The Japan trip resource thread 2.

[kryss]

Wow, Akihabara has changed hasn’t it?

It’s not the import gaming mecca at all.

It became perv-loli-moeblob town a decade ago.

[Anpanman]

Wow, Akihabara has changed hasn’t it?

It’s not the import gaming mecha at all.

Am positive lots of members will have more experience than me but it was great in 1994, by 2001 it had changed but still good with some great pickings to be had, just a year later it had really changed for the worse, dread to think what it is like now.

[kryss]

2004-2007 there was still lots of good stuff to be had, but it had begun to change to Liberty model shops and Sofmap dominating the landscape. The maid cafe boom kicked in and my weekly trips stopped. I used to tour the RC shops with my Aussie mate and grab coffee nearby, but the best was over. Tokiwa Musen was still in front of the station when I was last there in 2015, I hope it'll be there the next time I am too.

There are still mecha, but mecca it is not.

[briareos_kerensky]

Am positive lots of members will have more experience than me but it was great in 1994, by 2001 it had changed but still good with some great pickings to be had, just a year later it had really changed for the worse, dread to think what it is like now.

I wenth there in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2018 and the whole district shifted from videogames to anime. Even big arcades like Taito and Sega sacrificed space previously reserved for old games for VR, pachinko, and other machines with a more general appeal.
Of course a lot of "generalist" 2nd hand shops also shifted what they carry across the years, with the other hiking their prices to compensate eBay competition.
I think Mandarakes outside Akihabara are the best shops for prices, and also have a good selection.
It's rather unfortunate to see Akihabara slide into a more profitable market which isn't as close as this forum wants to be, and while it's good for one or two days worth of browsing, it's nowhere near as before.

[teddymeow]

Aye. I first went in '07 and found bargains galore but the last time I went in '16 was pretty poor.

Loads of cool model shops and anime merch but gaming felt a bit left behind.

I much preferred the huge Yodobashi or BIC Cameras dotted about and seeing the cool displays in them.

[randombs]

Just got back from a mini-break in Osaka. It was great fun. We did two main things - those orange gates and the Kaiyukan aquarium - but otherwise just ate food and played Taiko no Tatsujin. I decided against Universal Studios because of the cost and potential queueing. We stayed a few stops from Nanba and did a lot of walking about.

I heartily recommend Shinsekai. It has a bunch of retro arcades, including a three-floor one called Zarigani.

https://parupuntenobu.hatenablog.jp/entry/shinsekai-zarigani-gamecenter

Each machine has a label with the release date and usually some trivia. Loads of Capcom fighters and they even have a row of VF machines (1xVF, 2xVF2, 5xVF3). Would love to go back there with some gamer mates and have a good session.

[Dogg Thang]

My Shibuya Pixel Art Contest entry: https://twitter.com/GenuineHumanArt/...46580876341248

Thanks for the help [MENTION=9333]kryss[/MENTION] [MENTION=2625]randombs[/MENTION] [MENTION=2447]EvilBoris[/MENTION] [MENTION=5941]Asura[/MENTION] and everyone who helped out with suggestions and translations!

Hope it doesn't suck!

[Anpanman]

I heartily recommend Shinsekai.

We would recommend Osaka full-stop, for us it pisses all over Tokyo from a great height - but of course each to their own.

More to see and well placed for access to the 'golden triangle' of Kyoto, Nara and Himeji.

Osaka has a great international airport as well, brilliantly laid out, some really decent eateries landside and without the congestion of a main entry point like Haneda or Narita.
My record (timed with my watch) from leaving the aircraft at the stand on arrival to get through immigration, pick up the bag, through customs, buy the bus ticket and be on the phone to the wife is seven minutes but I'm regularly though customs in ten minutes.

For info BA starts with a direct flight LHR/KIX this Sunday with Dreamliner 8's, but since we are talking BA it wouldn't surprise me if they suddenly dropped the service in 2021.

[randombs]

My Shibuya Pixel Art Contest entry: https://twitter.com/GenuineHumanArt/...46580876341248

That is incredible.

Simply incredible.

Go post it in the artwork thread where it belongs!

We would recommend Osaka full-stop, for us it pisses all over Tokyo from a great height - but of course each to their own.

More to see and well placed for access to the 'golden triangle' of Kyoto, Nara and Himeji.

Agreed.

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

Do people still go to Tokyo to seek out old Saturn games?

This thread makes me feel incredibly old

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

Well the days of hopping on a plane to Tokyo to
piss about in video game shops and drink beer in Roppongi seem like a distant memory now.

Wonder when we will get that freedom again?

[wakka]

Well the days of hopping on a plane to Tokyo to
piss about in video game shops and drink beer in Roppongi seem like a distant memory now.

Wonder when we will get that freedom again?

Tell me about it mate. I am desperate to go somewhere far, far away.

[teddymeow]

Tell me about it mate. I am desperate to go somewhere far, far away.

A long time ago?

[shimano]

Tell me about it mate. I am desperate to go somewhere far, far away.

Weirdly, so do most people in Tokyo, the whole thing being a fidgety moval from Kyoto beforehand. Last I checked everyone wanted to move to Greenland, not as unlikely as it might seem since I'm fairly sure Ghengis Kahn was an Eskimo? They basically want to go home, or at least round in circles?

Last time I listened to to the animalistic Homer Simpson expression in Jpop, people were talking a lot about England, like worshipping Pat Butcher or eating so much toast they threw up. Might be considered samurai armour that the kanjii doesn't reflect what it supposedly says to the front-facing public. Also, there was a thing in the news near the end of Theresa May's reign that Japan bought most of the property and infrastructure in London. Sounds a bit Ian Beale that.

[shimano]

Aye. I first went in '07 and found bargains galore but the last time I went in '16 was pretty poor.

Loads of cool model shops and anime merch but gaming felt a bit left behind.

I much preferred the huge Yodobashi or BIC Cameras dotted about and seeing the cool displays in them.

Yeah but you could say the same thing about Andy's Records full of Madonna and Oasis on cassette tape. Why are we such a let down to the poor foolish tourists coming over for such a thing on legendary hearsay. How cruel and heartless are the English. They once had the great empire of spinny magnetic things ruled by Richard Branson, perpetual Virgin of space and all holiest land. How did he have children?! Immaculate conception aboard his sacred hot air balloon of fearless passion? Does Virgin Cola hold the clue to life itself? Holy crap.

Part Japanese myself. Just explaining the other side of things, erm.