When I use to visit Akihabara so many years ago, it was a place see and bargain to get the latest gadgets that nobody else in the world had except for Japan. Whatever you bought, you were almost guaranteed that nobody back home abroad had it or even seen it before. They would have to wait 5 years to get the latest and greatest from Japan. Sadly, this is no longer the case, for most gadgets. Bargaining is minimal, the prices are not the cheapest, and whatever you see in Akihabara, you have a pretty good chance it will be in your home country or online sometime soon and most likely cheaper (at least in the States). Totally sad….. I’m getting slightly emotional just thinking about it. What’s even sadder is that you go to these big electronic store chains, such as Big Camera, and you still don’t get good deals, unless you stand in line at 4 in the morning and snatch up a digital camera that’s ridiculously cheap but only have 5 available! I hate those ads….

Now Akihabara has somewhat reinvented itself as still an electric town, however there appears to be more stores for customers who love gadgets, and spend most evenings and the day fantasizing about cute girls in costumes, in a train cafe served by cute girls in a train theme uniform…… I’m exaggerating of course, however there are numerous sex gadget shops and a whole building/mall dedicated to girls uniforms, such as police officer, maid, etc. As for the cafe, it’s true….

Moving from Akihabara we proceeded to make a brief stop at Ueno Station again, where my Fukushima buddy had to buy a return shinkansen ticket back to country. After he put his stuff in a locker we headed to Ginza to check out where rich people buy expensive fruit. Actually, there’s a store in Ginza that sells “gift” fruits, meant to be given as gifts to usually people who are sick. A cantaloupe can be priced as high as $100 - the receiver of the gift fruit will know where you purchased it from, by the packaging and will appreciate knowing how much the giver cares….it’s symbolic gift………for anybody who cares, I would eat the entire canaloupe, seeds, skin, everything if I knew you spent a $100 on it.

We didn’t spend much time in Ginza because of how expensive everything it is (some consider Ginza the most expensive shopping area in the world) so we decided to head over to the man made island of Odaiba located in Tokyo bay and connected by the Rainbow Bridge. However, before we left we made a quick stop in a Nissan Skyline showroom which is Japan’s trademark car, like the Mustang is to the U.S. For the first time ever, they’re going to sell the Skyline, for about $70,000 in the States!

We took the Yamanote line to Shimbashi station where we transferred to the Yurikamome monorail that runs across the Rainbow bridge to Odaiba. Odaiba is a great dating spot and is really fun to hang out at. There’s a small Chinatown, Sega World, a mall with lots of gift shops, a boardwalk, beach, park, Fuji Television, a fancy Toyota dealership, Toys R’ Us and a Haunted House; which my first timers to Japan friends decided to go in while I stayed outside. Now, a haunted house and a scary flick in the States do not scare my whatsoever. I think they’re stupid - a guy in a Hockey Mask chain sawing people….come on? “In Japan,” as my Fukushima friend seems to always begin a sentence with, the Haunted Houses and Horror movies freak the living crap out of me! I’m not going to even go in details because if I do I won’t be able to sleep (wuss - yes I am! - not ashamed of it). Just watch the movie Ring and you’ll know what scares me.

After doing some shopping, buying a a little samurai armor figure, we had Tonkatsu for dinner overlooking Tokyo Bay, the Rainbow bridge and the tall buildings in Shimbashi. Afterwards, we ended the day in a traditional but modern Japanese bar and had some sake & shochu from around different parts of Japan overlooking the same view. The day ended on a very good note……

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However, before everyone arrived late in the afternoon and since it was a beautiful warm day, we (family) decided to take another trip to family friendly Yokohama; specifically Chinatown, Yamashita Koen and the Minato Mirai area, which is home to Queen’s Square shopping mall.  I’ve been to Chinatown before and also spent some time in the Minato Mirai area but it was my first time to Yamashita Koen (park).  It’s a park that runs along the water and is a popular spot to take pictures of Yokohama’s well known Landmark Tower, which is the tallest building in Japan.  Within Yamashita Koen is a “Happy Lawson” convenience store.  Not just a Lawson convenience store, but a “Happy” one.  What seperates this Lawson from the other Lawsons is that this one is A. much bigger and B. is family/kid friendly.  Like our McDonald’s play area’s, Happy Lawson has one and unlike it’s other chains, this one sells more kid/baby goods.  I think it’s the only one in Japan, but I could be wrong……

After having lunch in the largest Chinatown in Asia we decided to walk to Minato Mirai 21 district via Yamashita Koen and unexpectedly came across a eco-friendly vehicle car show at Yokohma Red Brick Warehouse.  I got to sit in Ellica, a Keio University batter powered car, that I saw a piece on the Discovery channel a couple of months ago.  It can go from 0 to 60 miles a hour in 4 seconds!  Crazy!  I want one!

I seperated with my family in Queen’s Square and hooked up with my Fukushima buddy and then we proceeded to meet our other friends in Shinjuku.  However, before that we took the Minatomirai Line & the Tokyu Toyoko Line (one train) to Naka-Meguro station then walked across the platform on the Hibiya Line where a train was waiting for us to take us to Ebisu station on the JR Yamanote line.  Before we departed for Japan we made arrangements to have my friends pick up a rental cell phone from Softbank at the airport so they were able to call me to tell me what Narita Express train they got on so we could meet them on the platform in Shinjuku; with beer in hand :-). 

After dropping their luggage off at Sunroute Hotel in Minami (South) Shinjuku we walked over to Higashi (East) Shinjuku and had dinner at a chinese restaurant called Seiryumon.  Simply put, you don’t go there for the food, you go there for the experience and ambiance - including the bathroom.  I’ll let the video below show you what I’m talking about.

Funny thing - The “first time to Japan” friends told me that seeing people wearing white masks over their mouth kind of freaked them out.  Some Japanese people wear masks if they have a cold so they don’t spread it to others, but during the spring many wear it because of pollen.  For a first time visitor I can see how that can freak them out.  :-)  Bird Flu! Aaaaah!!

Oh, jeez - I almost forgot. From a Japanese perspective, I almost forgot the most important event of this day’s post. Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are starting to bloom!

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Actually, the good news is that I have a higher chance of success of maintaining this blog since #1 previous technical issues have been resolved enough to not annoy me and #2 I’m no longer reporting information, which I didn’t enjoy and eventually got tired of, so this time I’ll write about my personal experiences and thoughts about Japan instead. 

Anyhow, we left the States on time on the 18th and arrived in the future on the 19th.  We took the Narita Express to Yokohama station and from there arrived to our destination via the Tokyu Toyoko Line and a Taxi.  Suprisingly it’s cold here and we were told by family not to bring too much clothing because it’s been hot…..oh well…..I guess we’ll have to hit my favorite clothing store, Uniqlo. 

As far as I can make out so far, nothing as really changed in Japan…..but I guess that’s expected since I only been gone for less than a year. However, Tokyo does change rapidly. In fact we plan on going to 2 new departments stores and ride a new subway line, and this is just around my in-law’s area.

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