Tokyo #3

Akihabara has the reputation of the largest Japanese electronics center in Japan. Today, however, tourists don’t come here just for the latest hi-tech stuff. What you can see in Akihabara is not found anywhere else in the world – Otaku culture. The neighborhood is full of video games, playstation clubs and comic book stores and manga literature. Slot machines are also popular. However, not the kind you know from the casino, but slot machines, from which you pull the stuffed toys out known from your favorite cartoon. While walking down the streets, I often come across cinemas showing manga porn movies. Just for fun and a memory I almost buy one erotic manga poster. Almost on every corner stands a young Japanese girl dressed in an erotic maid costume and gives out leaflets inviting to the popular maid cafes, where you are served by sexy maid as a king.

While in Shinjuku you will find cafes with cats, in Akihabara you have to find something even more special. How about an owl cafe? I personally love owls, I consider them the cutest creatures in the world. Of course I can’t resist going to one of the owl cafes in Akihabara. For a not high 700 yen entrance fee, I can have my coffee in company of owls and some friendly species are also allowed to touch! Just in Japan!

Quite commonly, the Japanese stroll the streets of Akihabara dressed in colorful costumes of cartoon characters. Teenager look and Sailorman are especially popular with girls. Many take their look inspired by cartoons so seriously that they are photographed as celebrities. Mania of dressing up as cartoon characters is called cosplay, and in Akihabara you can find a lot of shops with cosplay costumes, makeup and wigs, even a variety of photo studios to make your photos look even more like a cartoon character: in Photoshop they enlarge your eyes, retouch your face and lengthen your legs. Many cosplay artists have thousands of followers on social media. In addition, they have places in Akihabara where they meet and where they go to boast their new fashion creation. Cosplay is a purely Japanese thing, foreign tourists are not very welcome among the cosplay community. However, if you are an animé admirer and would like to dress in a Sailorman or someone else’s costume, there is one studio that makes an exception and dresses up Westerners, as well. The studio is called Crown Studio and is located about a 6-minute walk from Akihabara Station. Here you can rent a costume together with a professional make-up and a personal photographer for an hour’s walk on the Akihabara Street promenade. However, you must order the costume experience online at least a week in advance. If you can do it without a photographer and make-up, there are many shops in Akihabara where you can buy similar costumes. Maybe they’ll come in handy for your next Halloween party. And who knows, maybe next time I will travel to Tokyo in Sailorman costume.