A fire engine just drove by. I wonder where it’s heading to. But anyway, read on for photos from Kaminarimon, Nakano Broadway, Shinjuku and nighttime Akihabara.

Asakusa

We went to Sensouji near Asakusa Station in the morning. I tried the omikuji. It took forever for a stick to fall out, but my fortune is apparently good.

Tourist traps

Spot the odd one out

Tsuruya-san’s family business

Ruined symmetry

Small boat town

Kanji

Paying for protection

Shake, pull and match

Roses are red, violets are blue. All my base are belong to you

They need to add a foliage-penetration mode on cameras

I want one

Nakano

Next stop, Nakano Broadway. I already covered this place in a previous entry so I shall save the explanations. More pictures!

Still in the mood for X’mas

Fraulein Revoltech Rei for 1485 yen

The only other picture I took inside Nakano Broadway

In the back alleys

Japanglish

Reminds me of FLCL

Shinjuku

I spent the afternoon alone wandering around Shinjuku. I walked around 4km. I bought a light novel called Bungaku Shoujo to Shinitagari no Piero (“文学少女”と死にたがりの道化). I have no idea what it is about, but I bought it anyway because I liked the little prose in the page before the prologue, and because it’s in some kind of “Top 10” list so it has to be somewhat decent.

Pink flowers added just in case you miss the message

Outside the Shinjuku Station’s New South Exit

New South Exit

Shinjuku Station is about the size of a small city with exits that are hundreds of metres apart. It’s a hell load of walking.

I don’t know where this place is but whatever

Shinjuku Station serves a few dozen lines

Takashimaya used to be a cloth shop

One line

Two lines

Three lines

Shinjuku Station is the busiest train station in the world with over 3.3 million passengers a day.

Compensation

Random building

Kinokuniya South Shinjuku Branch

My membership card doesn’t work here…

Walkway connecting Kinokuniya to Takashimaya

Kinokuniya is actually a grocery store in Japan!

Walking towards the Metropolitan Government Office (800m away)

Hey, is that…?

Yeah it is.

Bureaucratic zone

One of Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s buildings

Taxpayer yen at work

Fuji News Network news truck

Push the button for audio signals

Akihabara

Finally, I met with Don777 in Akihabara. He’s a pretty nice guy, especially since he likes Maaya too. He brought me to @home cafe and Cafe with Cat (Toranoana’s new cafe). Cafe with Cat seems to be a pretty standard maid cafe deal except with cat-inspired uniforms instead of maid costumes, whereas @home is definitely on the manic side of things. The waitress who brought us our drinks actually did this heart-sign action to inject a “moé” flavour.

But I shall not go into that because I am falling asleep anytime now… A few more pictures and we are done.

Fortune Arterial is the latest game by August, the makers of Yoake Mae yori Ruri-iro na. Basically it’s the exact same game except the hair colours get shuffled around a bit and the Feena-lookalike is a loli. It’s also the most anticipated upcoming game according to Comptiq magazine, so expect it to sell a gazillion copies and be turned into a cabbage an anime.

Eva coffee

The second Kara no Kyoukai movie will be out on Saturday

Well, that’s it for today. I need sleep.

By the way, in case you didn’t know yet, all the photos (and more) can be found in my photo gallery.

Although our hotel is located in Ikebukuro, it is on the opposite side of the train station from the major concentration of anime-related shops, so we didn’t take the time to visit there until now. (You know, Akihabara and all…)

Tama-nee compels you to read on.

Although Ikebukuro isn’t exactly Akiba, there are still quite a lot of anime goods to be found here. Lashinbang and K-books are not to be missed if you are looking for hard-to-find anime collectibles. From limited edition phone cards to alarm clocks and pillow covers, these shops buy and resell all kinds of limited edition collectibles. If you look long enough, you might find a good deal, such as a secondhand anime OP single for 200 yen or a Tamaki Kousaka wall scroll for 2000 yen. (I bought the only one by the way…) Here’s a picture of Lashinbang and K-books from my previous visit.

I got this Tamaki mug from Lashinbang for 1000 yen. :3

The prices at secondhand collectibles shops are quite unpredictable. Different traders have different pricing based on product rarity, condition and popularity, so it’s better to look around first before buying. For example, K-books was selling a secondhand copy of Rie Tanaka’s Chara de Rie first print for 4000 yen when I found an unopened copy collecting dust in Yamagiwa Soft for the list price of around 2000 yen. On the other hand, secondhand shops are probably the only way you can find items limited to events or preorders, such as limited goods from the latest Comiket. Just be prepared to pay a lot for those rare goods… (6000 yen for a rare phone card of a popular character is not uncommon)

And right beside Lashinbang is the main branch of Animate. Well, you can find one in Akihabara too, but the it’s still nice to visit the main branch. Animate deals manga, anime and character goods, but not much in the way of doujin unlike Toranoana. A picture of Animate main branch from my last visit. (Yes, I’m lazy to take pictures again)

There used to be a Gamers (Dejiko’s birthplace) near the underpass to Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, but it seems to have closed down… Awww…

Anyway, on to Shinjuku. Gah screw it, I’m too lazy, so just look at the pictures.

Kinokinuya here is huuuuge. The South Shinjuku branch has a whole building for itself beside Takashimaya Times Square. The main branch farther northeast has a whole building and an annex of comics and light novels. Interestingly, the annex for the main branch is named “Forest”. Maybe it’s a wordplay of Kinokuniya…? (木の国？)

On another note, I briefly read through a few World War II-related books in Kinokuniya. It seems to me that Japanese accounts tend to focus on either specific battles and the strategic events in the Pacific or the situation of Japan under American Occupation. Out of the entire shelf on WWII, there were only three books on display on the Nanjing Incident. The first book was supposedly an “unbias” account. The second book claimed to be able to prove that the Nanjing Incident never took place using “newly-uncovered Chinese Communist Party documents from Taiwanese archives” (most impartial source of information ever…). The third book was just spouting nonsense about how the entire thing originated from Communist propagandas. Right beside them is a book about how Japanese nationals “forced to remain in Manchuria due to circumstances” suffered in China before finally returning home after many years. And somehow this book is a lot thicker than the other three.

And yes, I was born in Nanjing.

Anyway, enough with the rant, it’s time for today’s loot!

1. To Heart 2 Tamaki Kousaka coffee cup
2. School Days Official Visual Art Works
3. Gundam SEED DESTINY Lacus Clyne Limited Poster
4. Nanoha Raising Heart from Animate (not for me)
5. School Days Sekai-hen novel
6. Kami-sama Game Vol. 1 & 2
7. Hayate no Gotoku! Vol.1

Anyway, that’s all for today~