If you’re an anime lover, if you love technology and are a bit obsessed with some idol groups, then I’d suggest Akihabara is the place you have to visit in Tokyo, Japan. We spent the whole afternoon there and could’ve done more (if not for our tired feet).
We started our journey from Tokyo Station, as we were staying nearby (about 10 minutes walk).
We saw a woman wearing traditional kimono (or is this still a yukata?) and I thought that this was a cool sight. One of the reasons why I love Japan so much is the blending of the old and new, the traditional and the modern.
Once we reached Akihabara, only a few train stops away from Tokyo Station, we looked for Yodobashi camera/electronic store, just around the corner from the station. I specifically wanted to give Sushi Zanmai a try, as I’ve heard good stuff about it – being affordable and fresh, so we went straight to the 8th floor (they also have another chain at 1st floor) and were one of the first customers in store.
Apart from eating whatever you could pick from the sushi train or the extensive menu, I would recommend the tuna tasting plate to try the normal tuna, the medium fatty tuna (chuutoro) and the fatty tuna (otoro).
Also, I was (and still am) very happy to discover my favourite type of sushi there. Aburi or seared anything. Well, not anything, but yup, basically those blow torched sushi are so so so delicious. The texture was smooth, they melted in my mouth.
My favourite would be aburi engawa (some part of the flounders, it seems, from the minimal information that I can find online). White flesh, as shown in below’s picture (middle).
So the verdict? Well, let’s just say we did pay another visit to this sushi chain on one of our last days at Osaka. So yup, go and give this place a try! I will be back.
Once lunch was done, we started walking around Akihabara. We went on a Sunday, so the main street was blocked off and it became a pedestrian-only zone during daytime…
With our tummies full and satisfied, there was only one thing that we could possibly do… Shop! Yup, we started making our way through the anime shops and went crazy. Not literally of course, although, if we did stay longer, we might just go a bit mental from over-excitement.
Seriously, who could resist these shops filled with kawaii goods and anime-related merchandises?!
But of course, sushi for brunch was not enough (or we were just greedy)… So we decided to stop by for a lunch snack session.
Hotdogs and really awesome thin and long fries! Oh and we also had crepes, no pictures but hey you know what crepes look like! ;)
We also did some people watching while munching our afternoon snacks. Some really interesting people on the streets of Akiba.
I should’ve cosplayed too.
Anyways, we then walked through all the levels of Donki, the home of AKB48 (although there were plenty of other things there that are not AKB48-related). Donki is like the $2 shops here in Australia, except bigger and better and not exactly $2. I love it.
Oh by the way, when we were shopping, we found this cool vintage game shop that still sells the early versions of Nintendo – and plenty of games!
Ahhh, that brings back a little bit of my childhood.
Another cute find whilst on the streets… We saw a dude carrying a cat and a kitten, plus a little kitten following him. Yup, the little kitten was literally just following him! Totes adorbs. I want one.
To end this post, since Akiba is all about high-tech stuff, I think it’s best if I post a picture of a Japanese toilet.
I have this fascination with them, especially the heated seats. Don’t judge me until you’ve actually been to one. I still find it baffling that we don’t have such toilets here in Australia yet (at least not commonly found).
Shopping haul (not everything though) from Akihabara today…
What a fruitful trip. Although, I’d suggest planning your shopping list and budget first before going. Else, you’d be like us, tempted to buy stuff that we weren’t even planning to buy… and becoming totally obsessed with finding them, even though we didn’t originally even want them.
What’s in your Akiba shopping list? Share them plus any other Akihabara experience below…