Third day in Japan

Kanda Myojin Shrine

The day began with a モーニングセット breakfast at a café ten minutes on foot from our accommodation: 

Catching a train in action crossing the Sōbu Main Line Kandagawa Bridge 総武本線神田川橋梁:

The main gate to Kanda Myōjin 神田明神:

A statue of Daikokuten 大黒天, one of the two main kami 神 worshipped at the shrine (the other being Ebisu えびす):

Amber stands in front of the main shrine building:

The main hall at Yushima Seidō 湯島聖堂, a 17th-century Confucian temple:

The temple attracts students praying for success in their examinations. My daughter thought it couldn't hurt to beseech the great Chinese scholar:

Back into the streets of modern-day Akihabara 秋葉原:

Super Potato Akihabara スーパーポテト秋葉原店, a shrine to retro video games:

On the fifth floor Amber tried her hand at Bomber Man...:

…while your humble scribe wallowed in the memories brought on by this air hockey version of Pong:

The fourth and third floors are devoted to selling old video games and consoles. Nostalgia is a lucrative business these days in Japan:

From Akihabara it was on to Ikebukuro 池袋 and a meet up with Aviva, an old friend from my teaching days in Tōkyō 東京. We caught up on old times at a small Italian bistro where I had the pork stew and rice:

After our goodbyes at the train station, Amber and I walked the streets of Ikebukuro toward the Sunshine City サンシャインシティ business park:

Tokyo being such a dynamic city, change should not come as a surprise. But having lived in Ikebukuro around 25 years ago, I wasn't prepared for the transformation Sunshine City has undergone, from its fashionable shopping center on the lower floors to the reimagined aquarium in its upper reaches (photos courtesy of my daughter):

Our day concluded at the Gotanda 五反田 branch of Devil Craft デビルクラフト, where much pizza and craft beer were consumed (the latter by the adults) as I caught up with Wes, another friend from those halcyon days of yore:

Amber deserves a medal for having to listen to her father prattle on about the "good old boys" with all the great people he's reconnected with so far on this trip. Looks like I'll have to raise her allowance as a reward when all this is over.