Japan Day 5: Tokyo - Part 2 - Akihabara and Shiodome

My guide book described the Akihabara neighborhood as "techno-geek heaven", and they were totally right. Wendy and I arrived there before even the shops opened, and we saw guys (from teenagers to fully-grown men) lined up outside of stores for deals on computer-ware, games, and anime figures. I don't even do that on Black Friday in the States for anything. But it was definitely an interesting neighborhood. There were tons of teenage boys walking (with shopping bags full of stuff) among 5-story shops with everything electronic, game arcades, manga and toy stores; I felt like I was geeking out too.




The weirdest experience there was going to a maid cafe, called @home cafe. It was totally kitschy and disturbing at the same time. The "maids" were teenage girls dressed in maid costumes, who addressed you as master/mistress of the "house". (We weren't allowed to take photos, only if we paid for a photo with our "maid", which you see below.) Wendy, I, and maybe two other women were the only females, out of 25 or so customers. The rest were teenage boys to men in their 40s.

You can order a meal, drink, and/or dessert individually or as a package deal. The packages included a game you'd play with a maid, a picture with a maid (from which you can choose which maid you wanted to take a picture with), and a take home souvenir. I opted for a dessert (a cute little rare-cream cheese cake shaped as a bunny) and a photo with our maid.

It really was bizarre to see these girls play their role. They were very cutesy and flirty with the guys. Some guys just looked down-right creepy, but the girls maintained their role without missing a beat. Either Wendy or Dan compared the maid cafe to Hooters in the US. I'd have to agree, only the maid cafe seemed even more f'd up because this crossed the line of fetish.

In the end, I had fun though. Our maid was super cute and sweet, and I got a "Master Card", Lv.1 (Haha. If I had't worked for a game company, I would have no idea WTF "Lv.1" meant.)



After Akihabara, I hopped on the metro back to Tsukiji/Shiodome area to see the Advertising Museum. I'm usually good with directions/orientation, but the maps in my guidebook were not very detailed, so I probably spent almost 45min walking around, trying to find this museum. It turned out to be in this giant mall/building, with a small sign on the front, and a directory on the side. It was worth it, I suppose. Not so much for the featured exhibit (on the boom of American Advertising, inspired by Mad Men), but for the Japanese collection it housed and for the design of the exhibits. (Being in Asia and seeing visuals in Japan and Hong Kong have made it even more clear for me that design is so much more elegant when simple and clean.)



I went through the exhibit within and hour and then headed back to the Ginza metro station. They had opened the main avenue there for pedestrians, so it was nice to stroll around and take in the environment around me. I needed to ease my pace and rest up, because Wendy and I planned to be up all night partying in Shibuya.