sundays in akihabara
March 28th, 2006
this is the day of the week that every otaku in japan must look forward to. it basically differs from any other day because most people have time off work or school (about the only day of the week they *may* have free) and after 1200 they close the inner roads of akiba off from cars. the result of this is a lot of people taking over the streets either performing or just… cosplaying. so you basically see about 8 huge crowds of men around a couple of girls in school/maid uniforms, or the occasional balancing juggler with kids and adults watching.
the main downfall of visiting on sunday is the crowds of people that plague the shops. moving around inside animate and other similar stores is like a nightmare where you are stuck on a kaitenzushi conveyor belt, being forced to keep moving and maybe, just maybe getting a chance to grab what you want before you are swept away. especially bad are the doujin floors, which are full of about 80 smelly men doing their best to get their latest doujin or erohon. not a sight/smell you really want to experience (unless you’re there for the merchandise i guess :p).
one thing i have been wanting to do a lot more is take pictures of the inside of shops that look really cool, or a shelf of models which own badly. unfortunately, taking photos like this is pretty much considered a crime in japan, and it really takes a lot of effort to hide a camera well enough to not be seen :p. that aside, i managed to get a few shots today, so check out the gallery for those. i guess this will be my last visit to akihabara in quite a few months, unless i get bored over the next few days ^^;
