#akhibara

[mysteriouswanderersworld]

Japan 2025 Part 2

[auraandthefullmoon]

Akihabara 😄 #akhibara #japan #night #lights #city #buildings #city (at Akihabara)

[kevinweitweg]

Heute ging es für uns zum Meiji Schrein, der zu ehren der noch heutigen Kaiserfamilie errichtet wurde. Tokio ist erst ab 1868 Hauptstadt geworden (durch die Meiji Dynastie, deren Nachfahren heute noch die Königsfamilie stellen) und der erste Kaiser wird hier noch verehrt. Danach ging es weiter zur Takeshita Dori Straße, auf dem Weg dorthin waren wir noch etwas länger in einem Cafe… da der Service unsere Drinks vergessen hatte und insgesamt auch etwas unfähig war (ist in der Regel nicht so.). Takeshita Dori Straße ist die Shopping Meile für die Teenager Tokios… es war die Hölle los. Für ca. 20 Minuten sind wir auf der Straße weder vorwärts noch zurückgekommen, weil von beiden Seiten immer mehr Leute reingeströmt sind. Wir haben uns dann durch eine Seitengasse “befreit”, aber der einzige Polizist auf der Straße hatte auch alles entspannt mit seinem Megafon nicht unter Kontrolle… ;) In jedem anderen Land wäre es hier über kurz oder lang zu einer Katastrophe gekommen, die Japaner sind damit recht entspannt umgegangen.

(Ich habe leider kaum Fotos geschoßen, aber sowohl am Meiji Schrein als auch an an der Takeshita Dori war ich bereits.)

Bevor wir zurück zu meinem Guesthouse sind um uns mit Leuten von dort zum Abend essen zu treffen, haben wir noch einen Abstecher nach Akhibara gemacht. Neben den ganzen Video Game Arcades besichtigten wir auch die zahllosen Manga, Hentai und auch “Erotikläden”… und ja, die Japaner haben hier einen sehr speziellen Geschmack. Über Vergewaltigungsfantasien die hier verarbeitet werden bis hin zu Kinderpornographie ist vieles zu haben… posten dazu werde ich aber keine Fotos. Zum Abend essen gab es dann wieder bei mir um die Ecke etwas zu essen, in dem Fall Curry bei Coco Curry. Einfaches Gericht, aber lecker, wie so vieles hier. Danach gab es noch Überlegungen feiern zu gehen, aber mangels Motivation sind wir dann bei mir im Guesthouse geblieben bzw. auf Grund der fortgeschrittenen Zeit am Ende in einen nahegelegenen Park. Da ist dann etwas witziges passiert, meine Mitbewohnerin Kat war “etwas” betrunken und ist komplett ungeniert erst durch die verschiedenen Gerätschaften eines Kinderspielplatzes gekrabbelt um am Ende in einem Teich schwimmen zu gehen… Witzig, aber auch peinlich...

[christineshanshanhou]

where we find a home (at Akhibara Tokyo)

[limatomumbai]

Tokyo Our inspiration for visiting Japan had initially come from our desire to visit Tokyo, and we were now finally here after getting a train from Mount Fuji in the afternoon.

[nowavenowave-image-blog]

#japan #tokyo #akhibara (at Akhibara Tokyo)

[nicholascase]

Otaku Search

After some heavy medication, lots of water, and rest, I woke up Sunday morning feeling a lot better. Maybe about 80%. My eye appeared to be a light pink and compared to the death red it was the day before, this was an improvement. Patrick walked by me after being up all night and went right to bed but Joe was no where to be found. I didn't think much of it as I went to take a shower and do some more writing. It was probably a few hours later that Joe came in soaking wet and his jeans covered in dirt and mud. He told me he had been climbing buildings and showing me cool pictures he had been taking from all the locations he was climbing into. I was surprised and glad to see he was ok and enjoying himself. I caught up on a weeks worth of journaling from the notes I took from when the three of us were hanging out by the river. I'm pretty sure I covered all the bases but so much stuff happens on the daily basis and it fades as the days roll on without writing. Hours later, when the other guys woke up, we made our way to a place nearby called Umeh. One of their friends suggested its a cool place to check out. There was a small temple and lots going on in the area that would keep us occupied until later. Right outside the train station there were busy streets and lots of weird shops to look at. As with most busy side streets, there were brightly colored LED lights, vendors out in front of their shops shouting their discounts to the streets luring as many people as they can into their businesses and loads of people just shopping around. We walked over to the temple area. There was a large pond out in front full of bright green lily pads. It was about 5-6 pm and the sun lit up the area and reflected off the water that wasn't covered by plant life. A walking path that led around to the temple was nice to walk leisurely because we didn't have much else planned for the day. We walked through the grounds just sight seeing and over around the other side of the pond and made our way back to the station. On the walk back we passed by several pachinko areas. I think I described what pachinko was before but basically it's a place full of yen slot machines. When the door opens from someone entering or leaving the sound is really loud and confusing from the little silver balls that are used in the game and all the sound effects coming from each machine. I'm not really sure how the game works or how you win, but if I did I would write about it. Akhibara was our next destination. Instead of taking the subway the others wanted to walk and I grudgingly followed behind. It's frustrating not taking advantage of the most advanced mass transportation in the world only just to wander down some back streets wondering if we're going the right way the whole time. We asked for some directions and got pointed in the right direction. It appeared as though we made it but it looked like any other district in Tokyo since we got there so late. The street was apparently closed down early in the day so that the otaku's, or anime fanatic (usually costume wearing, white and geeky), could show off in the street and interact with each other. Would have been a sight to be seen if we didn't drag our feet. Once we made it in the district, the are we were in was littered with sex shops. In Japan, all of there porn is blurred so you can't see any of the 'action parts'. Even after buying a DVD it would still be blurred. But, after walking in, it was clear they made it past their laws and had even more perverted things. One of the most notable was the child sex doll in the window. Really surprising. But it was a sex shop so I suppose its supposed to have what anybody might be looking for. We checked out all three floors of the place and headed out. As we walked aimlessly down the street there were women dressed in skimpy maid outfits offering us to go in to their cafes. They weren't prostitutes, just demoing their cafes were they were all wearing the same outfits and served you like an anime character. Apparently they can even feed you if you'd like. Just add it to the list of wield things in Japan I've seen. We were hungry and of course there was a beef bowl in sight so we decided to give them more of our money. This one was three floors tall but at first it looked like it didn't have any seats. Be of the workers saw us peering through the window and pointed towards the stairs motioning us to go inside and that there was more seats upstairs. Continuing our aimless walk, looking for otakus, we stopped at a convenient store to pick up some road beers. The convenient store worker actually joined outside after we bought them and struck up some conversation. He said he had been an English major and was 19 and I guessed he wanted to practice some of his English with us. We asked him about otakus, he said he hated them. We asked him what he thought of Akhibara, he said he hated it. We kept asking him questions and he responded mostly in hate. Which I thought was kind of sad and maybe he didn't understand what the word meant but Patrick reminded me that the guy was an English major so he should know. We walked back and I convinced the others to check out the arcade we were walking by. We went upstairs and there were a bunch of people playing the games it looked like they had been training their entire lives for. I didn't even want to approach them and play because I had nothing close compared to the skill they had while using these machines. It was actually pretty intimidating. We found a multiplayer side scrolling shooter the three of us decided to play. It was all in Japanese so we had to get some help starting the game. Ice we were in it was pretty cool. Lots of enemies and power ups and we just concentrated on not dying but that didn't help much. We made it to the second level before all of us were annihilated. On the top floors the most pro of the gamers were there playing a screen shooter open world multiplayer. There were over 8 machines with people duel welled weapons and destroying everything. We didn't even attempt this one because we would only be getting in the way but it was amazing to watch. The controls looked impossible. Two joy sticks and buttons on each hand gun and incredibly fierce competition. After that we had enough and decided to leave. The walk back was short. We grabbed the subway and got off right in front of our guesthouse and saw another DVD room. We thought it'd be cool to watch another movie to cap off the night and when we headed up the stairs we realized it wasn't the same as when we were in Korea. Where in Korea the DVDbang was for dates, Japan the DVD rooms were more for...solo experiences. The room was filled with porn and once we realized it and after some browsing we got out of there. Ironically, we called the family right after that for Father's Day. It was nice to catch up. We used FaceTime and with our wifi card it was free. Pretty awesome to use technology to see family face to face who are on the other side of the planet. After saying good byes, we finished the night with some spicy turkish kabobs and we crossed the bridge to get some sleep.

[trendyintokyo-blog]

Festivals, Parks, and Nerd Central...oh my!

Yesterday, the study abroad students took a tour around some close neighborhoods, and I got a very different taste of Japanese life! We started in Asakusa, a town known for a large temple, then travelled to Ueno park, and ended in Akhibara! After walking so long in the heat, I collapsed as soon as we got home, but it was totally worth it!

There happened to be a Brazillian festival going on in Asakusa, and the place was PACKED. I have never been in such a huge crowd (and such a pushy one! Old people here are MEAN if you don't get out of their way!). While the parade route was really crowded on the streets, we made our way back into streets lined with vendors, selling everything from traditional souvenirs to street food. We spent most of our time looking at all the unique wares, and ate a ton. Some of our purchases included green tea and rose flavored ice cream (by far the most delicious ice cream I've ever had), fresh takoyaki (balls of octopus and vegetables, topped with fish flakes and Japanese mayo), grilled squid on a stick (exactly what it sounds like...), and ice pops.

The festival made me really feel like I was in Japan, even though the performers were celebrating Brazilian culture. I saw people dressed up in yukata, dozens of different foods, and I really felt the Japanese culture here! I was sad to leave with so much going on, but the heat made me glad to get back on the subway.

Our next stop was Ueno park, which is a combination of walking paths, a HUGE lake filled with giant lily pads, and a temple. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the wildlife, including carp that had to be 3 feet long. We spent a little bit of time at the temple learning how to use the incense and different fortunes that you could buy, and then walked around. There were a lot of feral cats hanging around, and I even saw a man pushing three kitties in a baby stroller. Not sure what that was about...In any case, the park was beautiful...I wonder what it'll be like in the fall.

After walking through a street full of fish and dried food vendors, we came to Akhibara. This neighborhood is THE place for otaku (nerds). There are tons of electronic stores and different nerdy cafes...Some of our group went to a cafe based on Gundams, a robot made popular from a TV anime. Because we were so exhausted by then, we got a drink at a coffee shop and then headed to a huge 6 story camera store. They had everything from make up and school supplies to massage chairs and rice makers. It was definitely cool, I just wished I had more energy then! We definitely need to make a full day of Akhibara in the future.

This afternoon, I hope to go to Harajuku and finally get some cute clothes! Until then!