First day in Japan

 

Akihabara 秋葉原

For the first time since New Year's Day 2018 I'm back in Japan. It's been a long wait but I can't even begin to describe how great it feels to back here - probably because I've been up since 0400 hours China Standard Time, and I'm still feeling the effects of the quartet of draft beers I quaffed just a short time ago. As I wrote in my previous post, the intention here isn't to write a detailed report on the what I've done and where I've been, accentuated with historical references and expert analysis. Instead, the goal is to each evening post a few photos from that day's activities so that I don't have to spend a long time updating this blog after I return to Beijing 北京 next month. So from Monday, June 19, are a few images submitted for your enjoyment...

Lunch at Haneda Airport 羽田空港 after arriving on time and without incident. The girl ordered a chazuke 茶漬け set, while I kicked this visit off with some unagi ウナギ:

Riding the Tokyo Monorail 東京モノレール from the airport into central Tōkyō 東京. Not the quickest route, but arguably the most interesting way to get into town from Haneda:

Amber and I spent most of the first day in Akihabara:

Our studio apartment for the duration of our stay in Japan's capital, complete with large bathroom, kitchen and washing machine:

Akihabara has changed from the primarily electronics district I knew back in the 90's to the maid café-inundated Nerd Central it is today. I chose not to photograph the legions of young women dressed in their kawaii 可愛い outfits handing out flyers to their various establishments, mainly because there were enough foreigners on the street already doing the same:

My daughter enjoyed going into an arcade to play Taiko no Tatsujin 太鼓の達人, an activity I also enjoyed but which left my aging limbs somewhat exhausted:

 

She also tried her hand (no pun intended) at maimai マイマイ, though she was no match for the hardcore players who brought their own gloves with them to the arcade:

A typical Akihabara street scene. The arcade on the left is the one we spent time in:

For dinner we met up with Jun, an old friend of mine, and his charming daughter Mone, at a yakitori 焼き鳥 restaurant called Teketeke Akihabara てけてけ秋葉原. The food and conversation were equally fine, but in my beer-induced exhaustion I neglected to take any photos of my dinner companions:

To be continued, as my daughter decides what we should do in the largest city on earth...