Maids and Midgets and Mammaries ... oh my

Getting lost is something that comes naturally to me. I wander around, realize I don't know where I am, and then wander around again until I hopefully do know where I am. This has been a pattern that always worked for me in Nevada, but the places that fit the definition of "knowing where I am" here are pretty limited. That being said, when I got lost on the way to Tokyo Tower, it turned out to be a very good thing. I found myself in a place where I didn't know where I was, but it was a place that had SWORDS.

When I saw the store initially my thought was "Oh hey, David wanted me to look for a store like this." My next thought was it was probably a 'sword-like objects' store as opposed to the real thing. This thought was further encouraged when Ryan mentioned that he saw some children playing with sword replicas in the lobby.

As I slowly wandered around the shop, I realized that most of the swords behind the glass cases had hand carved inscriptions and low end price tags sitting around 300000 yen. I spoke to a man at the counter and mentioned how I was trying to find information about having a sword repaired. The inquiry lead to the discovery that this place was almost more of a museum than a sword store, and actually had 3 stories instead of the first one I had seen on entering. The clerk seemed to realize that both Ryan and I had a more than passing interest in what sort of things were in the store, so he then took us on a guided tour of everything in the building.

The first floor was full of katana sets, while the second floor had the more valuable katanas secured away along with intricately carved hand guards, as well as a rack of flint-lock guns from the Edo period. The third floor was full of armor, bows, and more historic artifacts. This included the full original armor set of a daimyo, as well as a screen painting done showing the story of the Heike and Atsumori.

While in Tokyo I also discovered one reason there are so many healthy people here. There's a large building where very official people come and go. It turns out Japan is on a Diet.

There's also an expansive park looking area that was once Edo Castle, but is now more commonly referred to as the Imperial Grounds. One of the most remarkable things about the Imperial Grounds is that all the canals and moats surrounding the area are populated entirely by begging fish. The meter long koi pay attention to when you walk past and then come to the surface make glub glubing sounds and stick their fishy lips above water. "FEEED MEEE... I'M A FIIIIISH."

Today marked a return to Akihabara. This time we actually went into the buildings in search of a game for Ryan, and possible luggage for me.

It was terrifying.

Few things are quite as awkward as stumbling into a bright pink store full of women that are both lascivious and illustrated. One thing that might top that would be trying to find a way out of thestore, taking a small cramped elevator only to find it is covered with even more uncovered women, trying to back into a corner away from a particularly scary woman who apparently adheres to a policy of allowing midgets to balance on her breasts, and bumping into a young couple who seemed completely unfazed by any of it.

Now for the faint of heart I'd like to point out that this was, in fact, a ~normal~ store. They apparently did have video games somewhere. I just didn't stick around to find them. I don't think I'm cut out for browsing in Akihabara.

Ryan mentioned that he would be interested in going to a maid cafe just so he could say he had been in one once, but that he wouldn't feel right about dragging me through that sort of thing. I appreciated the sentiment.

Tomorrow morning I will be parting company with my friend and venturing out on my own. I have a train ticket for Hiroshima where I figured it may be a good idea to relax, study, and acclimate myself to the area that I'll be living in. And hopefully not get lost too much.

~Jeff