Day 2 of my Japan Trip! Part 1

Here we are at Day 2! Basically we didn't get much sleep due to the 13 hour difference between there and the East Coast so we were up at like 5:30am wandering around Akihabara. Needless to say, not many people were out and no stores were open. So here's a quick trip thru the area starting with the stairs up to the apartment we rented.

 

DSC_0039 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

We didn't stay in a hotel because renting this apartment was cheaper, it came with a washer and dryer for clothes and it was literally only 2 streets over from the main drag of Akihabara. Quiet at night without all the bright lights too. Turning right from the apt. we head to the big street.

 

DSC_0040 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

The big building on the left had our neighborhood conbini on the street level floor so we went there often for food and drinks. And you know you're up early when the trash guys are barely getting moving.

 

DSC_0041 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Here's the right turn onto the main drag thru Akiba. You'll be seeing that little guy in the middle of the photo a lot, he always seems to be right in front of me!

 

DSC_0042 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

The river that separated us and the big lights of Akiba.

 

DSC_0043 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

The big street. Notice it's a ghost town out here..... 5:30am will do that.

 

DSC_0044 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

When in Akiba there's a rule.... EVERYTHING must be either awesome of adorable. These traffic cones are both. LOL

 

DSC_0045 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

The EdOn building.

 

DSC_0046 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

It's so friggin cool to see all the anime and manga ads plastered all over the place!

 

DSC_0048 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

DSC_0049 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Cute anime girls selling me food.

 

DSC_0051 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Oh look, a doll poster! I hadn't heard of those dolls before, I wonder what they're like? With the first part of the name being LIBIDO, you know these aren't the dolls you're looking for.

 

DSC_0052 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

More yummy food stuffs!

 

DSC_0053 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Further up the street.

 

DSC_0054 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Six story arcades.... man I wish we had these in the US.

 

DSC_0055 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Becca didn't believe me when I told her that vending machines are literally EVERYWHERE. Here's the first of many many MANY rows of them.

 

DSC_0056 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

The first of three Sofmap stores. Ed says he'll drink to that!

 

DSC_0057 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Down one of the side streets..... Mandarake was back in there somewhere.

 

DSC_0058 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

I found it extremely odd that there are still phone booths here. In the center of Electric Town, the one place where tech is sold daily and everyone has a cell phone. Why is this here of all places?

 

DSC_0059 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Anime booty!

 

DSC_0061 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

How about some anime brides?

 

DSC_0062 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

This is a poster for a pirate themed maid café.

 

DSC_0063 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

See? ANY open slot is a possible spot for a vending machine!

 

DSC_0065 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

CAT CAFE! We went there on our last day in Akiba, it was quite fun.

 

DSC_0066 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Posters for maid and school girl cafes.

 

DSC_0067 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Oh man, I wanted to go in there bad! Seems you can rent out airsoft guns and shoot them at targets with girls who will help you out! An excellent idea!

 

DSC_0068 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

More posters near another Sofmap.

 

DSC_0070 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

There were a LOT more maid cafes here this time around.

 

DSC_0071 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

DSC_0072 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Gashapon! Yet another machine that is stuffed into any and every opening available.

 

DSC_0073 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Some of the drinks found in the vending machines.

 

DSC_0074 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

DSC_0075 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Wow, never seen a vending machine for Nendoroid Petites before!

 

DSC_0077 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

I love these tiny alleys hidden between buildings.... you see some cool stuff down them like VENDING MACHINES.

 

DSC_0078 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Time for breakfast! I had a fried chicken, cheese and egg McMuffin with 2 hashbrowns. Of course, anything with egg on it has to have ketchup right? WRONG. I hate that but alas, the Japanese seem to love it so it was on my sandwich.

 

DSC_0080 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Every day I was confronted with this problem. I was NOT built for Japan. I didn't fit into or onto very much easily. First example: the hall to the mens bathrooms. I couldn't fit down walking normally, I had to go in sideways.

 

DSC_0081 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

More buildings in the area.

 

DSC_0082 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

DSC_0083 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Ok, this whole themed café/entertainment show thing is getting really WEIRD. These girls are all wearing hockey masks... Jason Vorhees style.

 

DSC_0085 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Hooray for Fate/Stay stuff! Well, Grand Order stuff...

 

DSC_0086 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

OH YES. I have found my store! Eight floors of Pr0n. It was amazing.

 

DSC_0087 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

DSC_0088 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

They called it "M's Tower" We called it Titty Tower. LOL

 

The police station was one street over and quite impressive.

 

DSC_0090 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Check out the adorable police woman holding a heart..... right next to the pics of the Most Wanted guys. XD They're probably all purse or panty snatchers.

 

DSC_0091 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

There was a giant cow on top of the conbini building...

 

DSC_0092 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

This place was right across from our apartment.

 

DSC_0095 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

The small building in the middle was where we stayed, up on the 3rd floor. I would soon grow to hate those tiny, steep steps....

 

DSC_0096 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Across the street.

 

DSC_0097 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Two doors down from us was this place. I loved their motto.

 

DSC_0098 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Now it's time for crazy vending machines. Here's a condom one.

 

DSC_0099 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Here's a cluster of very odd ones.

 

DSC_0100 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Why do I say they're odd? Because they're selling potato chips, drinks and toy trains right next to BUGS. LARGE BEETLES to be exact.

 

DSC_0101 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

I'll pass on the beetles and grab some Hello Kitty water.

 

DSC_0103 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Another one with bugs, chips and soup cans.

 

DSC_0104 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

This one sells people! XD

 

DSC_0105 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

I'm kidding, it's a photo booth for making passport and other types of ID photos.

 

Ok, after walking around for hours waiting for things to open up, we finally got to exchange our US moolah for some yen. When we got back to the apartment, Manami was more than ready to play with all my cash.

 

DSC_0162 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

In order to get my money back, I had to promise to buy her clothes and beer. I also had to give her treats so she got leftover airplane snacks.

 

DSC_0163(2) by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

Rin wanted some but I'm not sure if Manami ever gave her any.

 

DSC_0163 by Billy Bennett, on Flickr

 

So that's the first half of the day. I'll be back tomorrow with another post for the rest of the day! I promise there will be more dollie stuff! But it might not be DD dolls you see!

 

 

 

Billy

I love this!

More, please!

Wow, I've never seen a nendoroid petite vending machine either. I'll have to keep a look out when I'm Akiba next month.

 

Those 'most wanted' guys are actually mostly all murderers or terrorists. They're not unique to Akiba - that poster is everywhere down here as well. At least one of those guys was involved in the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack all those years ago and has been on the run since then - it's scary to know he's still out there, and scarier to know he probably doesn't look much like that photo anymore. It's a chilling contrast to see them among all the moe stuff though. EDIT- Out of interest I looked this up again and apparently all of the people involved in the Tokyo sarin subway attack have been caught, so I think it's a different cult that guy is on the run from.

 

Anyway, about Libidol, the company that makes those are the same company that makes...'those'. That certain doll attachment/'special torso' that people sometimes use on DDs to...I'll let you figure out the rest of that sentence. The 'special torsos' were actually developed for their Libidolls.

However, the Libidolls themselves can be bought in completely safe-for-work versions. But to be honest I just think they look bad. Their faces are funky as hell and have almost no dimension at all. A lot of people complain about Smartdoll faces lacking dimension but Libidoll takes that to a whole new level of bad. (and this is coming from someone who doesnt really mind smartdoll sculpts) The only thing I'm kinda interested in is the magnetic joints they supposedly have, but yikes I don't even think a new faceup could fix those awkward faces. (The fact that they all resemble young children while the company seems to want you to use their 'other products' on them is its whole other can of worms)

I love all of these post. Quick questions : how do yo rent an apartment on tokyo? Is there a craigslist of the sort? What was your experience with it? Do you recommend it?

 

Just a bit curious about the libidoll thing, all those "add-on parts" are for sexual use? Are those sexual dolls?

I love this! More, please!

 

No problem sir! I'll be doing these posts til I run out of pics!

 

Wow, I've never seen a nendoroid petite vending machine either. I'll have to keep a look out when I'm Akiba next month.

 

It was on the back street between the main drag and the street where they sell kabobs next to the big crane game arcade.

 

Anyway, about Libidol, the company that makes those are the same company that makes...'those'. That certain doll attachment/'special torso' that people sometimes use on DDs to...I'll let you figure out the rest of that sentence. The 'special torsos' were actually developed for their Libidolls.

However, the Libidolls themselves can be bought in completely safe-for-work versions. But to be honest I just think they look bad. Their faces are funky as hell and have almost no dimension at all. A lot of people complain about Smartdoll faces lacking dimension but Libidoll takes that to a whole new level of bad. (and this is coming from someone who doesnt really mind smartdoll sculpts) The only thing I'm kinda interested in is the magnetic joints they supposedly have, but yikes I don't even think a new faceup could fix those awkward faces. (The fact that they all resemble young children while the company seems to want you to use their 'other products' on them is its whole other can of worms)

 

Yeah we saw one in the box and on display inside that store. You can indeed build them as a normal doll but as you said, they just don't have very cute faces or heads IMO. Maybe if you put a DD or Obitsu head on it.... but then again, just buy a different body since most of us here won't be wanting those "other" parts available for them. We knew exactly what these were once we saw the breakdown in the store. They had those "other" parts for sale right next to them. I wanted to buy all those dolls to save them from such a life but oh well, I can't save them all.

 

I love all of these post.

 

Thanks!

 

Quick questions : how do you rent an apartment in Tokyo? Is there a craigslist of the sort? What was your experience with it? Do you recommend it?

 

I don't know how to rent the places, AsianEd did all the prep work on that so maybe he will pop in here to answer that for you. I know the company that we used has all sorts of apartments all over Tokyo in many different sizes and prices. The experience was great! It was so nice to be right in the middle of Akihabara and use the place as a base of operations. it was also nice to have more room than a normal hotel room at a lower price. Plus, we had a clothes washer/dryer so that meant we cold pack less clothing for the trip and save more room to pack up purchases. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone staying a week or more.

 

Just a bit curious about the libidoll thing, all those "add-on parts" are for sexual use? Are those sexual dolls?

 

Yes, the add on parts are basically onaholes that you attach to the doll so you can have sex with it. It seems to be a pretty popular thing among certain doll collectors as we saw lots of similar products in Akihabara.

 

 

 

Billy

Just a bit curious about the libidoll thing, all those "add-on parts" are for sexual use? Are those sexual dolls?

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.libidoll.jp%2Fitem%2Fr18

But you didn't get the link from me.

I love all of these post. Quick questions : how do yo rent an apartment on tokyo? Is there a craigslist of the sort? What was your experience with it? Do you recommend it?

 

Just a bit curious about the libidoll thing, all those "add-on parts" are for sexual use? Are those sexual dolls?

Usually when I go to Tokyo I use the same cheapass hotel in Minami-senjuu every time (its a nice little hotel though, barebones but nice) because I'm a cheapskate and want all that extra money for doll stuff, but when my dad visited in February, he used airb&b to get an apartment in both Tokyo and Sapporo. Both were really good! They're heavily geared towards foreign guests so they have very detailed instructions on everything in english. I don't know what the price was like, but dad said it was pretty good.

Apparently stuff like Air B&B is really frowned on by landlords in Japan though so even though it's recently become very popular, most listings explicitly tell you to try to be discrete about it (ie not asking the neighbours for a cup of sugar and saying that you're relatives if asked). That might change eventually though.

Great post, I really enjoyed reading it. Watching the photos was literally like live recreations of some anime scenes. I really envy you, I hope I will be able to go there some time And great you were able to get apartment directly in Akiba, that is both very convenient and allows you to absorb the anime atmosphere

 

And the shot with Manami taking money bath is awesome

Great post, I really enjoyed reading it. Watching the photos was literally like live recreations of some anime scenes. I really envy you, I hope I will be able to go there some time And great you were able to get apartment directly in Akiba, that is both very convenient and allows you to absorb the anime atmosphere

 

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoy the photos! Yes, I'm really glad we did the apartment rental too, it made things a whole lot easier than a hotel.

 

And the shot with Manami taking money bath is awesome

 

Thanks! I love that shot too.

 

 

Billy

It's really interesting. We see that animes and pop culture are part of their lives!

XD oh god, boobs everywhere and maid!

Cute looking cats coffee! x)

Thank you so much for the Japan Rental intel . Truly appreciate it. Will ask Ed Sempai about it.

 

My fiance and i both love japan, and we are currently scheduling our honeymoon there. Almost sure it is going to turn into a BIG HAUL haha!

 

Also, thank you for the straight forward answer about the sexual dolls. Pretty curious thing.

It's really interesting. We see that animes and pop culture are part of their lives!

XD oh god, boobs everywhere and maid! Cute looking cats coffee! x)

 

Yep! This is the only place I have seen those kinds of advertisements out in public and so large. It's awesome! And yes, there were so many maid cafes and posters showing boobs and butts. I was basically in heaven!

 

Thank you so much for the Japan Rental intel . Truly appreciate it. Will ask Ed Sempai about it.

 

Sure thing! I'm happy to help out when I can. Ed will definitely have more detailed answers for you.

 

My fiance and I both love japan, and we are currently scheduling our honeymoon there. Almost sure it is going to turn into a BIG HAUL haha!

 

That's so cool! Congrats to you both! I know you guys will have an absolutely amazing time there. Make sure you either take extra luggage with you to bring loot back in or buy some cheap luggage while there. That's what we had to do!

 

Also, thank you for the straight forward answer about the sexual dolls. Pretty curious thing.

 

No problem at all. Most of us are adults here so there's no reason to tip toe around the question. We weren't getting specific so it's fine.

 

 

 

Billy

do you mind me asking what you guys were paying per night for the apartment? The way I travel around japan is using business hotels, they can get as cheap as 35 bucks a night in some cities. I think last time I went, in asakaya I was paying 70$ for a one bed room with bathroom and breakfast.

 

AirBnB was not really a widely available thing at the time either, and now I hear it can be just as good an option if you are a group or family.

do you mind me asking what you guys were paying per night for the apartment? The way I travel around japan is using business hotels, they can get as cheap as 35 bucks a night in some cities. I think last time I went, in asakaya I was paying 70$ for a one bed room with bathroom and breakfast.

 

AirBnB was not really a widely available thing at the time either, and now I hear it can be just as good an option if you are a group or family.

 

I have no idea what the nightly/daily rate was because our buddy Ed took care of that with Airline miles so we just went along with him on it and helped him pay the taxes on our stay. PM him here as AsianEd and I'm sure he could give you some info on that.

 

 

Billy