Shopping

No trip to Tokyo would be complete without a visit to Akihabara (electric town). Unfortunately, I’m not sure words can adequately describe this experience. Think Chinatown in either SF or NY – several blocks of stores with people everywhere, all talking at once, selling, buying, bargaining. Now combine that with Fry’s – everything being sold or traded is electronics related (and yes, adult toys are apparently considered small electronics). And as a final touch, add the Japanese love of neon. It’s a simultaneous assault on all 5 senses. Well worth doing for a little while just for the experience, but have a quick exit strategy handy to avoid overdose.

Since we were also on a mission to find a set of Japanese chisels (talk to XDirtPushr, not me), we ended up at a place called Tokyu Hands. It’s billed as Japan’s original do-it-yourself store, but it’s geared more for crafts than projects around the house like our Home Despot. It’s 9 floors in a tall, thin city building of the most amazing collection of stuff (conveniently, they have an English version of the store directory). The first floor is seasonal goods and is currently stocked with umbrellas, galoshes, and raincoats. The second floor is coat hangers, build-it-yourself furniture, and suitcases. The next floor is raw materials – sheets of copper and aluminum, blocks of plastic and foam, wire and chain, fiberoptic tubing (no, I am not making this up). Then come tools for all variety of crafts and sports. Wood and metal working tools, bikes and bike parts, jewelry making supplies, quilting fabric and sewing supplies, party goods, models of Anime figures and things with engines ... the list goes on and on. And in case you’re starting to feel like you’re trapped in a desert with no hope of escape or sustenance, there’s a restaurant at the top (and they do serve ice cream).

As an antidote to the shopping and people, we also explored one of Tokyo’s older formal gardens (Rikugien). Nothing in particular was in bloom, but the green was a welcome relief after all the concrete (although it wasn’t that much cooler and the mosquitoes were vicious). The pond was stocked with the requisite Koi (who are well trained to follow humans around, waiting for handouts), but also turtles. The turtles might be slower, but they’re meaner when it comes to fighting their way to the top of the teeming pile.