Ahkihabara

Anyone into electronics or computers should stop by Ahkihabara in Tokyo. It's known as a electric town because it is the Meca of stores selling electronics, cameras, and computers. It's also gaining popularity as a place for fans of anime and manga to buy their videos and comic books.

I actually went to Ahkihabara twice, on 10/1/08 and 10/6/08. The first time was on my first full day after I got bored of the Shinjuku area.

The first things you see in Ahkihabara as you leave the subway station.

Streets of Ahkihabara

Anime and Manga shop in Ahkihabara

Akiba Japan -- Yodabashi -- it's like Fry's on drugs but without Fry's low prices

Some guy selling something while sitting on a ladder, pretty common in Japan actually.

.In Yodabashi Akiba someone gave him the bird

Yodabashi Akiba

Tower Records in Ahkihabara -- notice who's number 8 in Japan.

Yep, it's Michael Jackson the King of Pop... Come on Japan, what the hell is wrong with you???? Michael Jackson is #8????????? Don't as what the guy in the sign on the left is doing, i dunno.

Ahkihabara Capsule Inn
On 10/6/08 I stayed in the Capsule Inn in Ahkihabara.

Instructions

Instructions

lobby

shoe locker

Essentially it's like sleeping in a coffin. The space is very tight and the capsule is hollow. This means that when you bump against the wall it makes a very loud sound which will wake up everyone. No phone calls are allowed but people talk on the phone anyway and you can hear every word. You can hear people snoring next to you, and they can hear you.

Me happy in my capsule -- this is before I discovered wifi didn't work and there was no AC in my unit.

The capsule itself has a TV, radio, and alarm inside for you. It's also supposed to have AC but mine didn't work. It's also supposed to have wifi but it did not reach my capsule. When I went downstairs to ask the guy at the front desk how to get my AC working he couldn't help me because he knew no English. Eventually he said in a mix of japanese and broken English that there was no AC in the unit itself.

Here are some videos I shot of the capsule inn. I could not show the men's bathing area because it's a community bathroom meaning no privacy. It's japanese style where you sit on a stool in big room and wash yourself with a shower head. There's also a bath which multiple men can sit in. I think there was 1 shower inside, but that's it. There were too many naked men inside so going in there with my camera was out of the question.

lobby

capsule

locker area

Ryogoku
I also dropped by Rogoku - Sumo Town, it's very close to Ahkihabara. I saw a few sumo guys walking around but none of the pictures turned out very good. I was looking for a place that sold the sumo food used for them to get that big. I couldn't find it and in defeat I settled for some shrimp tempura.