First 3 Days (Akihabara Base Camp) - Japan Trip Report Pt 1
Top Observations:
Russians call diet Pepsi "Pepsi light" (and it tastes flatter than a flat thing).
Had a realisation that nobody ever seems to follow simple directions on a plane. During take off and landing, there will always be at least 2 or 3 people who think they're above the rules and get up to use the bathroom or grab something out of their overhead bag. (WHY?! They aren’t even difficult rules!)
Vending Machine are on nearly every street corner...
...And, conversely, there aren't many bins on the street for your litter outside the vending machine areas.
The Japanese pay SO much attention to detail - whether it's recreating their own culture in video games/anime (E.G. Akiba's Trip) or another culture for something as simple as a restaurant (E.G. HUB)
So many people in Japan seem resistant to even glance up from their phone screen. It’s like they’ve melded with their phone. They quite literally have signs in public areas (such as train stations) advising the general public to remember to look up.
Japanese people seem to properly LOVE their dogs. I regularly saw people pushing them in strollers (maybe because it was still hot and humid and the puppers couldn't walk too far as they're little?). They also dress them up in all kinds of outfits (not costumes, actual outfits...some that end up making them look like 45 year old librarians).
Not only do they love dogs, but they seem to also be big fans of coffee (hot AND iced). I’m dying for a coffee boss as I type this...
They will actually reject your ticket when exiting the metro and prompt you to get a fare adjustment IF YOU OVERPAY! (I cannot envision that ever happening in London.)
All restaurants offer free water. It's brilliant and you don't even have to make the effort to ask for it, it's just given to you instantly. Sometimes it's water that seems to be mixed to a degree with green tea and other times it's just nice and refreshing ice water. Every time it was welcomed.
Top Pieces of Advice:
Always look up! Space is utilised everywhere and sometimes the best shops or restaurants are on the higher levels of a building.
Trust your gut. Be realistic but do what's right for you based off your previous personal experiences. For example: I posted on Reddit some rough plans for my husband and I for the first few days of our trip looking for feedback. The plan included exploring Akihabara's arcades and shops on the day we landed. For context, we were flying into Narita on an overnight flight from the UK with a stop over in Moscow where we know we can't sleep on planes (and I'm not a great flyer on the shortest of flights). We were strongly advised that this would be a recipe for disaster in that the loud and noisy arcades would not be what we'd want after getting to Akihabara (where we were staying for part 1 of our trip) and that it would take time to adjust to the new surroundings/being in a new country and to get our bearings. We knew the reality of the situation but also knew our own limits. Though it would be our first time in Japan, we're more experienced travellers and knew that we'd be so excited just to be there and that our adrenaline would actually help us push through any exhaustion. I'm glad we stuck to our guns because it ended up being the exact right choice for us and it meant that we actually made the most of our first day without overdoing it (we explored the city but had a fairly early night to try to get our bodies into the right timezone). I wouldn't recommend this approach to everybody, but I would recommend listening to your gut, doing your research so you know what to expect, and drawing from past experiences to make sure you make the choice that best suits you and your needs.
If you don't have an appetite of a god, don't expect you'll be able to eat multiple bowls at Ramen at the Shin- Yokohama Ramen Museum. Each bowl in itself was filling.
If you're going to go to a shopping mall, definitely know what shops you're looking to go into. The malls are bigger than you can even imagine (with, perhaps, the exception of those who've been to somewhere like the Mall of America). If you go in to just browse around all of the shops like you might do in the UK or US, you will lose entire chunks of your day.
In addition to the above point, make sure you're keeping track of the time. It's far too easy to fall into a dark void when going into shopping malls or even just standard shops/arcades as there are often times very few or absolutely no windows. You get lost in looking at all the merch and thoroughly covering every inch of every shop with no way to even guess how the day is passing in the outside world, only to glance at your phone and see an hour or more has gone by. From personal experience, I would definitely suggest setting a rough limit on how long you want to dedicate to a particular shop or gaming session and try to stick with it in an effort to make the most of your time and not fall victim to the time-suck.
I'm a nervous flyer at the best of times so I can't pretend that I was all too enthused to have to make not only one, but two flights to get to Tokyo. Beyond there being two flights involved, the second flight has also been the longest flight I've taken to-date, coming in at just over 9 hours. Thankfully I had remembered to load up my iPad with loads of downloaded content from Netflix - including the entire new series of Jack Whitehall: Adventures with my Father (highly recommend, by the way). While we physically survived the flight unscathed, my patience definitely took a battering from the point we landed in Moscow until we had made it through the doors of the arrivals area in Narita. Perhaps it was just shitty luck that day, but it just seemed like we came into contact with every rude bugger Russia had to offer and they all had their attitudes dialled up to 11. It also didn't help that between Russia and Japan we were sat directly behind a couple who had aspirations of flying first class but only a budget fit for cattle like the rest of us. ::cue the constant dinging of the call button for the flight attendants and the multiple reminders from staff about what they could/couldn't do::
I am always in a state of sheer wonderment when it comes to flying and how planes manage to stay up in the air for such long periods (I know the science, but my brain just always want to remind me that today might just be the day that gravity says 'not today, Satan!' and we go hurling downwards through the sky). That wonderment was trumped only by sheer excitement once we made it swiftly through immigration in Tokyo and boarded the Skyliner for part one of our train ride to Akihabara station. The experience only got better when we were approached by a woman who asked us to do a survey in exchange for a discount coupon for Family Mart. She was, as we would find the majority of Japanese people who interacted with us to be, exceptionally pleasant and polite and we couldn't bring ourselves to say anything other than "SURE!" (we even got to keep our pens for free heh). In honesty, we were just pleased to have gone from multiple rude interactions in Moscow to the exact opposite in Japan.
Immediately upon arrival into Electric Town on the Tokyo Metro, we sought out our Airbnb location so that we could drop our bags off ASAP. Official check-in wasn't until after 3PM and we had quite a few hours to kill before then, but I was fortunate enough to have our Airbnb host agree to let us drop out bags off early for storage so we didn't have to find a locker or lug them around further than necessary. Completely reinvigorated by our own adrenaline, we hit second wind despite not sleeping on the overnight flight and got right out to survey the lay of the land around us.This is where we'd be spending our next 3 nights and we needed to become acquainted.
As odd as it sounds, Electric Town in Akihabara just seemed so incredibly familiar to me for somewhere I've never physically been, like a very old friend who you can remember fondly down to their specific physical features despite not having seen them for quite some time. I can only attribute this feeling to having stemmed from playing "Akiba's Trip", which turned out to feature a pretty exact replica of the area. This was just the first of a few experiences throughout our two weeks in Japan that had me stop and say "Wow....the Japanese really do pay SO MUCH attention to detail. It's crazy!".
Running off fumes and crappy plane food alone, we decided we had no choice but to grab something to eat as soon as we could and the first thing to jump out at us was a street food vendor selling kara-age. From there, we proceeded to check out all the big shops and arcades up and down the main strip. To be completely honest, the first two days blurred together, so it gets a bit hazy regarding which activity we did on which of the two days. There are few things I can, however, be sure of. One thing I can say for certain is that, on day one, we most definitely called it an early-ish night. I know we went back to the Airbnb shortly after check-in time (where I proceeded to nap for a few hours on what felt like the most comfortable futon in all of existence) and I know we went out for a chicken katsu curry at CoCo Curry (where I made the mistake of ordering curry with a heat-level of 5, but it was so good that I regret nothing). I also know for a fact that on the morning of day 2, I was privileged enough to enjoy a culinary delight that only an American could love known as Honey Toast. What I would give to have a honey toast and their thirst-quenching special "honey toast latte" here in England cannot be measured in GBP. On day two, we had intended to go on a day trip to Enoshima and Kamakura. But, when we woke up (late, I will add), it was quite rainy out and we had admitted that we'd underestimated just how much there was in Akiba for us to do/see, so we decided to cut this out of the plan for this trip in favour of spending more time around the neighbourhood.
Given the jet-lag had absolutely demolished the functionality of my brain at the time, I will just list below the things I know we did in no particular order within those two days:
* We ate at Carl's Jr - which doesn't seem like something most people travel to Japan to do, but I thought it'd be funny to have my first - and probably only - CJ experience, as an American, be in Japan. Was a bit over-priced for fast food IMO, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it all the same. Full food report will follow..
* We paid a visit to the Kanda Shrine where we prayed for the first of many times throughout our trip. It was an easy walk and it gave us a chance to see some quieter parts of the area we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Neither my husband nor I am particularly religious, but we both admitted later that doing a prayer a day and having that serene moment of reflection a day to send some positive thoughts out into the universe was actually really nice.
* We hunted down a taiyaki stand that does Magikarp-shaped taiyaki. None of the magi's are filled with the typical red-bean paste unfortunately, just custard or chocolate, but we found that the chocolate filling tasted lighter and more like hot, American, chocolate pudding than the heavier rich chocolate you get here in the UK so it was actually a lot nicer than we thought it would be.
* We drank in what we believe was a Brewdog (but not actually called "Brewdog" as it usually would be).
* We visited many game shops - including Super Potato - which was filled with so much retro stuff that we almost couldn't believe it - and board game shop Yellow submarine in an effort to find Coffee Roaster (no such luck and I was pretty much laughed at given it was so rare to find on shelves).
* We ordered coffees (one with latte art) at the Gundam cafe. Hint to those visiting: definitely go and thoroughly check out the toilets.
* We enjoyed a beer by the water at Hitachino Brewing Lab. It seemed like there was just as much love for craft beers in the area as there was for coffee and the weather in the evening was perfect for enjoying a pint outside on the patio. The only downside was that there were so many mosquitos.
Day 3 in Japan involved a trip out to Yokohama to visit the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Interestingly enough, you could buy a yearly pass if you so desired, which it appeared that many Salary men were doing. This made a fair amount of sense once we got to the basement level of the museum where you could visit several different Ramen bars each specialising in a different regional ramen dish (amongst other offerings). You paid outside at the machine and a hostess escorted you inside the "bar" to your seat, took your ticket, and gave you some water. Once it's ready, they’d bring you over a massive bowl of ramen to feast on. At this point, it totally made sense why you might buy a yearly pass if you work in the area because you could eat a new, fresh bowl of ramen every day for a fairly cheap price (outside of the cost of the yearly pass itself). A word to the wise (as mentioned in the first section): don't bother eating breakfast if you're wanting to eat more than one bowl of Ramen. I was surprisingly full before I even finished my one bowl. Definitely bring your A-game appetite if you're wanting a chance to try out different varieties but need to compact it into one visit.
From there, we trekked over to the Landmark Tower. Before we could make our way to the entrance, we spotted an older gentleman with his chunky but adorable pooch. To make a long story short, in true Rik fashion, my husband managed to befriend the dog. The owner ended up giving us treats to give to the little guy/gal. This was yet another demonstration of just how friendly some of the locals were; that they would go out of their way, even with a language barrier, to have a positive interaction with two obvious tourists. It was a very welcoming experience compared to other places we've visited even in the last year alone (E.G. in Poland, people don't seem to want you to even acknowledge they have a dog, let alone ask to pet it).
We made our way inside the building and started to head over to the lift to get to the actual Sky Garden when we caught a glance of a Pokémon centre on the floor above where we made a quick detour before continuing on to the entrance for the sky garden. After a fairly quick wait, we boarded the lift that would shoot us rapidly up to the top floor. The ascension was so quick that my ears actually popped in the lift. According to the website, it makes it up all 69 floors in just under 40 seconds - making it the fastest elevator in the country. The view from the top was the first of many 360-panoramics on our trip and we enjoyed it over a cocktail. It was definitely an experience to see just how big the city was. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very clear day so we were unable to see Mt. Fuji through the clouds.
Once descended, we made our way back to the train station for part 2 of our day trip extravaganza: Kawasaki. We pulled into the station and made our way to higher ground to discover a fairly large open-air lawn space in the centre of yet another endless shopping mall. We didn't hang around too long as we were keen to arrive at Anata No Warehouse; our final planned destination of the day. I don't have words to describe what a unique experience this was as far as arcades go. The place had gone viral and I remember seeing it in a video shared on Facebook thinking that it would be awesome to see this place in person. I also remember thinking how there was no way it could be that cool in real life. Having now been in person, I can now confirm it *IS* indeed that cool in real life.
We sufficiently tired ourselves out enough to head "home". We arrived back in Akiba around 9-9:30, just at the point where I was starting to get hangry. Just as I was ready to throw in the towel for the night, Rik swiftly found us a place to eat that had high ratings on TripAdvisor and was only a 10-minute walk away. It turned out to be a teeny, back-alley izakaya that couldn't have sat more than 15 people MAX. Panic began to set in in my already ravenous state as we couldn't get google translate to work on the handwritten menu that sat above the bar. The man whom I assumed to be the owner didn't appear to speak much English and - obviously - our Japanese was extremely limited. A local who seemed to already be pissed jumped in with her limited English skills to try to bridge the gap between us all, and for that I was very grateful. With her help, we managed to order some chicken and noodles which was so delicious that it was worth every yen and then some. I had thought I was going to end up going to bed hungry but couldn't have been happier that we ended up where we did.
It lifted my spirits up enough that we decided we weren't actually as ready to go home as we thought. Before we could go home, we decided we just had to stop into the HUB we passed by for a bit of a laugh, especially for how infamous it seems to be with regards to places Japanese want to go to practise English. As it turns out, it was just another fine example of how well researched the Japanese are as a society. Rik and I kept wanting to find things we could point out and laugh at in a "they think *thaaaat* is English?!" type way but we honestly could find very little to fault in that sense. I don't think we realised just how hopping HUB would be (and how hopping it seemed to be at EVERY HUB we came across....and we came across a lottttt of HUBs). Deciding to call it a somewhat early-ish night, we got ready and headed back out into the night. But, not before we managed to win some type of Jack Daniels plastic folder thing from scratch cards we got with our Halloween-themed cocktails (these will forever be known as our "Shellfish Awards" due to a comedic dodge-y translation)... The night was still young for the majority in Electric Town, but we had some serious packing and tidying to do and another 11 days ahead of us to experience.
And with that, we left Akiba the following morning for Kyoto having started our trip off on the right foot.
(If you’ve made it this far, be aware that I will update with actual photo albums with more pictures once a full trip report is written)