July 6th, Tokyo
Today, I woke up around 3am. I think my sleep hours are off, and typically i wake up real early the first day while in Japan as i adjust to the time difference. I watched some Japanese TV, amused by the tv programs, commercials, and some news. I'm planning my day ahead and trying to map out my destinations. It is somewhat warm and humid outside, as expected. ....It is now about 5am as I write this and the sun started coming out as early as 4:30am, that's early eh?
Earlier, i went to the trainstation, about a 5 to 7 minute walk from the Grand Akasaka Prince Hotel. I took the Akasaka-Mitsuke subway line to Tokyo Station. The stations are big and have a "JR" station and a subway trains. There is a lot of walking and lots of stairs, no wonder the Japanese are so fit and in-shape. I then transferred to the JR trains to the Yamanote Line(green). I took it to the Shinjuku station. Little did i know, i could have more easily taken the Marunouchi subway line, which is direct from the Akasaka-Mitsuke station, and taken it a few train stops to the Shinjuku station, about 7 to 10 min. Each stop is about 2 min away from each other, and literally the stop time at each specific station is less than 30 secs, once in while it could be longer, depending if it is a major station, or the location. So, I then took the JR train to Shinjuku station. I got out and walked around for awhile. I was waiting for the Kinokuniya bookstore to open, which opens promptly at 10am. I bought some photobooks, and then i headed off by the JR-yamanote line to Shibuya, to walk around. I headed off to the Shibuya 109-2 bldg, which is accross the street from the station. I bought some Hello Project Official store, to buy some photos of the girls of Morning Musume(J-pop music group.) Afterwards I headed off to Akihabara via the JR-Yamanote line. It took about 30 minutes from Shinjuku to Akihabara. I walked around for awhile, and finally visited the AKB48(Don Quixote building). I first had lunch at a Maid-Cafe, my first one, and first time eating at one. The girls were really "kawaii"- cute for Japanese. I didn't have to wait long, i guess other days it gets really crowded. Finally one of the waitresses took me in and asked me all in Japanese where i basically wanted to eat, and for how many. I answered back to her in my limited Japanese. I ate curry, and after nearly an hour, of just sitting, eating, observing the scenery, and waiting, I was finally ready to pay for my lunch. Beforehand, i chose(an option), to have a picture with one of Maid-cafe waitress, for a pix for 500 yen. But first my lunch was iced coffee, about 500 yen, and curry for about 1000 yen. It was a cool experience, and for being a tourist, i felt for once like a true "Japanese Otaku" lol. Little did i know, that i was in the same bldg as AKB48, a Jpop girl group, consisting of 3 teams, A-K-B! of 16 girls on each team. After figuring out it was in the same building, i headed back in to the 8th floor. As there are no elevators, i took the escalators up and up to the 7th, and for some reason there was a sign on the leading up the 8th floor, and there was a time of 5pm, in Japanese, so i decided to come back around 5pm. I went back out and heading out to the other stores in nearby buildings. Akihabara is a big area consisting of Japan's well known high-tech electronics, but what some travel brochures and books forget to mention is that Akihabara is more and more becoming Anime-Otaku paradise, with blocks of everything Anime-otaku related. Probably atleast a few blocks of buildings devoted to everything related to anime, music, gravure idols, and everything else to the person that just loves to collect things. It is truly amazing what the Japanese people will go for, for the collector, in what is presented, and available, they are really amazing. It is because of Akihabara that anime conventions around the world, probably exists, this is the mecca of all things anime! Japan also has other anime-otaku based stores, in Kyoto, Ikebukuro, Nakano, and other areas. But Akihabara is the main place that has it! i went to other bldg's, including Toro no Ano, one of the main buildlings that has everything anime!, then Soft map, more of the same. Each building has about 7 to 8 floors, and each floor is distinct in what types of anime, stuff they sell on each floor, anything and everything, on anime. There is also stores that are devoted to the collector of anime figurines, robots, dolls, trading cards, anything you can almost imagine in the anime-otaku world. I found a few noodle shops, onigiri(rice ball), and crepe(deserts) places on the street.
Earlier, i went to the trainstation, about a 5 to 7 minute walk from the Grand Akasaka Prince Hotel. I took the Akasaka-Mitsuke subway line to Tokyo Station. The stations are big and have a "JR" station and a subway trains. There is a lot of walking and lots of stairs, no wonder the Japanese are so fit and in-shape. I then transferred to the JR trains to the Yamanote Line(green). I took it to the Shinjuku station. Little did i know, i could have more easily taken the Marunouchi subway line, which is direct from the Akasaka-Mitsuke station, and taken it a few train stops to the Shinjuku station, about 7 to 10 min. Each stop is about 2 min away from each other, and literally the stop time at each specific station is less than 30 secs, once in while it could be longer, depending if it is a major station, or the location. So, I then took the JR train to Shinjuku station. I got out and walked around for awhile. I was waiting for the Kinokuniya bookstore to open, which opens promptly at 10am. I bought some photobooks, and then i headed off by the JR-yamanote line to Shibuya, to walk around. I headed off to the Shibuya 109-2 bldg, which is accross the street from the station. I bought some Hello Project Official store, to buy some photos of the girls of Morning Musume(J-pop music group.) Afterwards I headed off to Akihabara via the JR-Yamanote line. It took about 30 minutes from Shinjuku to Akihabara. I walked around for awhile, and finally visited the AKB48(Don Quixote building). I first had lunch at a Maid-Cafe, my first one, and first time eating at one. The girls were really "kawaii"- cute for Japanese. I didn't have to wait long, i guess other days it gets really crowded. Finally one of the waitresses took me in and asked me all in Japanese where i basically wanted to eat, and for how many. I answered back to her in my limited Japanese. I ate curry, and after nearly an hour, of just sitting, eating, observing the scenery, and waiting, I was finally ready to pay for my lunch. Beforehand, i chose(an option), to have a picture with one of Maid-cafe waitress, for a pix for 500 yen. But first my lunch was iced coffee, about 500 yen, and curry for about 1000 yen. It was a cool experience, and for being a tourist, i felt for once like a true "Japanese Otaku" lol. Little did i know, that i was in the same bldg as AKB48, a Jpop girl group, consisting of 3 teams, A-K-B! of 16 girls on each team. After figuring out it was in the same building, i headed back in to the 8th floor. As there are no elevators, i took the escalators up and up to the 7th, and for some reason there was a sign on the leading up the 8th floor, and there was a time of 5pm, in Japanese, so i decided to come back around 5pm. I went back out and heading out to the other stores in nearby buildings. Akihabara is a big area consisting of Japan's well known high-tech electronics, but what some travel brochures and books forget to mention is that Akihabara is more and more becoming Anime-Otaku paradise, with blocks of everything Anime-otaku related. Probably atleast a few blocks of buildings devoted to everything related to anime, music, gravure idols, and everything else to the person that just loves to collect things. It is truly amazing what the Japanese people will go for, for the collector, in what is presented, and available, they are really amazing. It is because of Akihabara that anime conventions around the world, probably exists, this is the mecca of all things anime! Japan also has other anime-otaku based stores, in Kyoto, Ikebukuro, Nakano, and other areas. But Akihabara is the main place that has it! i went to other bldg's, including Toro no Ano, one of the main buildlings that has everything anime!, then Soft map, more of the same. Each building has about 7 to 8 floors, and each floor is distinct in what types of anime, stuff they sell on each floor, anything and everything, on anime. There is also stores that are devoted to the collector of anime figurines, robots, dolls, trading cards, anything you can almost imagine in the anime-otaku world. I found a few noodle shops, onigiri(rice ball), and crepe(deserts) places on the street.
posted by Kenny at 9:23 PM
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