#Akiba Shrine

[bonguri]

20240113 Ensyu area 8 by Bong Grit Via Flickr: 移動して豊田佐吉記念館。復元された生家の床の間には秋葉神社の掛け軸。 @Sakichi Toyoda Memorial Museum, Kosai city, Shizuoka pref.（静岡県湖西市 豊田佐吉記念館）

[garmmy]

2024 jp trip report (sights edition)

i just returned from my week-long tokyo trip, and wanted to log them down so i can remember where i went. i split up the food and sights posts thanks to tumblr's image limit per post. also apologies for my unflattering pictures😂 i don't have a particularly good phone, i was taking pics more for the memories than the niceness

(food edition here)

Day 2 (14/5/2024)

starting with day 2 because we arrived at night on day 1.

we started the day at nakano broadway...where we spent too much time and money!! with its 10000 mandarake and other retro/anime goods stores. i forgot to take a closer picture of the entrance…anyway, just like in the hit video game Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth for the PS Vita and Nintendo Switch and PC and-

(expensive!!) twintails!! my beloved... <does not watch ultraman

and pokemon center in sunshine city ikebukuro! a very cool miraidon statue...and also a quaxly butt for some reason 😂

Day 3 (15/5/2024)

we walked around akiba and asakusa today. for a weeb in particular, i don't think you could finish walking akiba even in a week...anyway, just like in the video game Digimon Story Cyber Sl-

we walked the multi-storey donki in akiba. of particular note is the signage for the 'pokemon corner'....i'm crying 😭 love this graphic design

so we went around mandarake and a few other anime merch spots. soul hackers 2 merch spotted???? (i didn't get it since i didn't really need more acrylic stands.. :') arrow and his lil poltergeist friend tho...)

while walking, we passed by the otahimeinari shrine. it's always really nice to find these in the middle of the city..the tree's fruit were also huge!!

before we headed to asakusa, we walked by jinbocho. just like in the hit video game Persona 5 for the PS3- while i wish we had a bit more time to spend there (i would have loved to find some japanese language/linguistics-related books from prewar era), i really think most of the old books there are out of my depth 🤣 (it is a very nice place to stroll for lovers of old books and book smell though)

and after some train line switching screwups we made it to asakusa. as expected it's crowded even on a weekday! we saw the famous kaminarimon and also walked down the streets.

Day 4 (16/5/2024)

we started the day at tsukiji outer market, which was very near tsukiji hongwanji! beautiful buddhist temple. (also just like in the hit video game Shin Megami Tensei IV for the Nintendo 3DS)

we went on to ginza which was nearby, and made it to itoya, the multi-storey stationery store i spent too much time and money in 😩 they even had a paper shadowbox art exhibition below! the art pieces on showcase there are 🤯 beautiful...

before leaving ginza/hibiya area...shin godzilla spotted!!

then we went to tokyo skytree and did..even more shopping... (and even though i didn't get any reservations it was so cute to see kirby cafe in person ;w;)

and then we headed to ryogoku, the sumo town, for dinner. it's near sumida river so i couldn't resist getting a view...just like in the hit video game Paranormasight for Nintendo Switch and PC (ok i don't think this is the correct bridge 🤣 but the view was still very nice! and we DID go to the ryogoku bridge too though i didn't get a good pic of it)

Day 5 (17/5/2024)

we started at shinjuku today to walk to shibuya. this was the day that totally killed my feet T_T (not that the other days didn't already lol). apparently the other days were averaging 10k steps but this day was 30k?? i'm not a fit person to begin with..

anyway we were greeted by a giant cat overlord near shinjuku station exit!

godzilla spotted again! and we also spent a bit too much at the multi-storey tokyu hands here...

nearby takeshita street, we took a walk to meiji jingu shrine. just like in persona fiv- i especially enjoyed the walk to the shrine (now if only i didn't have foot pain from excessive walking), the scale of the pathway and trees! coupled with the wonderful 25? celsius weather...i still miss it as i'm writing this while back in singapore where i'm sweating just by existing. lol

on the way to shibuya, we dropped by this store called 'birdmore' specialising in birb merch and pet bird goods. MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR this is the first time i saw sooo many birb-themed items in one place 😭 from socks to bags to stationery to mugs and bags everything. though the species are a bit focused on the few species that generally get the birb merch in japan (budgies, cockatiels, tits, bunchou, shoebill, etc.).

i had a little talk with the shopkeeper and i mentioned we were from singapore, and she said she was envious as she wanted to visit our birdpark ;w; i told her that the birdpark moved to mandai and how the birds are flying around outside of cages and are not scared of people so you can get reallyy close to them, and she seemed so excited..aa i really hope she gets to go one day..!!

we reached shibuya parco, and...DIGIMON CORNER... i think i could cry seeing a bunch of digimon merch lined up like that in person 😭😭😭 i wanted to buy up all of these otedama SO BAD but unfortunately money and space are an issue lol. i ended up settling for an imperialdramon DM otedama ;w;

there was also a capcom store at shibuya parco! of particular interest to me were the monhun and ace attorney otedama, they didn't have otedama of susato nor my boi yian kut-ku tho...😭 it was a tough choice between nargacuga and maya ace attorney but i settled for narga ;v; (crying at otedama edgey's face though)

some other iconic locations in shibuya! just like in the video game The World Ends With You for Nintendo DS and various other-

also before we return to the hotel..the ike-fukuro statue at ikebukuro station! (TL note: fukurou is japanese for the ural owl)

Day 6 (18/5/2024)

we took a day trip to miura peninsula today (it's about an hour train ride from tokyo), using the misaki maguro ticket! i gotta get some fresh tuna sashimi while i'm in japan 😤 this might be my fave day among the days...idk, i just really enjoyed the walk and sights and food and overall experience on this day soo much ;v;;

just like everywhere in japan they have to have their own cute mascot characters....miura tunanosuke the daikon-wielding tuna samurai and miuran the sakura fairy(??)

miura beach! a very short walk from miurakaigan station and a wonderful view. also, it's just like in the hit video game Persona 5 for- (i swear i'm not specifically hunting for videogame spots lol but if i come across them why not🤭 i still find it a bit surreal how persona 1-4 were all in fictional japanese cities and suddenly..persona 5 in tokyo!)

after that we took the train to misakiguchi station and about a 20?min bus ride to misaki port. we went to the urari marche (a seafood and veg market); other than market stuffs, they had a bunch of crane machines filled with just fish and tuna merch...i respect the dedication to the theme lol! there were also other fish-related merch like this eyemask that looked like an ikura platter i wanted it so bad :')

after misaki port, we took a bus to jogashima. CATS!!!!!!! while it's not particularly a 'cat island' like some of the more famous cat islands in japan, it's still a pleasant surprise to see these cats roaming around.

and some pictures of jogashima. we walked along the uneven coast where there was no clear marked path; having stayed in the city all my life (even the nature trails here are usually cleared for easier walking) and rarely venturing overseas lol, i've never really had this sort of experience before? i didn't prepare myself for this and so my shoes meant for normal walking and not hiking kinda split halfway through the trek on uneven ground 😂 it was really beautiful, but i think because of my fitness (lack thereof) i caused extra worry...i would like to experience something like this alone sometime so i can go at my own pace without feeling pressured like i am worrying others who could've gone much faster if only i weren't there.

Day 7 (19/5/2024)

we had a morning walk at ueno park, which is HUGE and really nice to walk in, and also houses museums such as the national museum of western art, national museum of nature and science (nature museums my beloved), and tokyo national museum. sadly we didn't have time to check out the museums this time, but i'd love to visit them if i do make another trip here... my mother said before that a tour guide once told her 'singaporeans don't seem to like museums much, they prefer shopping' and sadly i am not proving that uncultured singaporean stereotype wrong with all my weeb shopping 😂😭

ueno toshogu shrine, which was built in dedication to tokugawa ieyasu. i wasn't aware till now but apparently toshogu (東照宮) refers to any shinto shrine in which ieyasu is enshrined with his deified name, and ueno toshogu is just one of the toshogu.

shinobazu pond! it was really a sight to behold in person.

ok i hit the post photo limit skdfjdkgh well the rest of the day was walking around akiba with my friend 😆 we tried to look for 13 sentinels merch (we checked out radio kaikan, suruga-ya and other places) but there was none to be found /_\ i did pass by the square enix cafe though! i was tempted to get the 16-bit arrange albums of octopath and then realised i do not have a CD player anymore..and also managed to see the one (1) bravely default merch!!

just gotta slowly save up for that next trip...someday... .w.

[theoniprince]

Tokyo, Akihabara, 08.08.24

There is a cute little shrine hidden in Akiba,... but it was so muggy today. So we skipped it.

[the-cricket-chirps]

Utagawa Hiroshige

Inside Akiba Shrine, Ukeji, No. 91 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

1857

[japaneseaesthetics]

Artist:Utagawa Hiroshige Title:Inside Akiba Shrine, Ukeji (Ukeji Akiba no keidai), Number 91 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei), Edo period, dated 1857 (8th month)

[cerastes]

dreamer!! my enviable nemesis! if you ever get around to akiba don't fall for the prices of weeb shit just because the place gets frequently memed as the otaku heaven (I felt cringe writing that) (although you can find some really cool stuff if you scavenge for hours). nakano broadway has much cheaper options, several stores of mandarake including one for tokusatsu if you're into that and extremely niche/old media collectible stores. mind you akiba does have some cool spots including a yet another mandarake (a tad pricier than nakano), but nakano is very accessible from shinjuku while it's a pain to get to akiba. I haven't been there in several years though so you might want to check before you go.

I had a worse time of it in harajuku with its tourist traps than in after dark kabukicho and ginza (occasional guys/hosts approaching with "oneesan hitori?" and being weird) but your mileage as a tourist man may vary. also some other well-known shrines accessible from shinjuku: kumano-jinja where you can see shinjuku skyscrapers from inside the shrine, meiji jingu (walking distance from harajuku, big and also probably very crowded), hiei near roppongi, you can see the skytree from inside zojo-ji shrine but my opinion of the skytree is that it's a bit of a tourist trap. you can get to yokohama easily and get on the cosmo clock ferris wheel after dark for a nice city view.

enjoy the hellish mazes of shinjuku station! a friend of mine couldn't find her way out once and had a panic attack in it!

Dude I had NO clue you had Newtype headass precognitive powers, you sent this to me as we were arriving at Akihabara lmao, you just KNEW.

We checked Mandarake at your recommendation and it was dope, and we’ll be going to Nakano Brodowei upon returning to Tokyo so THANKS for that, you’re still my ENEMY and will go to hell before you die BUT I’ll get you the VIP seat for demons with abs.

And Shinjuku station is like an actual dungeon, at least for the Oedo line, you DESCEND to the earth’s core, wtf. Shibuya station, however, is a bona fide Shin Megami Tensei dungeon.

[pelipper]

Happy New Year from Akiba! We visited the Kanda Myojin Shrine today. ❤️

[discopomp]

0000 Warbunton Shrine | 0001 Doroshi Hachimangu | 0002 Hamamura Shrine

0003 Katakana Shrine 片仮名神社:

Katakana Shrine is dear to my heart- it is the place I traditionally visit for Hatsumode, my first Shrine visit of the year. Even before that, I would visit the shops high above, full of fun stuff. And for the past few years, I've also been invited to join in the New Year festival- Katakana Shrine has free items and lucky boards to one side to celebrate the New Year, as well as spontaneous parties (hamsters are common attendees!), and for the past few years I have contributed a few little items to their offerings. Make sure to pick up the Hamaya of the year, with the ema prayer board and dragon figure; you can also get the Hamaya for last year with a rabbit theme. Katakana Shrine also has special edition Goshuin books, with 6 special covers that cannot be found anywhere else.

Goshuin Project 2024

0004 Mishima Shrine | 0005 Bazumitama-sha | 0006 pomponne Shrine

0007 Eifuku Shrine | 0008 Eifuku Temple | 0009 Cue Gri Jinja

0010 Princess Shrine | 0011 Tonarino Shrine | 0012 Laem Shrine

0013 Para Shrine | 0014 Kuroneko Jinja | 0015 Yasaka Jinja

0016 Tenmangu Jinja | 0017 Itame Ham Shrine | 0018 Japonica Shrine

0019 Neochi Shrine | 0020 Okinawa Shrine | 0021 Kokuryu Shrine

0022 Ni Jinja | 0023 Piyopiyo Shrine | 0024 Noha Shrine

0025 Saihate Inari Shrine | 0026 Koyagi Shrine | 0027 Hamstar Shrine

0028 Haiku Shrine | 0029 Sen-Cat-Shrine | 0030 Venezia Shrine

0031 Hinamizawa Shrine | 0032 Kanaru Shrine | 0033 Mr. Louis Shrine

0034 Susukino-Inari Jinja | 0035 Shiki-Shinto Shrine | 0036 Apo Hachimangu

0037 Salmaru Grand Shrine | 0038 Il Micio Shrine | 0039 Son Clave Shrine

0040 Drobak Shrine | 0041 SnowPastel Shrine | 0042 Nadeko Shrine

0043 Katsudon Shrine | 0044 Mambo Shrine | 0045 Sessha Mambo Shrine

0046 Umigami Shrine | 0047 Yozakura Shrine Ocean | 0048 Sakura Shrine

0049 Akiba Inari Shrine | 0050 Lazy Shrine | 0051 Honpou Inari Jinja

0052 Togetsu Jinja | 0053 Neko Jinja | 0054 Kusanagi Shrine

0055 Ouse Jinja | 0056 Nekoma Shrine | 0057 Lion Temple

0058 Usagi Shrine | 0059 Kiyomizu Temple | 0060 Kingyo Jinju

0061 Azuki Shrine | 0062 Megumi Jinja | 0063 Sea Butterfly Shrine

[moriwanderer]

Akihabara (also Tateishi and Sarushima)

Akihabara! Tokyo's Electric Town! The city of neon lights, arcades, multi-story doujin shops, and a plethora of other wonders! The otaku paradise!!

Or... not? But first, we take a trip to the seaside, and then a trip to an island of monkeys! (sans monkeys, because reasons.)

Tateishi park, where my sandals became salted!

Across the peninsula there's a small park on the other coast called Tateishi. It's a pretty long walk from where I'm staying, but there's a nice sidewalk the whole way and it's pretty well shaded. It mostly features a beach somewhat protected by a rock that has a small shrine built-in. The whole time I was wandering the shore, my sandals were sitting up out of harm's way. After I was walking back out, a large wave came up and soaked them. I guess I didn't pray at the shrine hard enough, or something!

The Tale of Sarushima

A long time ago, someone was lost in Tokyo Bay until the ghost of a monkey appeared and led the poor soul to the safety of the island. It has been called Sarushima (Saru - Monkey, Shima - Island) ever since. Or so the story goes.

It's.. not as impressive as I had hoped. Most of the neat historical aspects were off-limits, the beach was closed for the season, and the route to the cave was closed off as well. One might have better luck in August. That said, the trip was totally worth it just for the ferry ride over, with the seemingly endless amount of moon jellies visible just beneath the water nearly the entire way.

Akihabara

The otaku mecca was... disappointing? There were a tonne of things to check out, but the main areas seem to have been primarily taken over by used cell phone and laptop shops. Like, everywhere. Then there's the fact that everything seems to carry an Akiba tax (ie, things there are about 2x-3x more expensive than elsewhere, outside of general food). I found plenty of neat things that I couldn't afford, and honestly very little that I could get to say, look! I've been here!

There was a small shop FULL of retro gaming goodness whose name I sadly don't remember; it was to the side of one of the many alleys located in the basement. It would have all of your PC-FX and Towns Marty needs, if they didn't cost your first born. Still, wonderful to be able to see them in person and play with them.

It was also an overcast, rainy day and we arrived late, so we got to see maybe a quarter of the area. We didn't even get to Gamers! This of course means that I have to go back.

Sega, where'd you go?

See you next time!

[sunvisetrip]

First anime I watched is about two bros raising a lost kid during a Christmas shootout and I got a hand to them...

This scene alone made me chuckle.😂

I would keep watching Buddy Daddies, since it showcases more as a better child care anime (couldn't forget Poco's Udon World as well) and little Miri behaves like a real child and not a walking Stewie caricature.

Last year's Akiba Maid War dropped below in the abyssal shrine at worst with a rushed ending and eliminated the best hitwoman with a backstab instead of giving her a dignified death; so hopefully this will make me forget about what went down.

[bonguri]

20230103 Kariya & Toyota shrines 2 by Bong Grit すぐ近くの秋葉神社へ。朝日が登ってきました。 @Akiba shrine, Kariya city, Aichi pref. （愛知県刈谷市 秋葉神社） https://flic.kr/p/2ohcJZW

[kitsuneinjapan]

Tokyo Day 3

On my last day in Tokyo I originally planned to explore another garden, walk over the rainbow bridge, etc.

Getting down to eat breakfast and walking out of the hotel was fine, but I wasn’t even at the station when I considered not going to the garden. I could barely walk ten steps without taking a break.

Instead I opted to visit Maruzen, a big book chain. The problem was: getting there. It took ages to get to the platform, and after I exited the subway, I had to walk a bit. Then I misread the signs and walked in the other direction. I stood at the street and was like... okay. No. Not good.

I think I needed at least 50% more of the time originally needed and I stopped at a pharmacy to buy salonpas. Once I was at Maruzen, I went to the toilet to stick on the salonpas. It did wonders! I knew I could rely on them.

Since I had lots of time before I wanted to meet my friend, I went through Maruzen and got a haikyuu book as well as some stationary.

Finally, I went to the station, changed to the Yurikamome line and took the train over the rainbow bridge. It was very lovely and I recommend doing that! I would’ve loved to walk, but I may do that next time!

The view was amazing and I finally reached the location where I was very excited for: Ariake Arena!!! There, I met my friend and together we went to the stadium, took pictures and even went inside. It was magical~

After, we walked to the bus stop to drive to Tomioka Hachimangu, a shrine nearby. We got something for lunch and ate before visiting the shrine. It was very beautiful and the red was unusual. It’s hard to see on the pictures, but the red felt different than other shrines.

Finally, we had to part again, as my friend had to do some bureaucratic stuff. Therefore, I went to Ikebukuro, were I was supposed to meet another friend for dinner. I had some time and went to Animate, which was newly reopened. It was very crowded... I thought of buying something, but wow. Not when the queue is about 50 people. They had a lot of merch though! Bigger than the one in Akiba for sure, which I always find so crowded and overrated.

After that, I went to toraana, a small store that sells doujinshi! I found some of my favourite publishing dj haikyuu artists. Then I waited until it was time to meet up.

We had dinner at a vegan restaurant, which I found very unusual for not only Tokyo, but Japan itself! I had vegan karaage (which tatsted... uh... well, it was okay lol) and sweet potato parfait as dessert! That was very tasty. My friend had a burger and she gave me some. It was SO TASTY! I wish I would’ve taken that. Ahhh. Next time!!

Finally, I went back to my hotel since I had to pack as the next day I would head to Shizuoka!

ARIAKE ARENA!!!!

They still had the mascots from 2020 (2021)!

Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine.

Vegan karaage!

[pa-stella]

Flufftober 2022 - 04.10

Prompts | @flufftober

THIS IS NOT A SHIP STORY. I repeat, NOT a ship story.

Title: Fila Ignium Fandom: Hypnosis Mic Characters: Jiro and Saburo Prompt: Supporting Silly Hobbies Words count: 538 Contents: G-rated, bickering, ita bags.

A cheeky drama was playing on the television when Saburo heard the familiar sound in the front door. The oldest Yamada brother was out of town for a last-minute job, so he knew who he was going to see.

“Jiro.” He greeted him without taking his eyes off the screen.

He heard a loud gasp. “S-Saburo! What are you doing here?!” “Well, I live here too, you know. You can be so dense sometim-” Saburo turned to look at him from the sofa, but stopped talking at the sight of many small plastic bags in Jiro’s hands. “What are those?”

“Uh? That’s… that’s none of your business, nosey brat!” Jiro took a step to escape up the stairs before Saburo appeared in front of him.

The younger brother recognized one of the logos on the bags. “Have you gone to Akiba?” He asked and observed the distressed face of the other teen. “Don’t tell me you bought something perverted. I’ll tell Nii-chan!!”

“What! No, no! That’s not… that’s not what I bought!” Jiro gasped again. “I mean… I didn’t buy anything!!”

“Show me what you bought!” Saburo tried to take a peek at the content of the bags.

“Why do you even care! It’s nothing important!” “You always do the same when I buy something!”

They bickered for a few minutes until Jiro groaned. “Ok, fine! Follow me!!” He headed to his room, followed by the even more curious Saburo. The older of the two placed the bags on his messy desk before moving towards the closet. “If you say something rude, I’ll lock you out of the house.” Saburo nodded, stopping himself from talking back for once.

Jiro sighed and opened the doors of the wardrobe. In the middle of the chaos of clothes and accessories, there was a small shrine with many shelves full of merchandise of the same character. What caught Saburo’s attention were a few bags with clear pockets adorned with several pins. He then looked at Jiro who was taking even more pins out of the plastic bags.

“Do you… do you like ita bags?”

“I like ita bags about her!” He pointed to an acrylic stand picturing a character who looked like a rockstar. Saburo was almost sure she was from the game Genshin Impact. “There’s not much merch with her, so I often go to Akiba to hunt for fanmade stuff…”

Jiro seemed embarrassed even if he usually didn’t care about hiding his love for games or animes. Saburo eyes the shrine for a few more seconds. It looked… cute and curated (compared to the rest of the room, at least). The bags each had a different pattern that clearly reminded of the character in question. “That’s it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Were you just hiding… this?” Saburo shrugged and walked out the door. “I’m almost disappointed.”

He heard Jiro struggle to insult him as he went down the stairs. Once he sat down on the sofa, he took his phone and opened the browser.

“Jiro-nii is so dumb they’re probably making him pay too much for that stuff…” He mumbled as he tried to find the name of his brother’s beloved character. “I’ll find some good deals for him online.”

[enc-therefridgerator]

Akihabara, Japan &&&&

Akihabara - Tokyo Travel

Japan Guide https://www.japan-guide.com › … akihabara japan from www.japan-guide.com Jun 19, 2022 — Akihabara (秋葉原), also called Akiba after a former local shrine, is a district in central Tokyo that is famous for its many electronics ..

Akihabara is a buzzing shopping hub famed for its electronics retailers, ranging from tiny stalls to vast department stores like Yodobashi Multimedia Akiba. Venues specializing in manga, anime, and video games include Tokyo Anime Center, for exhibits and souvenirs, and Radio Kaikan with 10 floors of toys, trading cards, and collectibles. Staff dressed as maids or butlers serve tea and desserts at nearby maid cafes. ― Google Ward: Chiyoda

[tokyoshrine]

Japan that no one knows. A loser rises in a new land.

A plaque inside the shrine reads as follows

This Inari Shrine is located in the northeastern corner of the 21,000 square meter estate of the Horie family, who were the feudal lords of Nakano Village in the Edo period (1603-1868). Since ancient times, the direction of northeast was regarded as an abhorrent "kimon," or "demon's gate" where ogres and misfortune would enter. For this reason, the Horie family enshrined a deity on their property to ward off the evil spirits. 　According to the Horie family documents, there is a record of a shrine called Ichigami enshrined in Nakanojuku for the prosperity and safety of the market, and it is thought that this shrine may have been Myotoku Inari. In the Taisho era (1912-1926), the local people took over the Inari Shrine from the Horie family, and it has remained in use to this day. 　The shrine was damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II, However, a carved fox in a water pot dating from 1867 (Keio 3) provides a faint glimpse of a bygone era. In addition to Myotoku Inari, there are two other shrines enshrined here: Akiba Shrine for fire prevention and Haruna Shrine for praying for rain.

[samuell2]

June 8th — Free Day

Today was a free day, and our last day in Tokyo. I took the morning to sleep in after yesterday’s hike, which left my body pretty exhausted. Around 11:00, I went with some other classmates to a maid cafe in Akiba, telling myself I had to experience one of those strange places at least once. We first visited a huge multi-floor cafe, but found it full, and retreated to a smaller one in an Akiba alley. At around noon, we were some of the only people there, but were quickly welcomed and shown to our seats by one of the maids, after being read the rules (no touching, no photos, order something every 60 minutes). The interior was pink and fluffy as expected. I ordered a food combo, which came with omelet rice, a drink, some cat ears, and a polaroid photo with one of the maids. Every time an item of food was delivered to the table, the maids would instruct us in a cuteness ritual, with magic words depending on the item, that was supposed to make the food super delicious. It was strange. On my omelet rice, the maid drew a cute cat with ketchup, which was honestly a pretty impressive artistic achievement. I wonder how complex those drawings get. Around the middle of our meal, a woman arrived who seemed really into the whole thing, even ordering a live performance for all of us to enjoy. The dance routine, like the ketchup art, was genuinely really impressive. I knew it would probably take grit to work at a made cafe, dealing with strange and lonely patrons, but I was surprised at the level of pure performance skill the job seemed to demand. Hopefully they’re paid very well for their trouble. After the maid cafe (which was pretty expensive, to be honest— 40 dollars for the whole hour), I wandered around Akiba one last time, buying a few gifts and playing the crane game, which I actually won.

Arriving back at hotel edoya for the first time with 7-11 dinner in tow, I reflected on my time in Tokyo. The city was such an amazing experience. The bustle and the bright lights of the central districts were enchanting, and the peaceful parks and shrines hidden between them were serene and beautiful. The metro system was easy to navigate and strangely fun, and the food I got everywhere was delicious. I was especially glad for the opportunity to visit Mishima’s grave. I’m definitely going to miss Tokyo— after two weeks, I have the feeling that I’ve only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer— but I’m still excited to move on to Kyoto.