Monday, 04 February 2008

• Akihabara - Electric City

  Akihabara, Japan

  A central district in Tokyo, Akihabara lights up the night with gaming centers, anime boutiques, and electronic shops.  We got here pretty late and since most shops close at 8pm in Tokyo, we didn't get to see too much of the district.

  

  There were a number of hobby and electronics shops.  Some buildings were 5 floors of the same thing!  It felt like I was at Pacific Mall in Toronto!

  There were some notable items like this:

  

  They're mouse pads with a soft gel area to rest your wrist.  The one on the left doesn't show the full product on the packaging.  Which one would you get? 

  Some blankets for those cold nights:

  

  It's great how the print of the anime girl is life sized.  No more imagining.

  Some more conservative anime items where Cammy from Street Fighter:

  

  Cammy was a steal at $28.  I still regret not buying her.

  Scale model hobbist will have a great time combing over the many stores:

  

  Planes and cars are a big thing for guys.  The crappy white cars at the bottom of the photo are models of a Toyota AE86, made famous by anime series Initial D.  They also had a Hong Kong live action movie called Initial D that was based on the first Japanese anime series.  It had bad acting so I'd avoid the live action version.

  Tons of Transformers too bad they weren't on sale:

  

  A feeling of nostalgia rushes over me when I see Transformers.  Too bad they're expensive here in Akihabara.  I saw the American Anniversary Optimus Prime DVD Edition for $100 at a shop.  They sold the same toy at Walmart for $80.

  There wasn't a whole lot of interesting Japanese technology for sale that you can't find in Canada/US.  I did find this Sharp OLED TV that is super thin:

  

  It's a bit pricy at $2000.  I think I'd rather go for a large LCD with that money.

  Akihabara is a popular location for tourists and locals so you may find someone performing on the streets.  Here we have a lot of people gawking at a woman dressed in a maid costume drawing on a paper taped to a van.

  

  The van is painted all over in an ugly yellow.  The anime drawing doesn't look too bad.  Notice how she doesn't have a cup or hat or something else to pan for money.

  

  That's because she's selling toothbrushes, blankets, posters, and calendars at the back of her van.

  After all that walking around looking at naked anime figurines, model cars, guns, toy guns, a woman dressed in a maid costume, I bought nothing.  What a big disappointment.  I guess I'll have to eBay something when I'm back.

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