Coolest.  Place.  EVER!
You know, I had pretty much decided that Akihabara was probably hype.  Overblown touristy nonsense.  In fact, it is the coolest place ever.  If you are a geek and you have one day to spend in Tokyo, go to Akihabara.  Interestingly, I found it to be more friendly to the non-Japanese speaker than Shinjuku.  Especially the duty-free shops.
 
I could spend a week in Akihabara, easy.  It was an absolute blast, especially the "under the tracks" area ("Gaado no Shita", see above) with the crazy little shops selling electronic components like displays, caps, knobs, and spectacularly expensive ($1000+!) obscure vacuum tubes, as well as more mundane tools and zillions of security cameras.  For our product, we use a high-security Torx screw, and the driver is basically a mail-order item.  Hard to find.  I bought three of them in “Gaado no Shita” from two different stalls!
 
Best.  Mac Store.  EVER!
As I was prowling around the streets of Akihabara at random just checking out what was what, I came across a store simply called “The Mac Store”.  “Hm,” I thought, “this might be good or it might really suck.”  Turns out that this is easily the nicest Mac store I’ve ever seen, including all of the Apple stores, including Ginza.  Five floors of Mac stuff, nicely displayed and well-organized.  Unlike Ginza, where stuff was duplicated everyplace, this was really five floors of Mac stuff.  PowerBooks/MacBooks and PowerMacs, iPods and accessories and so forth, as well as a full line of accessory gear like wrist rest protectors and screen protectors (damn it, I forgot to get screen cleaner!).  Better still, they had a whole floor devoted to printers and scanners that work with the Mac, and another whole floor devoted to music and video equipment and authoring software.  There was an entire floor devoted just to books and software, too, and finally a floor of used equipment, including some “for display only” items like a PowerBook 150 (wow!) and a row of Cubes.  If you’re in Tokyo and you need something for a Mac, skip Ginza and head to Akihabara.
 
Coolest.  Store.  EVER!
As I was wandering around the streets at random just sort of taking in the scenery and looking at the various shops, I came across a high-design home furnishing store called Yamagiwa Living (Livina?  The name is sorta stylized.).  Designs by Eames, Aalto, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others whose names I didn't know but whose work I loved.  Furniture, lighting, fabrics, kitchen cabinets and appliances, home and office accessories, and B&O stereo equipment.  I could decorate my whole house with this store, but I'd be FRICKIN’ BROKE if I did.  Still, I'm 95% sure I'm buying the office chair I tried (the one on the left in the front window).  I may also have to buy the Frank Lloyd Wright lamp.  I just gotta see if I can get them in the USA somehow.  Otherwise, I'll be asking my friend Dave to call the store and perform interpreter duties.
 
So, there I am in the electronics capital of the known universe, and I'm looking at kitchen cabinets with BluMotion drawers and doors, Gaggenau appliances, and an insanely cool clock with giant LED digits that show THROUGH the wood that the clock is made of.  I spent 2 hours in the place.  Sadly, they had signs up saying "no photos" all over the place.  $%^%# annoying, because I had to write down a lot of info on products I liked instead.
 
After I finally exhausted all 6 floors of Yamagiwa Living, I resumed my prowling around, eventually gravitating towards one of the big duty-free shops.  Man, Sony is pushing the hell out of their new CyberShot T30 camera (with video kiosks and guys with live cameras giving demos), and I gotta say it looks very nice.  I wish that they had put a rotation sensor in it.  If they had, I probably would have bought one.  I consider the omission of this sensor unforgivable, though.
 
I came insanely close to buying a new pocket camera anyway, though.  Canon has a beautiful little model called the Ixus IX800IS with optical image stabilization (!!) and a 4x zoom (in the USA: SD700).  But, right next to it, they have a thinner-by-a-third IX80 (SD630 in the USA) without the IS lens and with a 3x zoom, but with a SUPER COOL focus review function on the insanely big screen.  Sigh.  As soon as those two cams mate and have an offspring, that'll be my new cam.  I would have bought the IX800IS on the spot if it had the focus review feature.  Irritating that they didn’t manage to carry that over.
 
The interesting thing is, though, that the prices in these shops are basically the same as US prices.  So, I didn’t feel any pressure to buy here, except for the coolness factor of saying, "Yeah, I bought it in Akihabara".  I guess the benefit in the case of the T30 would be that it’s not out in the USA yet, and you can get one with full US warranty and English manuals and menus in Akihabara right now.
 
Anyway, my advice to non-Japanese-speaking geeks: do not pass go, and do not collect $200.  Instead, shell out ¥160 (if you're staying in Shinagawa) and take the JR Yamanote to Akihabara.  Immediately.  It's a hoot.
 
I wrapped up a bit early in Akihabara because I wanted to grab a quick dinner and head for bed.  Because, the following morning at 03:30, it was into a cab to Tsukiji and the famous fish market and auction.
 
Tuesday, May 2, 2006