from Metropolis Magazine
Feature By Patrick Macias
Revenge of the Nerds
The geeks come out to play in Akihabara, and theyfre not ashamed anymore
[image]
Mark Oxley
The maid greets you near the exit of Akihabara station. She hands you a palm-sized pocket of white tissues advertising the new café she works at. Before you take another step, an oversized teenager in bad jeans and a button-up shirt blocks your path. Hefs lugging a computer monitor concealed in bubble wrap, made sort-of portable by means of a makeshift plastic handle. The place is crowded. Whole families from the suburbs run wild in the streets, fresh off the Tsukuba Express to peer at Tokyofs most unlikely gmust-seeh neighborhood. Then there are the tourists, dashing in and out of the ticket gate, all of them here to feed their fetishes: anime, manga, toys and video games. Akihabara earned its nickname gElectric Townh a good many years ago, but itfs never been quite like this.
Modern Akihabara was born in the '20s during the early days of radio. During the immediate postwar era, it was a place to buy black market goods, which were hard to come by in a city flattened by firebombing. During the years of economic growth that followed, the area truly became Tokyofs electric town, the number one place to purchase hi-fi equipment, cameras and other consumer goods.
During the early f80s, the area went into decline as large chain stores began to peddle their wares in other parts of the city and in the suburbs. The geeks moved in and remade Akihabara in their own image. It became the place to go for illicit gadgets—spy cameras, cellphone blockers, radio scanners and eavesdropping devices, as well as bootleg Mac and PC software unavailable elsewhere. gAkibah became a messy bedroom writ large (littered with action figures and anime DVDs), not because of city planning or corporate interest, but through the sheer power of the obsessions of everyday people. What emerged was an oasis of technology and fantasy, one that garnered interest from around the world.
Now everyone wants a piece of the action, and over the last few years a noticeable split has emerged right down the middle of Akihabara. On one side of Chuo Dori, Akihabarafs main drag, are the grungy old haunts of hackers and hardcore otaku (geeks) who subsist on instant ramen and pasta served in maid cafés. On the other side is the brave gnewh Akihabara, typified by the monstrous Yodobashi Akiba superstore and NTTfs towering UDX complex. Which will inherit the future is largely up to you.
So take a jaunt to Akihabara—everyone else is doing it. The place crackles not only with electricity, but also those other Tokyo staples: oddness, novelty and the thrill of the unexpected.
[image]
Radio Building
Mark Oxley
Located conveniently across the street from Akihabara stationfs Denki-gai exit, the Radio Building (full name: World of Radio Building Akihabara) is one of the areafs main attractions: an eight-floor inferno chock full of everything that makes the otaku world tick. Inside you can find the latest toys, comics, idol goods, gadgets, along with vintage items like decades-old video and stereo equipment, perfect for playing those old laser discs and DAT tapes. Therefs also a host of items like stun guns disguised as cellphones and even spray cans of bear repellent—hints of subcultures that probably wonft be going mainstream anytime soon.
The building doesnft look like much like from the outside: A bunch of garden-variety consumer electronics vendors circle the ground level. Unless youfre looking for an air conditioner or a DVD player, youfll want to make for the upper floors fast. Soon, youfll be surrounded by small shops offering all manner of goods, including little baggies containing collectable gachapon, or capsule toys. Therefs also the Hobby Shop Kotobukiya, which hawks boxes of candy toys in bulk, all the better to find that rare figurine or to get an entire set of tiny plastic dinosaurs in one swoop. But this is just the beginning. The Radio Building has it all, so take your time savoring it.
No tour is complete without a peek at the sixth floor, where youfll find the Volks company flagship store. Here, customers can pick out miniature body parts—eyeballs, torsos and so on—to create customized dream dolls. It all sounds a bit Dr. Frankenstein until you see the beautiful wedding-style gazebo where staff present buyers of top-of-the-line figurines with their purchases in a tear-inducing gceremonyh—by which point, you may need a hanky yourself.
1-15-16 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. www.radiokaikan.org
Yodobashi-Akiba
[image]
Mark Oxley
Yodobashi is one of Japanfs biggest electronic goods chains, offering the latest gizmos and household necessities at cut-throat wholesale prices. Thus, the opening of the massive Yodobashi flagship store in Akihabara is practically an act of war against dozens of older electronics retailers in the area.
The place is so humongous it requires nothing less than a 150-page catalog just to successfully navigate all nine dazzlingly lit floors filled with cellphones, cameras, computers, you name it. With no trace of the otaku gdark sideh (erotic games and animation, etc.), itfs very much a pre-packaged Akihabara for the whole family. This is largely why old-school Akihabara loyalists tend to shun the place, believing it represents a soulless corporate attempt to mainstream their wild otaku world. But itfs still worth a pop-in, at least just to see the bustling miniature city inside.
On the sixth floor, therefs Yodobashi-Akibafs hobby section, which is devoted to the latest video games, DVDs, action figures, model kits and candy toys. There are 600,000 individual items on this level alone. Itfs also home to the storefs Gacha Gacha Corner: rows and rows and rows of sparkling new gachapon vending machines. And yes, everything is slightly cheaper gin hereh than it is gout there,h with one notable exception. Go up two more floors, and youfll find the Gourmet Court Akiba, which offers overpriced alternatives to the cheapo beef bowls and hamburgers that dot the landscape down below.
1-1 Kanda Hanaokacho, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5209-1010. Open daily 9:30am-10pm. www.yodobashi.com
Gachapon Kaikan
[image]
Patrick Macias
Just off Chuo Dori is a storefront called the Gatchapon Kaikan. A harsher contrast to Yodobashi-Akibafs bright and cheerful Gatcha Gatcha Corner could not be imagined. This is practically a trollfs cave, or perhaps a concrete mausoleum, filled with capsule toys. There are 350 different gachapon machines, all of them well worn and some in sore need of cleaning solvent. Like most other places with gachapon machines, youfll find the usual suspects: Godzilla, Ultraman, Mobile Suit Gundam and Dragon Ball Z figures up for grabs. Garbage bins nearby overflow with soft drink bottles and empty capsules. Loud rock music blares from the back, where the punk employees slouch behind the counter. Hardly sounds homey, so why bother? Like it or not, this is Akihabara how the otaku themselves love it. And youfre better off in the big chain stores if you fail to see the charm of it.
1F MN building, 3-15-5 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5209-6020. Open Mon-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-7pm.
MaiFoot
[image]
Hairdressers from Maid Style Beautician O-bu (www.o-bu.jp)
Mark Oxley
Maid cafes are quickly becoming passé, and a shampoo and a cut at a maid hair salon (yes, they exist) only makes sense every four to six weeks. Meanwhile, your feet are getting tired from hauling comics, computers and Godzilla knows what else all over the mean streets of Akihabara. The solution is Maifoot maid massage and reflexology.
The experience is as surreal as it sounds. See-through curtains and customers tucked away in makeshift pens make this place feel like a hospital. Meanwhile, pretty girls in maid outfits and cat ears dash back and forth with basins of water and trays of hot tea. The footwork itself certainly is relaxing, but dozing off as the fingers weave in and around your toes is not an option. You are expected to keep up a conversation with the knowledgeable maids, predictably revolving around anime, manga and games.
For \3,000 at Maifoot youfll get a half hour of foot and hand massage. The fee also includes a complimentary after-beverage. But no matter what your poison may be, itfs best to book in advance, as a walk-in appointment can take as long as two hours to make good on. Then again, all that standing around on your feet might help make the eventual payoff even more gratifying.
3F Suzuki Bldg, 3-1-3 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3253-1113. Open daily 11am-9pm. www.maifoot.com
Cospa Gee Store
[image]
Mark Oxley
Itfs not enough for some people just to watch anime and manga. Oh no. They have to dress like their favorite characters—sometimes regardless of gender—and then parade around in carefully detailed costumes. But since you canft buy a Full Metal Alchemist costume or an Evangelion gplug suith at Mitsukoshi, and making them takes time, the solution is to buy a complete getup, and maybe a nice wig to go with it, straight off the rack. If youfre not willing to go all the way with the look, Cospa Gee also offers a line of striking designer shirts featuring characters from the likes of Gundam and Trigun that will make you the envy of your otaku circle c unless, of course, they happen to be dressed as Sailor Moon.
2F MN building, 3-15-5 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3526-6877. Open Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 11am-7pm. www.geestore.com
Liberty Stores
[image]
Patrick Macias
Itfs no secret: Maintaining a proper otaku library of games, movies and other amusements can really put a drain on your wallet. The solution is to save a few bucks by buying your DVDs, TV games and even toys secondhand at a Liberty Store. Items are graded and priced by the amount of wear theyfve received, but you can expect even the cheapest ones to be in good condition. Just look for the signs that say "Liberty" in katakana and have fun fighting over bargains with the other nerds.
Liberty Akihabara Main Branch, 3-14-6 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3257-5546. Open Sun-Thu 10am-8pm, Fri-Sat 10am-8:30pm.
Super Potato
[image]
Mark Oxley
It is the graveyard of old video games: forgotten consoles, cartridges and goofy handheld portables discarded soon after Christmas 1982. Racks overflow with ancient titles that briefly entertained—such as Gremlins 2 for the Super Famicom, or Muscle Man Dirty Challenger—before they were passed over for the latest Hot New Thing. Then there is the hardware, much of which looks like reject material from the CIAfs black budget: light guns, child-sized virtual reality goggles, and robot-operated buddies. Despite the name of the store, therefs not a potato in sight, but who cares when you can kill a bit of time in Akiba rescuing Ronald Reagan from ninjas in that old chestnut Bad Dudes?
3F Kitanayashi Bldg, 1-11-2 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5289-9933. Open Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 10am-8pm. www.superpotato.com
Junk Shops
[image]
Patrick Macias
Youfll find them in Akihabarafs back alleys: plastic bins full of random circuit boards and peripherals, batteries, blank DVD-Rs of dubious make and trading cards for idols whose popularity is fading fast. No wonder they call them junk shops. It may look like the nerds are cleaning out their closets, but itfs actually the modern incarnation of Akiba's black market roots. Prices, on the whole, are dirt-cheap and there are some treasures to be found along with all the trash. Take these rubber comedy ears Ifm wearing right now, for instance c
Patrick Macias is the author of TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion (Cadence Books) and the co-author of Cruising the Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo-Tokyo (Stone Bridge Press). His daily rants and raves can be found at http://patrickmacias.blogs.com
Feature By Patrick Macias
Revenge of the Nerds
The geeks come out to play in Akihabara, and theyfre not ashamed anymore
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/A1/623-F-Radio-0126.jpg){kind=link}
Mark Oxley
The maid greets you near the exit of Akihabara station. She hands you a palm-sized pocket of white tissues advertising the new café she works at. Before you take another step, an oversized teenager in bad jeans and a button-up shirt blocks your path. Hefs lugging a computer monitor concealed in bubble wrap, made sort-of portable by means of a makeshift plastic handle. The place is crowded. Whole families from the suburbs run wild in the streets, fresh off the Tsukuba Express to peer at Tokyofs most unlikely gmust-seeh neighborhood. Then there are the tourists, dashing in and out of the ticket gate, all of them here to feed their fetishes: anime, manga, toys and video games. Akihabara earned its nickname gElectric Townh a good many years ago, but itfs never been quite like this.
Modern Akihabara was born in the '20s during the early days of radio. During the immediate postwar era, it was a place to buy black market goods, which were hard to come by in a city flattened by firebombing. During the years of economic growth that followed, the area truly became Tokyofs electric town, the number one place to purchase hi-fi equipment, cameras and other consumer goods.
During the early f80s, the area went into decline as large chain stores began to peddle their wares in other parts of the city and in the suburbs. The geeks moved in and remade Akihabara in their own image. It became the place to go for illicit gadgets—spy cameras, cellphone blockers, radio scanners and eavesdropping devices, as well as bootleg Mac and PC software unavailable elsewhere. gAkibah became a messy bedroom writ large (littered with action figures and anime DVDs), not because of city planning or corporate interest, but through the sheer power of the obsessions of everyday people. What emerged was an oasis of technology and fantasy, one that garnered interest from around the world.
Now everyone wants a piece of the action, and over the last few years a noticeable split has emerged right down the middle of Akihabara. On one side of Chuo Dori, Akihabarafs main drag, are the grungy old haunts of hackers and hardcore otaku (geeks) who subsist on instant ramen and pasta served in maid cafés. On the other side is the brave gnewh Akihabara, typified by the monstrous Yodobashi Akiba superstore and NTTfs towering UDX complex. Which will inherit the future is largely up to you.
So take a jaunt to Akihabara—everyone else is doing it. The place crackles not only with electricity, but also those other Tokyo staples: oddness, novelty and the thrill of the unexpected.
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-Radio-0124.jpg){kind=link}
Radio Building
Mark Oxley
Located conveniently across the street from Akihabara stationfs Denki-gai exit, the Radio Building (full name: World of Radio Building Akihabara) is one of the areafs main attractions: an eight-floor inferno chock full of everything that makes the otaku world tick. Inside you can find the latest toys, comics, idol goods, gadgets, along with vintage items like decades-old video and stereo equipment, perfect for playing those old laser discs and DAT tapes. Therefs also a host of items like stun guns disguised as cellphones and even spray cans of bear repellent—hints of subcultures that probably wonft be going mainstream anytime soon.
The building doesnft look like much like from the outside: A bunch of garden-variety consumer electronics vendors circle the ground level. Unless youfre looking for an air conditioner or a DVD player, youfll want to make for the upper floors fast. Soon, youfll be surrounded by small shops offering all manner of goods, including little baggies containing collectable gachapon, or capsule toys. Therefs also the Hobby Shop Kotobukiya, which hawks boxes of candy toys in bulk, all the better to find that rare figurine or to get an entire set of tiny plastic dinosaurs in one swoop. But this is just the beginning. The Radio Building has it all, so take your time savoring it.
No tour is complete without a peek at the sixth floor, where youfll find the Volks company flagship store. Here, customers can pick out miniature body parts—eyeballs, torsos and so on—to create customized dream dolls. It all sounds a bit Dr. Frankenstein until you see the beautiful wedding-style gazebo where staff present buyers of top-of-the-line figurines with their purchases in a tear-inducing gceremonyh—by which point, you may need a hanky yourself.
1-15-16 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. www.radiokaikan.org
Yodobashi-Akiba
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-0076.jpg){kind=link}
Mark Oxley
Yodobashi is one of Japanfs biggest electronic goods chains, offering the latest gizmos and household necessities at cut-throat wholesale prices. Thus, the opening of the massive Yodobashi flagship store in Akihabara is practically an act of war against dozens of older electronics retailers in the area.
The place is so humongous it requires nothing less than a 150-page catalog just to successfully navigate all nine dazzlingly lit floors filled with cellphones, cameras, computers, you name it. With no trace of the otaku gdark sideh (erotic games and animation, etc.), itfs very much a pre-packaged Akihabara for the whole family. This is largely why old-school Akihabara loyalists tend to shun the place, believing it represents a soulless corporate attempt to mainstream their wild otaku world. But itfs still worth a pop-in, at least just to see the bustling miniature city inside.
On the sixth floor, therefs Yodobashi-Akibafs hobby section, which is devoted to the latest video games, DVDs, action figures, model kits and candy toys. There are 600,000 individual items on this level alone. Itfs also home to the storefs Gacha Gacha Corner: rows and rows and rows of sparkling new gachapon vending machines. And yes, everything is slightly cheaper gin hereh than it is gout there,h with one notable exception. Go up two more floors, and youfll find the Gourmet Court Akiba, which offers overpriced alternatives to the cheapo beef bowls and hamburgers that dot the landscape down below.
1-1 Kanda Hanaokacho, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5209-1010. Open daily 9:30am-10pm. www.yodobashi.com
Gachapon Kaikan
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-Gatcha1.jpg){kind=link}
Patrick Macias
Just off Chuo Dori is a storefront called the Gatchapon Kaikan. A harsher contrast to Yodobashi-Akibafs bright and cheerful Gatcha Gatcha Corner could not be imagined. This is practically a trollfs cave, or perhaps a concrete mausoleum, filled with capsule toys. There are 350 different gachapon machines, all of them well worn and some in sore need of cleaning solvent. Like most other places with gachapon machines, youfll find the usual suspects: Godzilla, Ultraman, Mobile Suit Gundam and Dragon Ball Z figures up for grabs. Garbage bins nearby overflow with soft drink bottles and empty capsules. Loud rock music blares from the back, where the punk employees slouch behind the counter. Hardly sounds homey, so why bother? Like it or not, this is Akihabara how the otaku themselves love it. And youfre better off in the big chain stores if you fail to see the charm of it.
1F MN building, 3-15-5 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5209-6020. Open Mon-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-7pm.
MaiFoot
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-Maid-0221.jpg){kind=link}
Hairdressers from Maid Style Beautician O-bu (www.o-bu.jp)
Mark Oxley
Maid cafes are quickly becoming passé, and a shampoo and a cut at a maid hair salon (yes, they exist) only makes sense every four to six weeks. Meanwhile, your feet are getting tired from hauling comics, computers and Godzilla knows what else all over the mean streets of Akihabara. The solution is Maifoot maid massage and reflexology.
The experience is as surreal as it sounds. See-through curtains and customers tucked away in makeshift pens make this place feel like a hospital. Meanwhile, pretty girls in maid outfits and cat ears dash back and forth with basins of water and trays of hot tea. The footwork itself certainly is relaxing, but dozing off as the fingers weave in and around your toes is not an option. You are expected to keep up a conversation with the knowledgeable maids, predictably revolving around anime, manga and games.
For \3,000 at Maifoot youfll get a half hour of foot and hand massage. The fee also includes a complimentary after-beverage. But no matter what your poison may be, itfs best to book in advance, as a walk-in appointment can take as long as two hours to make good on. Then again, all that standing around on your feet might help make the eventual payoff even more gratifying.
3F Suzuki Bldg, 3-1-3 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3253-1113. Open daily 11am-9pm. www.maifoot.com
Cospa Gee Store
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-0165.jpg){kind=link}
Mark Oxley
Itfs not enough for some people just to watch anime and manga. Oh no. They have to dress like their favorite characters—sometimes regardless of gender—and then parade around in carefully detailed costumes. But since you canft buy a Full Metal Alchemist costume or an Evangelion gplug suith at Mitsukoshi, and making them takes time, the solution is to buy a complete getup, and maybe a nice wig to go with it, straight off the rack. If youfre not willing to go all the way with the look, Cospa Gee also offers a line of striking designer shirts featuring characters from the likes of Gundam and Trigun that will make you the envy of your otaku circle c unless, of course, they happen to be dressed as Sailor Moon.
2F MN building, 3-15-5 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3526-6877. Open Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 11am-7pm. www.geestore.com
Liberty Stores
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-libertystore.jpg){kind=link}
Patrick Macias
Itfs no secret: Maintaining a proper otaku library of games, movies and other amusements can really put a drain on your wallet. The solution is to save a few bucks by buying your DVDs, TV games and even toys secondhand at a Liberty Store. Items are graded and priced by the amount of wear theyfve received, but you can expect even the cheapest ones to be in good condition. Just look for the signs that say "Liberty" in katakana and have fun fighting over bargains with the other nerds.
Liberty Akihabara Main Branch, 3-14-6 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-3257-5546. Open Sun-Thu 10am-8pm, Fri-Sat 10am-8:30pm.
Super Potato
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/A1/623-F-Super-0110a.jpg){kind=link}
Mark Oxley
It is the graveyard of old video games: forgotten consoles, cartridges and goofy handheld portables discarded soon after Christmas 1982. Racks overflow with ancient titles that briefly entertained—such as Gremlins 2 for the Super Famicom, or Muscle Man Dirty Challenger—before they were passed over for the latest Hot New Thing. Then there is the hardware, much of which looks like reject material from the CIAfs black budget: light guns, child-sized virtual reality goggles, and robot-operated buddies. Despite the name of the store, therefs not a potato in sight, but who cares when you can kill a bit of time in Akiba rescuing Ronald Reagan from ninjas in that old chestnut Bad Dudes?
3F Kitanayashi Bldg, 1-11-2 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5289-9933. Open Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 10am-8pm. www.superpotato.com
Junk Shops
[image]
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/623-F-junkstore2.jpg){kind=link}
Patrick Macias
Youfll find them in Akihabarafs back alleys: plastic bins full of random circuit boards and peripherals, batteries, blank DVD-Rs of dubious make and trading cards for idols whose popularity is fading fast. No wonder they call them junk shops. It may look like the nerds are cleaning out their closets, but itfs actually the modern incarnation of Akiba's black market roots. Prices, on the whole, are dirt-cheap and there are some treasures to be found along with all the trash. Take these rubber comedy ears Ifm wearing right now, for instance c
Patrick Macias is the author of TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion (Cadence Books) and the co-author of Cruising the Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo-Tokyo (Stone Bridge Press). His daily rants and raves can be found at http://patrickmacias.blogs.com
![[image]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/2triky/SAMURAI-GIRL-2.jpg){kind=link}