Cory, I never went to Tokyo Disneyland, but I did go to Akihabara last year. I've wanted to check out "Electric Town" for as long as I can remember, and the sheer neon induced high techness of it all was mind blowing. I saved up for a year to go to Japan for a week and a half, and it was worth every cent.

There are a million other things to see in Japan first...

http://minutillo.com/steve/travels/akihabara.jpg
http://minutillo.com/steve/travels/akihabara-2.jpg
http://minutillo.com/steve/travels/akihabara-3.jpg

A few night scenes in Akihabara from last September. You should definitely go.

" I am turgid with jealousy"

Too much information!

You remind me of my friend in Japan, he said we should go visit his friend, he has a little working farm/theme park that's set up like an Iowa farm, right on the eastern coast of Hokkaido. I told him he was nuts, I traveled thousands of miles to get AWAY from Iowa and farming, and I sure as hell wasn't interested in wasting time seeing a bunch of cows and stepping carefully around cow flop. I was trapped into going anyway, and it sucked just as bad as any farm tour in Iowa, but it was quite authentic, even the cows were from Iowa. Everyone loved it but me, I'd seen it all before.

Yeah, Cory, you should just go.

it's really tumid there in the summer :D engorge yourself!

Nothing compares to America Town.

if you go, you will have to get me a watch like yours. you should also visit sanrioland for me.

Travel to far off foreign lands with different cultures.
Visit their Disneyland.
They have McDonalds too, you know.

Akihabara is only fun if you know you can't buy anything. Looking is fun, but trying to buy (as an American) is awful.

But, Cory, you're a bookhound and craphound! There are much more fun areas of Tokyo for those predilictions. For books, there is the Kanda district and the Kinokuniya bookstore (which makes Powell's look normal). For junk, there are lots of areas that great to wander through but unfriendly to non-Japanese. Akihabara stuff can be found in catalogs; other stuff can't.

Edited by author 01-31-2003 03:35 PM
Akihabara is plenty fun, even as an american. last time i was there (over the summer) the only things you couldn't really use back here were the cell phones.

My favorite store? Manadrake. It's in the third basement in an alley in Shibuya. good times.

Tokyo Disney Sea is the sh*t! And I am way jaded to the whole Disney thing. The island volcano is way cool. Not to mention cheap. My daughter and I spent two days there and spent less than $500. Try doing that in florida!

And there is nothing quite like the Tiki Room and Pirates of the Caribbean in Japanese. Good fun.

Cory, when you get there, try the Sea Salt Ice Cream.

Also good fun was Sanrio Puroland. Very crowded. Didn't understand a thing. Very fun.

I like wandering Akihabara stalls because they have things like a guy who sells nothing but LEDs, and the guy who sells buttons. But my favorite part of Akihabara is very lo-tech: the puzzle man.