Asakusa and Akihabara

My team of co-workers here in Japan told me on Wednesday night that my assignment was complete and that I was free to take the day on Thursday to explore the city a bit. They peppered me with suggestions of places to see, which seemed to fit nicely with the suggestions that a couple of American friends gave me. So, I planned my day to see the temple at Asakusa and the electronics mecca that is Akihabara.

Asakusa is on the northeastern side of Tokyo and I'm staying in the southwestern part, so the trip took quite a while, but was well worth it. In New York, when I get off the subway I still sometimes have trouble getting my bearings a bit, figuring out which way is north or east and that sensation of being out of sorts is obviously very much exaggerated here. When I emerge from underground, I tend to take about ten minutes looking for anything that might lead me to my destination. Many of the stops have large maps on ground level, but they've been surprisingly unhelpful. After a few minutes, I crossed the main street and headed into a tunnel of shops and restaurants, after noticing that quite a few other people were heading in that general direction.

After wandering through some tight alleys I finally caught a glimpse of the temple off to the right, so I headed that way. It opened up and the vendors started looking a bit more touristy, selling trinkets rather than food, so I figured I was on the correct path. Anyhow, Asakusa is one of the last remaining links to Tokyo's past, from what I could gather, with ancient architecture intact and well kept. The coolest thing as far as I was concerned was a central area smoking with incense that was said to be the breath of the Gods. Everyone would walk up to it and do their best to inhale as much of it as possible, so as to take in some of it's restorative powers. Many people even went so far as to hold their hands up to it and then rub their bodies afterwards.



After spending an hour or so at the temple and then grabbing a quick bite, I headed towards the subway to find Akihabara. One of my coworkers recommended it, as did one of Anne's coworkers. Akihabara is essentially the center of technology and computer equipment sales. There must have been 500 stores of various size selling all things electonic. iPods, Macs, PCs, along with phones, cameras, cabling, GPS systems, power supplies, surveilance systems, all the way down to hobbiest type stuff including anime and role playing game cards. It was easy to get lost through all the little side streets and shops. Nothing really jumped out at me as being especially unique gear-wise, but I had a blast wandering around and people watching.

I got the sense that the most interesting thing about this area wasn't necessarily the equipment for sale, but the life-style that it encouraged. There was a weird combination of technology and anime that produced interesting sytles of clothing, almost Matrix-esque. I think the wikipedia page describes this better than I can. My highlight was a guy standing outside one of the larger stores rapping in Japanese to try to convince people to come in and check out their gear. The scope of this place is truly overwhelming and I've never seen anything like it. Also, 3 PM on a Thurdsay and the place was packed with children and adults, shopping perhaps for work, but more than likely just goofing off. I'm not sure exactly how you make a living selling nothing but cables, but apparently it's doable.