Akihabara

A trip to Tokyo Japan just wouldn't be complete without visiting Akihabara, the electronics capital of Japan. We got back Thursday night from our overnight trip to Hakone. Nadine and I were really pooped out and decided to call it an early night. Friday was a free day with an optional trip to Nikko for anyone who wanted to go. Dean, his Mom, Mark and Ryan opted for the Nikko excursion. The rest of us split up with Matt, Mary and Brad going off on their own and the rest of us heading over to Akihabara for some shopping. We would be "Dean-less" today for the first time on our trip. But by this point we had all become pretty comfortable with using the train system, and we were confident that we would make it to our destination and back. Besides, Akihabara was only a few stops away from Hamamatsucho using the Yamanote line.

After a short ride to Akihabara Station we exited the train to the surprising sight of a middle age gentlemen dressed up in a blue maids outfit dancing and singing in the middle of the street. "Maid Boy" really seemed to be enjoying himself and was oblivious to all until "Grandpa" showed up. Seen here in the fluorescent green jacket and maroon pants, Grandpa suddenly jumps in from nowhere and proceeds to get his boogie on with Maid Boy. The two guys didn't seem to know each other and Maid Boy even seemed a little perturbed that Grandpa was stealing the show with his "motorcycle dance". Now I'm sure this type of thing is quite common in Akihabara but it was a first for me. I tried to get Richard and Timmy to join in but they declined for some strange reason.

No one was more surprised than I was when we happened upon Timmy's long lost twin brother in Akihabara. Apparently they were separated at birth with Timmy moving to Hawaii and his twin brother Jimmy being sent to Japan to live with relatives. It's eerie how identical they look standing next to each other. Jimmy works in security and is married with two lovely children. His oldest son Zaboga is fifteen and is into motorcycle racing and his youngest son Robocon is seven and enjoys playing soccer. Timmy and Jimmy exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch.

No trip to Akihabara would be complete without a stop at Yodobashi-Akiba. If you can read Japanese, here's a link to their website. http://www.yodobashi-akiba.com/ Yodobashi-Akiba is an Electronics Superstore with "Super" being the key word. The building is made up of eight humongous floors filled with every electronic device known to man. Located to the East of Akihabara Station, Yodobashi dominates the skyline as the districts only real skyscraper. So with miles and miles of every conceivable electronic gadget available for purchase, what cutting edge piece of technology do you think my buddy Richard bought at this mega store? Answer = a camera case.