Where Are Your Ninjas?: Day 6: Akihabara

Day 6 continues as we make our way through to Akihabara, Nerd Capital of Tokyo. Six-story video arcades, electronics, trading cards and toys galore and just an ungodly amount of cartoon pornography. Above is the entrance/exit of the Akihabara Metro Station.

The Akihabara district is the main supply station for the otaku culture of Japan. In the English-speaking world, otaku functions as the catch-all phrase attached to those heavily-invested in/obsessed with anime, manga and Japanese video games, similar to Trekkie or that oh-so-delightful term, fanboy. In Japan, it's a reference to any fan of a particular aspect of culture. Anime, manga, games, pop stars, cosplay, electronics, etc. Even the military and martial arts have their acolytes amongst otaku. A more versatile usage, I feel.

The subculture of otaku most specifically served by Akihabara are the Akiba-kei, those primarily concerned with anime, pop idols and video games.

We're not so different, the Nerds of the West and East. We divide into little kingdoms and collect as much ephemera pertaining to those kingdoms as we can. The one thing we can all agree on is our hated of sunlight.

And here's the entrance again. Just to be crystal clear. Note the googley-eyes adorning the entrance. I'm going to write a letter to Mayor Daley saying those should be at the entrance of the Belmont stop. He will probably have me killed.

There was a line of guys from the NFL, MLB and WWE outside this place a split-second before I took this picture. The minute I took out my camera, they ran away. Shame. I really wanted a shot of Kurt Angle and the Giambi Brothers. Brian McNamee and Kirk Radomski were working the counter. Roger Clemens had an unlimited credit line. I could go on all day.

One of the roughly 6 bazillion electronics stores in Akihabara. Guess which person is Carisa.

The one of the main intersections in the district, and the last place for three miles that isn't covered in blinking lights and cartoon pornography.

One of the startling things about Tokyo is that crowds will appear out of nowhere.

Bwah?! Where'd you people come from? It's like a civic magic trick.

The big joke the whole trip was that Japan had rid itself somehow of all it's fat people. They were startlingly skinny. I live in the Midwest, where I am average. In Japan, I was the fattest person wherever we went. I had 30 pounds on the next fattest person. Easily. I looked like Ralph Cramden next to these people.

That was no longer the case in Akihabara. It's not indicated by the picture above, but this is the district where they kept all their fat guys. It's also where they sold the most comics and video games. Coincidence? I think not.

Sure, hey, why not? Someone could probably use that for their house. For what, I don't know, but when I try to speculate, I immediately have to scrub my brain with bleach.

We walked around in several of the arcade towers. The most impressive, inside and out, was Taito Station. I played Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 19 (or whatever number they're on.) Fun times, but unfortunately no pictures allowed inside. The employees were surprisingly vigilant. Still polite though. I'm just used to people in American arcades who get mad at you when you ask for change, sell pot to high school kids next to the Terminator pinball machines and ignore gang fights.

The oddest thing about one of the towers is that they had a women-only floor. As in, under no circumstances were there to be men at all. I didn't find this out until halfway across the floor with Carisa, when out of nowhere one of the attendants yelled the Japanese equivalent of "rooster in the hen house". After apologizing profusely (and again, marvelling at how polite a group of people could be) we left. I wondered why they would have a women-only floor. Then I came face-to-face with the 15th poster of a schoolgirl with breasts the size of a Volkswagen, and it became abundantly clear. They need a place to hide. Stay safe, girls.

Carisa took this picture and I love it. It's the office building directly across the street from Taito Station. It is a scientific fact that Carisa takes infinitely better pictures then I do. She takes steady, awesome pictures. The ones I take always look like I took them with camera attached to a paint shaker.