J in Japan: Electric town

If you're a gaijin (all my black, white, brown, 'insert colour here' peeps put'cha hands up!) And you're into video games, anime, manga and all things with bright lights, you go to Japan. And once you're there, you head for Akihabara: the home of all things bright, loud, colourful, electronic and quirky.

If you're from London and frequent central and the West end, then the first thing you'll notice when you're in Akihabara is that it's all rather familiar. It's like a fusion of Chinatown, Tottenham court road and Shaftesbury avenue; except with lots of Japanese people walking around, less cars and more video games and electronic stores. Yes. More elctronic stores than there are on Tottenham court road.

I went to Akihabara expecting it to overload my senses and to find some really cool bargains. I really thought I was going to see it all. But wandering down the streets and side streets, I couldn't help but feel just a tiny but disappointed. Akihabara is still a fun place with lots to see, and has a fair bit of stuff you won't find in Central London. One of the coolest things I came across in Akihabara was a retro arcade. 3 floors of nothing but old school classics, and I'm talking OLD!!! Final Fight, Double Dragon, Street Fighter II - it was like being sucked back into 1991! The place was a lot like the shitty arcades you get at fairs and carnivals - except this arcade intentionally features old games, with some cool retro deco to help set the mood: such as piss coloured wallpaper, a dodgy smell permeating the air, a chair made of cartridges, and a life size model of Solid Snake. Not sure what he was doing there. But Solid Snake is always cool where ever he ends up.

Akihabara is also home to maid cafes. I unfortunately didn't get to visit one, but spotted a dinky little maid: polite, prim and proper handing out a flyer for one. I also came across a girl cosplaying in a school uniform handing out flyers. Not sure what for, as she denied me a flyer. Where ever she works must have a no gaijin policy; because when I walked past her, she put their flyers close to their chest. They may as well have spat my face and told me I'm not welcome. My Chinese mate got given a flyer though. She probably thought he was a local. If only she knew....

There's lots to do and see in Akihabara. I did expect more though. I imagined I'd be at a loss for things not to do and that I'd wind up spending a whole entire day there. But after a while I just wanted to go somewhere else. I would go back to Akihabara though, because I'm sure there's a lot there I may have missed or glanced past. Plus, I wandered around Akihabara during the day, and it may be a completely different story when stomping the pavements there at night. Still a cool place though. Even if you don't end up buying anything, it's a cool place to just be in for a bit.