Last we left off we were dirty, sticky and up way to early. After a full day of walking around Tokyo we can add tired to that list. After showering this morning we set out around 7 am local time for Asakusa, home of the SensÅ-ji shrine. We came in through the Thunder Gate which leads through a street of shops. And then I realized why I like Japanese people; they keep the same schedule as me. None of the shops were open and would not open until 10 or 11. While I normally wholeheartedly agree with business starting at that time of day being here for a limited time and having nothing else to do made Asakusa kind of boring. We wondered around a bit and found an amusement park (wasn't open), a shopping "arcade" (not open) and what we assume was a porn theatre (probably open, lots of weird old men staring at the nude women on the advertisements). We wondered around a bit more watching the city start to wake up and then decided to try out Akihabara.
Akihabara was getting going by the time we showed up. For those that don't know this also called Electric Town and sells everything from the latest gizmos to soldering irons. It's also the place where some 25 year old kid attacked and killed 7 people with a knife last week (I didnt tell my mom about that when I read it). They had a memorial set up at the site of the attacks and lots of flowers and drinks had been laid out. I didnt quite get the drinks, seemed like a waste of some good Coke to me. Lots of people were praying and taking pictures but something about taking pictures seemed wrong to me so we didnt get any. Among the other oddities of the area was the Anime/Comic shop that sold what seemed like child pornography to me. Videos of preteen girls in bathing suits. It was pretty disgusting. We perused the toy shops looking for any Transformers Aaron may not have yet but couldn't find any (I did see a Gremlin and a Gizmo toy though! Aaron probably just screamed to himself and closed the browser). We walked the main road a few times checking out various shops. I bought a new watch (1,050 yen) and hope this one last more than 1 night. We also tried a few arcades and I tried my best to win a teddy bear with a bloody mouth and paws at one of the claw games. But just like back home they are rigged and I won nothing. My claw game addiction was in full swing though and I was very tempted to keep trying but I ran out of coins. I will tell you though, you havent lived until you've been in a 8 floor arcade. We watched a kid play a rock band like drum game. This kid destroyed any sense of skill I had. They also had horse racing games, where you bet on a horse and train it, soccer games where you collect cards of players and use those to field your team in the game, 180 degree pods for Gundam style games and old school classics like Galaga and Street Fighter. It really is the oddest thing seeing everyone from 12 year old kids up to 50 year old men in business suits playing video games at the arcade. The Japanese are a very interesting culture, almost child like from a Western persepective. Many things that we view as kids hobbys or interest are openly shared by all age groups in Japan. From video games, to toys and action figures to reading comics, they all do it.
On the way out of Akihabara we grabbed our first taste of real Japanese food. Can't tell you what is was called as we ordered by pointing at everything. I assume it was some breaded fried pork with rice and miso soup. It didn't taste to bad. We went back to the hotel to grab a break and on the way saw a repeat performance of last nights shrine carrying performance, only this time by kids with clothes on. It was funny watching a bunch of little kids try to get organzied enough to chant and carry it in rhythm with each other. Once they got going through they started going fast and had to be slowed down before they ran into the giant drum being carried also.
After a small break at the room we were off to the Imperial Palace. Since you can't get to close to it there isn't much to see. But as we walked away we could here the distinctive sound of live music coming from Hibiya park. We walked down that way and found a concert was going on and they were doing sound checks. Unfortunately it cost 60 bucks to get in, but we did enjoy the different "tribes" of kids hanging out in front of the venue. Everything from Rockabilly kids to long haired rockers, from dreads to gothic lolitas. Tokyo really is the New York of the Eastern world. All the younger kids are extremely fashionable even when that fashion involves trying to look like a heroin addict. The guys all go for a rocker look with a dash of cartoon character. So we've seen some pretty crazy hair styles with some clothes that can only be described as Kurt Cobain of steroids. All the women seem to be into the short shorts with black stockings to just above the knee or skirts with t-shirts with english words on them. I wonder if the girl wearing the shirt that says "My Babies Daddy" really knew what it said at all. The concept of function over form seems to be lost on them so I am sure Justin and I stick out even more with our travel clothing. Even though I am not a fashionista I do enjoy seeing very fashionable girls get all dressed to the 9's and I am sure I have stared to long or had my mouth drop open a few times.
After the palace we headed down to Roppongi to do a little partying. Again we got here way to early and most of the bars are still closed. So we are killing a little time in the Internet cafe before we grab dinner a drink or 2. Having been up since 5 am I don't see us partying to hard, but just enough to get a taste for the night life of the area.
Pictures are still on hold until I can find a place to upload them from. But hopefully I will have some soon.
