A few of us hopped on the JR train last... Sunday I think it was? I have no sense of time anymore, it's awful.
Akihabara--fondly known as 'Akiba' or 'Electric Town'--is a small section of Tokyo, just a few blocks large. But just about every building of this block is jam-packed with electronic goods at discount prices, hobby shops, arcades... Anything that could blow an eye-socket out, really. Akiba is the result of a black market of radio parts circa WWII. There are still long alleys full of transistors and LED bulbs ripe for the picking, but for the most part Akiba has turned into a paradise for hobbyists.
As soon as you exit the station, you come to understand why Akihabara is the Electric Town.
There are huge arcades lining the street, some that go up about six stories. So far everyone I've been in has allowed smoking, which is quite a shock. Since the age for cigarettes is 20--last I hear anyway--it shows that videogames aren't just for kids! I don't think I've seen anyone under the age of seventeen in the arcades I've been to so far.
Posters display the newest and most popular games.
Around Akihabara's subway station, a lot of people--street performers, charity workers, etc--ask for donations and such. I forget what this girl was doing exactly but... Her kimono was nice and she let us take pictures so why the heck not haha.
In addition to all of that, there are quite a few pachinko parlors. Pachinko is kind of like a cross between slot machines and pin ball--and kind of mindless if you ask me. And loud. I swear I can hear a pachinko place a mile away. They're really popular, in any case, and the one in Akiba is themed after a popular TV show called 'Evangelion'. It would kind of be like a Las Vegas casino doing a Star Trek theme, you know?
So after you win a few games, you go get your prize, which you can probably find a place out back to exchange for cold hard cash. (Legal gambling is limited in Japan to horse, motorbike, etc races. So draw your own conclusions about pachinko.)
One of the camera stores we went in was apparently visited by Will Smith a few years ago.
Keychain machines are pretty popular too. So are the claw machines you can (try to) get stuffed animals out of.
That reminds me, I need to buy a camera. I've been borrowing other peoples' cameras and snagging their pictures :| I'll probably head to Akiba this weekend to search for some nice deals.
Believe it or not I have even more pictures my friends took during the Coming of Age Day ceremonies... And then I think I'll be all caught up!
Akihabara--fondly known as 'Akiba' or 'Electric Town'--is a small section of Tokyo, just a few blocks large. But just about every building of this block is jam-packed with electronic goods at discount prices, hobby shops, arcades... Anything that could blow an eye-socket out, really. Akiba is the result of a black market of radio parts circa WWII. There are still long alleys full of transistors and LED bulbs ripe for the picking, but for the most part Akiba has turned into a paradise for hobbyists.
As soon as you exit the station, you come to understand why Akihabara is the Electric Town.
There are huge arcades lining the street, some that go up about six stories. So far everyone I've been in has allowed smoking, which is quite a shock. Since the age for cigarettes is 20--last I hear anyway--it shows that videogames aren't just for kids! I don't think I've seen anyone under the age of seventeen in the arcades I've been to so far.
Posters display the newest and most popular games.
Around Akihabara's subway station, a lot of people--street performers, charity workers, etc--ask for donations and such. I forget what this girl was doing exactly but... Her kimono was nice and she let us take pictures so why the heck not haha.
In addition to all of that, there are quite a few pachinko parlors. Pachinko is kind of like a cross between slot machines and pin ball--and kind of mindless if you ask me. And loud. I swear I can hear a pachinko place a mile away. They're really popular, in any case, and the one in Akiba is themed after a popular TV show called 'Evangelion'. It would kind of be like a Las Vegas casino doing a Star Trek theme, you know?
So after you win a few games, you go get your prize, which you can probably find a place out back to exchange for cold hard cash. (Legal gambling is limited in Japan to horse, motorbike, etc races. So draw your own conclusions about pachinko.)
One of the camera stores we went in was apparently visited by Will Smith a few years ago.
Keychain machines are pretty popular too. So are the claw machines you can (try to) get stuffed animals out of.
That reminds me, I need to buy a camera. I've been borrowing other peoples' cameras and snagging their pictures :| I'll probably head to Akiba this weekend to search for some nice deals.
Believe it or not I have even more pictures my friends took during the Coming of Age Day ceremonies... And then I think I'll be all caught up!
No comments:
Post a Comment