, it's name is synonymous with the neo-geek culture which is so fetishised by many Japan enthusiasts (the "otaku") internationally. This is the heart of Japan's manga, gaming and robot / hi-tech culture, filled with maid cafes and infamous for it's head-splittingly awful (and gargantuan) band 'AKB48' (if you don't know who they are, you've clearly never been to Japan).
A handful of the AKB48 crew. There's 48 of them, apparently.
I can't say they're my particular cup of tea...
(although this is definitely worth seeing!)
(although this is definitely worth seeing!)
For Rainer and I, who would be staying overnight on our travel home from Tohoku, the change would be even more pronounced due to having just spent a week volunteering in a disaster zone. Unfortunately, Danny would be unable to continue travelling with us, as he needed to swiftly return home in order to fly off to Hong Kong with his girlfriend very shortly.
Rainer and I hadn't actually made any formal travel arrangements, beyond a vague "shall we go" / "mayhaps" discussion. Towards the end of the week, we were uncertain that we'd even be able to make it; we were just too exhausted from our work throughout the week. However, our fellow volunteers Michihiro and Yutaka - two Japanese friends we'd made during our time in Tohoku - happened to live in Akihabara, and invited us to meet them during our travel home. Having a new reason to go, we decided to do so.
Richard Gere promotes Orangina on the train to Akihabara station.
An excited Rainer discovers a
Soy Joy machine at Akihabara station.
Having left Ishinomaki that morning and travelling on the Shinkansen from Sendai, Rainer and I had separated from Danny and arrived in Tokyo just after midday. Unfortunately, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and as we made our way to Akihabara station, the floodgates had opened. The weather wasn't just raining, but blowing heavy gusts of wind as well; almost storm like in nature. And it was growing. Yet immediately, stepping outside at Akihabara station, the character of the place was overwhelming; manga posters draped every surface, while the outside area was filled with arcades, flashing lights and assistants handing out flyers for maid cafes.
Shifting manga posters on LCD screens dominate Akihabara station.
Rainer and I shared two opposing reactions; the first: "wow", the second: "find shelter! Now!". Yet, without having made any formal arrangements for accommodation, we presently had nowhere to drop our bags and hide.
The home of AKB48; an inescapable presence throughout Japan.
We settled for a back-up plan; running to the Gundam Cafe situated just outside the station, and pitching down for lunch. We battled our way through the storm (and past the notorious AKB48 Cafe, located right next door), and huddled under the entrance shelter while we waited to get in. After a few cold moments in the rain, we were inside.
Woah...
Now... I don't know much about Gundam. When I was a teenager, I used to watch the Gundam Wing series on Toonami back in the UK, and while I loved it, I didn't follow it obsessively or follow the story arc as a whole. I just liked seeing the cool robots. Something the Gundam Cafe had in spades. There were hundreds of these things.
...ROBOTS!!
The detail stemmed right down to the menu design.
Check out the detail on that carrot!
This place is legit.
This place is legit.
We spent a great deal of time just sitting and taking in our surroundings. This was definitely preferable to the alternative, though, which was treading through the flowing waters outside. Before long, though, I had spent far too much money in the gift shop (on ceramic souvenir plates and hi-ball glasses, no less), and we were back on the streets - the weather still not letting up - in search of accommodation for the evening. With only an iPhone Maps App and a 3G signal as our guide, we navigated our way to a small hotel named 'Hotel Friend', where we found a room with two beds at a decent rate. Naturally, we chilled (and - as it happens - discussed our grievances with and discussed alternatives for the plot of the recently re-released 'The Phantom Menace').
After a prolonged rest (and a much-needed shower), we headed back in to a now thankfully rain-free town to catch up with Michiro and Yutaka.
We found our compatriots next to the station area, and despite having worked heavily throughout the last week, they seemed in good spirits and already revitalized. It turned out we were going to be joined by some more faces from INJM, including Chie and Mina (two local Akihabara girls and friends of our hosts), Eugene and Ayami (two of the folks in charge!), and Kayleigh (a British skiing instructor who was in her last week in depart Japan). Additionally, it had transpired that the legendary Alasdair Adams (fellow Scotsman and occasional star of these blog posts) happened to be in Tokyo and free that evening. A few swift text messages and we were making plans to meet him in the evening. Outstanding. For an unplanned trip, this was definitely coming together.
After recruiting Eugene and Ayami, we headed for the famous Yodabashi-Camera store. Rainer and I had already popped in for a brief look during the afternoon, but we'd only looked at iPads (and been horrified by the Star Wars Kinect game that was on display outside). Michiro was insistent; we had to see the upstairs areas, where toys and video-games were paraded en masse. I honestly wasn't anticipating what I was about to see...
It blew my mind. This place was huge. Several stories towered high and wide, packed to the brim with eccentric niche goods and gadgets. Nothing could have prepared me for the wealth on offer here; ranging from video-games and kid's toys to telescopes and camera lenses (and, of course, a heck of a lot more Gundam merchandise). I was in heaven.
I was particularly taken with an iPhone Dog...
There was so much to look at and investigate, that I found it hard to resist stopping at almost everything. However, hunger was beginning to creep up on everyone, and we left all too quickly. I settled for purchasing an Ultraman toy as my souvenir.
Next stop was yaki-niku at the Gyu-Kaku restaurant in a massive building by the station plastered with SEGA branding. If you remember from my first (rather lengthy!) blog post about Japanese food, you'll remember how much I raved about yaki-niku restaurants - essentially a form of indoor BBQ with flame-cooking at your own table. This was the first time I'd had a social yakiniku in a long time, as well as my first time at the Gyu-Kaku chain; apparently, it's rather famous across Japan and a few countries, but until had somehow gone completely unnoticed by myself! Much kudos to Ayami, who happened to be a vegetarian...
It was a good meal, with good company.
We met Alasdair directly outside the restaurant, looking suave and in good spirits; top form, as per usual. At the girl's insistence, of course, we had to stop for a purikura moment.
After collecting Kayleigh Rumblelow (and her delightful Northern English accent) from the train station, it was time for drinks. Surprisingly, for a place of Akihabara's reputation, this proved to be much more difficult than initially anticipated. Most of the bars in Akihabara were shutting surprisingly early for a Saturday. I couldn't help but feel like we must have been missing a trick, but regardless, we made our way to a small 'British' pub where we sat outside for evening beveridges.
Alasdair and I were up for having a big night, and were determined to find a venue that would accomodate us. Everyone else, however, was beginning to wear down and feel a need to call it a night. Eventually, after a few fond goodbyes, the group whittled down to just myself, Alasdair and Kayleigh. Not even Rainer, whom I'd spent an entire week working in the trenches with, felt inclined to unwind with a few more drinks. It had been great to see all of our fellow volunteers again, and I was sorry that they wouldn't be with us for the rest of the evening.
Still, onwards!
We settled on sitting in an izikaya and drinking until four - not a bad decision, but certainly one that induced a sense of lethargy the following morning! Saying our goodbyes, I navigated myself back to the hotel with a dying iPhone battery and a dawning realisation that Rainer was an early riser.
And so it was, that waking up the next morning with a refreshed Rainer set the seize the day, I forced myself out of bed.
After a revitalising breakfast / coffee combination at Starbucks (a company and a brand that has never let me down), Rainer and I had only two things on the agenda; the first, was to return to Yodobashi-Camera and indulge in more of the previous evening's eccentricities, whilst the second was to visit 'Mandarake' - a retailer lauded as the largest manga store in the world (!).
The weather was beautiful, and the streets were busy and vibrant, with a wealth of foreign tourists parading the streets. The maids were out in full force on the street, offering leaflets in their uniforms to rustle up trade. Incredibly, the streets had been closed and people walked openly across the ground. I was mesmerized by the amount of people walking around, and stopped to take a video:
Our return to Yodabashi-Camera went as expected, although this time I had an opportunity to indulge in my love of tripods and camera lenses, as well as play some of the Nintendo 3DS titles on display (turns out MGS3: Snake Eater doesn't work so well on a handheld!). Rainer picked up a strange set of magnetic steel balls that rolled around into different shapes, while I felt at home walking amongst all of the retro gaming titles and just roaming the aisles. It truly is a remarkable place, and well worth a visit for anyone in Akihabara.
We found our compatriots next to the station area, and despite having worked heavily throughout the last week, they seemed in good spirits and already revitalized. It turned out we were going to be joined by some more faces from INJM, including Chie and Mina (two local Akihabara girls and friends of our hosts), Eugene and Ayami (two of the folks in charge!), and Kayleigh (a British skiing instructor who was in her last week in depart Japan). Additionally, it had transpired that the legendary Alasdair Adams (fellow Scotsman and occasional star of these blog posts) happened to be in Tokyo and free that evening. A few swift text messages and we were making plans to meet him in the evening. Outstanding. For an unplanned trip, this was definitely coming together.
After recruiting Eugene and Ayami, we headed for the famous Yodabashi-Camera store. Rainer and I had already popped in for a brief look during the afternoon, but we'd only looked at iPads (and been horrified by the Star Wars Kinect game that was on display outside). Michiro was insistent; we had to see the upstairs areas, where toys and video-games were paraded en masse. I honestly wasn't anticipating what I was about to see...
Distinctly Japanese toys at Yodobashi-Camera.
It blew my mind. This place was huge. Several stories towered high and wide, packed to the brim with eccentric niche goods and gadgets. Nothing could have prepared me for the wealth on offer here; ranging from video-games and kid's toys to telescopes and camera lenses (and, of course, a heck of a lot more Gundam merchandise). I was in heaven.
I was particularly taken with an iPhone Dog...
There was so much to look at and investigate, that I found it hard to resist stopping at almost everything. However, hunger was beginning to creep up on everyone, and we left all too quickly. I settled for purchasing an Ultraman toy as my souvenir.
Next stop was yaki-niku at the Gyu-Kaku restaurant in a massive building by the station plastered with SEGA branding. If you remember from my first (rather lengthy!) blog post about Japanese food, you'll remember how much I raved about yaki-niku restaurants - essentially a form of indoor BBQ with flame-cooking at your own table. This was the first time I'd had a social yakiniku in a long time, as well as my first time at the Gyu-Kaku chain; apparently, it's rather famous across Japan and a few countries, but until had somehow gone completely unnoticed by myself! Much kudos to Ayami, who happened to be a vegetarian...
It was a good meal, with good company.
Dinner-time fun. From left to right;
Rainer Wessels, Takahashi Michihiro, Yutaka Iioka, Mina Kemmisaki,
Chie Aida, Eugene Amigo and Ayami Sasas.
Ayami enjoys a selection of fried vegetables, whilst
Eugene apparently enjoys the scent of chopsticks.
What would a meal in Japan be without
a bowl of rice in accompaniment?
We met Alasdair directly outside the restaurant, looking suave and in good spirits; top form, as per usual. At the girl's insistence, of course, we had to stop for a purikura moment.
I actually really like this photo. Note: Alasdair was not
actually part of the INJM team despite having the banner
positioned directly above his head!
After collecting Kayleigh Rumblelow (and her delightful Northern English accent) from the train station, it was time for drinks. Surprisingly, for a place of Akihabara's reputation, this proved to be much more difficult than initially anticipated. Most of the bars in Akihabara were shutting surprisingly early for a Saturday. I couldn't help but feel like we must have been missing a trick, but regardless, we made our way to a small 'British' pub where we sat outside for evening beveridges.
Sitting outside a 'British' pub in Akihabara. Relaxing, but
I'm certain there's a much more eccentric nightlife hidden nearby.
Still, onwards!
We settled on sitting in an izikaya and drinking until four - not a bad decision, but certainly one that induced a sense of lethargy the following morning! Saying our goodbyes, I navigated myself back to the hotel with a dying iPhone battery and a dawning realisation that Rainer was an early riser.
And so it was, that waking up the next morning with a refreshed Rainer set the seize the day, I forced myself out of bed.
---
After a revitalising breakfast / coffee combination at Starbucks (a company and a brand that has never let me down), Rainer and I had only two things on the agenda; the first, was to return to Yodobashi-Camera and indulge in more of the previous evening's eccentricities, whilst the second was to visit 'Mandarake' - a retailer lauded as the largest manga store in the world (!).
Manga: everywhere.
The weather was beautiful, and the streets were busy and vibrant, with a wealth of foreign tourists parading the streets. The maids were out in full force on the street, offering leaflets in their uniforms to rustle up trade. Incredibly, the streets had been closed and people walked openly across the ground. I was mesmerized by the amount of people walking around, and stopped to take a video:
Our return to Yodabashi-Camera went as expected, although this time I had an opportunity to indulge in my love of tripods and camera lenses, as well as play some of the Nintendo 3DS titles on display (turns out MGS3: Snake Eater doesn't work so well on a handheld!). Rainer picked up a strange set of magnetic steel balls that rolled around into different shapes, while I felt at home walking amongst all of the retro gaming titles and just roaming the aisles. It truly is a remarkable place, and well worth a visit for anyone in Akihabara.
Big demo booths in Yodabashi-Camera.
This guy must have been having a blast.
After popping through a few electronics retailers - Akihabara was full of PC hardware for sale! - we arrived at Mandarake. We actually waited in the wrong queue for the opening, as it turned out we were in the returns entrance. An entrance just for people who wanted to return items? What sort of place was this?! As it turned out, a spectacular one.
A TRON mouse?!
Akihabara, I love you.
Anime advertising in every nook and cranny; here, an
anime girl gives instructions on how to install ASUS hardware.
Retro SEGA joy.
Mandarake was huge. Similar to Yodabashi-Camera in size - but not space (it was claustrophobic!) - every floor was filled with manga, video-games and toys. It certainly seemed worthy of it's reputation as the premier manga store; the window was full of old, archaic editions that looked like it was from very long ago. indeed.Of particular note was the starting discovery of a floor dedicated entirely to "adult" material, which happened to be filled with consumers, and a floor dedicated entirely to toys on the upper floor (where Terminators and Aliens sat side-by-side with Gundams and obscure-anime models).
For myself, the biggest surprise came on the gaming floor; a horde of Sega Saturn titles, all waiting to be purchased. I was elated; one of my ambitions when coming to Japan was to pick up a Japanese Sega Saturn, having always loved my European edition. Here was a good chunk of the titles I wanted right here. Buying as many as I could afford, I reluctantly left knowing so many more were being left behind (don't worry; I've since picked up the console in Japan courtesy of private sellers on the Japanese Amazon!).
Finally, after a cheap and easy lunch at the train station (chicken katsudon), we began a relaxing journey back to Kagawa. It felt like a very long time indeed since we'd last seen it, leaving over a week prior for our volunteering trip to Tohoku. I recall indulging in the luxuries of the Shinkansen food cart (coffee and snacks), and feeling relieved to know I'd be sleeping in my own bed again that night.
Akihabara was cool, but our stay had felt incredibly brief. We had only spent around 24 hours there, and there was so much more to see and do by reputation (for example, just what is up with these maid cafes?). Still, I got a taste for the place, and was enthralled by it. I'm looking forward to the inevitable return visit.
The good news is - thanks to our time in Tohoku with our fellow volunteers - I now have good friends there to go back to.
Thanks, guys.
