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September 2015

Japan: Tokyo – Walking around Akihabara and Ginza

By Mithun Divakaran
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Sep 29, 2015
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Japan, Travel

Date: March 21, 2015

After spending way too much time at Yodobashi Akiba, I moved further into the heart of Akihabara district.

Akihabara underbridge Tokyo Japan — Ahh, wide footpaths

Gundam Cafe Akb48 shop Akihabara Tokyo — Yup, that’s a Gundam Cafe and next to it the official AKB48 Cafe & Shop 🙂 For the uninitiated, Gundam is a popular mecha manga/anime/videogame franchise and AKB48 is the biggest (literally) girl group (literally) in Japan. And both cafes had long lines outside.

Akihabara building Tokyo Japan — Akihabara maybe the home to otaku/nerd/geek culture, but there are plenty of offices around

Akihabara Road Tokyo panorama — When I reached the main road, I just stood there with a smile 🙂 An area with so many videogames, anime, gadgets… couldn’t believe such a place exists, but hey, I’m finally in Akihabara!

Akihabara electronics store Tokyo — This was a complex of stores selling spare parts, electrical components and retro gadgets

Electronic components market Akihabara Tokyo — Definitely a place for electronics hobbyists

Wires spare parts Akihabara Tokyo — I just wonder how many still build stuff from scratch in the days of easy consumption

Cosplayers Akihabara Tokyo Japan — I crossed over to the main hub of Akihabara district

Akky One Gigo Sega Akihabara Tokyo — There were so many enticing buildings, but I had to get around quickly

Doner kebab Akihabara Tokyo Japan — I knew it was time for lunch, but I somehow thought I’d finish walking around Akihabara first

Hirose game Akihabara Japan — Lot’s of girls trying to entice men (mostly) to enter maid cafes

Street sale Akihabara Tokyo — A few stores had street sales but I didn’t find all the prices as low as they were claiming it to be

Continue reading “Japan: Tokyo – Walking around Akihabara and Ginza” »

Yodobashi Akihabara building Tokyo Japan

Japan: Going to Akihabara, and spending way too much time in Yodobashi Akiba

By Mithun Divakaran
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Sep 17, 2015
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Japan, Travel

Date: March 21, 2015

I woke up at around 8AM. I wanted to sleep some more since it was cold and all, but I was excited to go to Akihabara, the electronics and otaku district!

Kinuya Honkan hotel lobby Ueno Tokyo — I had to come down to the lobby to get my clothes as I had to leave my big suitcase in the room opposite the reception. No big suitcases allowed in the dorms due to lack of space. It was a little inconvenient, but… oh well.

Kinuya Honkan hostel Ueno Tokyo — This is the entrance to Kinuya Honkan

Ueno street Tokyo morning Japan — This street and the surrounding areas are choc full of bars and small eateries

Ueno lane Tokyo Japan — Saw a lot of people riding bicycles, which was nice

Cyberspark pachinko Ueno Tokyo — A few pachinko arcades on this street

Pachinko queue morning Ueno Tokyo — There was a queue forming outside this pachinko arcade. Some new game based on the Ultraman franchise was launching today.

Ueno shops Pachinko lane Tokyo — This is the entrance to the street Kinuya Honkan is located on

Pedestrian crossing Ueno Tokyo winter — Right across the road is Ueno station, one of the largest hubs in the Tokyo train network and a major interchange station. I always choose my hotels and hostels near a metro station.

7-11 food Tokyo Japan — I went to a 7-Eleven to pick up some breakfast and coffee. I was amazed to see the variety of ready-to-eat meal boxes on shelves!

Pedestrian overbridge Ueno station Tokyo — I climbed up a pedestrian over bridge to get a look around

Ueno station train Tokyo Japan — Trains, it’s how most people get around in Japan

Smoking bays Ueno overbridge Tokyo — Those were designated smoking bays

Steps pedestrian bridge Ueno Tokyo — I went back down and entered Ueno station (the black cars are taxi limousines)

Continue reading “Japan: Going to Akihabara, and spending way too much time in Yodobashi Akiba” »

Japan: Landing in Tokyo… and using a communal bath for the first time

By Mithun Divakaran
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Sep 07, 2015
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Japan, Travel

Finally! It happened! I made it to Japan!

Ever since I was a small kid I was fascinated with Japan. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, Japan’s influence — especially its pop culture — was quite strong on me. Be it Macross/Robotech being the very first anime/cartoon I remember watching, to the ‘Made in Japan’ products we so revered in those days. Heck, even a pencil box I had with the bullet trains on the cover is still etched in my memory to this very day. And to think, nearly three decades later, I would actually ride the shinkansen this time!

I planned my journey around the sakura season, which in itself was a challenge. It’s hard to predict when the cherry blossoms would fully bloom. I went by this sakura calendar, and decided to travel late March. At the same time, I couldn’t afford to stay in Japan for too long. For the simple reason being… Japan is expensive! Yes, because of the value of yen right now, it’s cheaper, but it’s still a pretty damn expensive country compared to its neighbours.

None the less, this being my first time in Japan, I obviously wanted to spend more time in Tokyo. Outside of Japan’s capital, my initial plan was to go to Hiroshima, but everyone recommended Kyoto over it. So it was going to be Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Himeji -> Tokyo. I just hoped the sakura would bloom in full by the time I got back to Tokyo.

But I had to get to Tokyo first!

Date: March 21, 2015

My flight to Haneda airport was via Bangkok, which meant I was going to be flying Thai Airways.

Thai Airways chicken meal — I have taken enough photos of flights from Bangalore to Bangkok and at Suvarnabhumi Airport so don’t expect anymore photos from this route. But here’s what I ate on my flight to Bangkok.

Thai Airways pork meal Haneda flight — And on the flight from Bangkok to Haneda

I was okay with flying to Haneda because my return journey was going to be from Narita. This way, I would get to see both airports that service Tokyo. In a way I was happy I got Haneda for this flight due to the late arrival at Tokyo. Haneda Airport is located in Tokyo itself, unlike Narita which is quite far out.

Haneda Airport night landing Japan — I landed in Tokyo past 9PM

I didn’t spend too much time taking photos from inside Haneda airport as all I saw was halls and halls of travelators. Being the second largest airport serving Tokyo, Haneda is still pretty huge! Immigration had a queue but it moved fairly quickly, and they had English-speaking staff on hand to assist visitors. Continue reading “Japan: Landing in Tokyo… and using a communal bath for the first time” »