We were staying at Hotel Marutani, near Ueno station. As far as I’m concerned it was perfect; the location was great, the room was cheap, the internet was free, and there was a coin laundry in the basement.
On our first day in Tokyo we set off to see Akihabara. We walked there from our hotel, although it was entirely by accident. We had turned left instead f right when leaving our hotel, and instead of heading t the train station we headed towards Akihabara, without realizing it. After about ten minutes of walking, we realized we had been going the wrong way, but we kept going anyway, and five minutes later came to Akihabara Station. We went to the famous Yodobashi Camera, don’t be fooled by the name, it sells far more than cameras.
Kevin looked at electronic dictionaries for a while before deciding they were too expensive, so we headed up a level. I spent about twenty minutes in the make-up section, drooling over this and that, and marvelling at how much paler the Maybelline face powders are compared to Australia. The exact same mineral powder that I have is about three times paler in Japan. After buying a few souvenirs in another section we went further up. And much to my delight I found the music section. Complete with about five grand pianos, and a very large collection of sheet music. I spent about ten minutes oohing and aahing over various Studio Ghibli Collections before deciding on only one.
After we left Yodobashi Camera, we were kind of looking around trying to figure out where the rest of Akihabara was, after a minute or so we realized we needed to go to the other side of the station, and off we went. Pretty much the second we stepped out of the walkway, and saw the rest of Aki, we were like “ahh THIS is more like it!”
The first thing we did was cross the road and go to the SEGA Club, and laugh at some of the things in the UFO Catcher games, before trying, and failing to win them. Although after my second try I turned out to be pretty good at them. I won a few ridiculous things, like a Hello Kitty sukiyaki pot, a Rilakkuma mug, an Angel Beats mouse pad and mouse set, a giant stuffed cat, and (my favourite) a capibara toy.
We wandered around for a while looking at shops, and laughing over strange things, and collecting Maid Café flyers from girls in ridiculous outfits. We started getting hungry, and Kevin desperately wanted to go to a Maid Café. After looking at the different flyers we had we set off for ‘MaiDreaming’. It was everything I expected it to be, and a whole lot seedier. However the food was good, and it was a very amusing experience, if a little on the expensive side. For a ‘drink + dessert + photo’ set it will cost you back about $30. The photo is a Polaroid of you and Maid of choice, in some ridiculous pose, with some cute comments written on it. Hardly worth the price, but it is part of the experience. I never did get to a Butler Café, maybe next time I’m in Tokyo…..
After spending quite a few hours in Akihabara, we decided to head back to our hotel, drop of our bags and go somewhere else. As we walked toward our hotel, we could see what appeared to be some sort of market that ran parallel to the main road. After dropping of our shopping bags, we head out the back of the hotel and found Ameyoko Arcade. I am in love with this arcade, seriously. If I ever live in Tokyo, I want to live near, or IN it. It is definitely my favourite thing in Tokyo. (The Studio Ghibli Museum isn’t in Tokyo, so to speak.)
The arcade starts opposite JR Ueno Station (central gate exit) and runs all the way to Okachimachi. It is spread across about four of the back alleys, and had everything from restaurants to pachinko parlours, and more. There is a pachinko parlour every block, and some very seedy people. But it has a lot of amazing little clothes and shoe shops, and fresh food markets.
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