Anime City

May 18, 2014

Today was the first day that we didn't have anything scheduled to do as a group, and it was our last day in Tokyo. Kirby, Viet, and I wanted to see the crazy, cutesy, and (for lack of a better word) weird side of Tokyo. So the three of us made plans to visit Akihabara and Harajuku. 

I was so glad to get a chance to do some exploring with only a couple of other people, but I'll admit that I was intimidated by the idea of navigating Tokyo's complex subway system. Viet and Kirby both expressed interest in figuring out the subway map, so I gladly let them take the lead! 
All I did was follow the two of them very closely, and they got us through the crazy subway and to Akihabara in no time! 

Akihabara is saturated in bright colors and J-pop blares from every store front. There are about ten three-story arcades all in a row on the main street, and in them everything is ultra cutesyfied! I named the blog post "Anime City" with Akihabara in mind. Images of Mario, Hello Kitty, and Pokemon characters are everywhere you look: on backpacks, waiting to be won inside claw machines, pasted onto walls... along with many other anime/manga character that I didn't recognize. As long as it's cute, it has a place in Akihabara. 

We stopped into one of these arcades to find a photobooth. Photobooths in Japan are especially fun because, after having a picture taken, patrons can edit the photo to give themselves bigger eyes, lighter skin... even makeup! The three of us had a great time taking pictures and editing them. Some of the stickers and crazy makeup options in the booth are just ridiculous! 

The photobooth was Viet's idea, so I got to make the next request: crazy themed restaurant.
Kirby did some research, and insisted that she'd repeatedly read the "maid cafes" in the area. I immediately thought back to the red light district from our first night in Tokyo and wondered if Kirby was confused. When she went on to explain that waitresses dress up as maids, call guests "master", and play games with them, I was certain Kirby was confused! But Kirby insisted. So when we stumbled upon a girl, dressed as a maid, passing out flyers for a nearby maid cafe, we all decided to check it out.

I don't know how to describe the maid cafe. I've actually put off blogging because I know that this experience will not be an easy one to put into words. 
My friends and I stepped out of an elevator into a tiny room where a few people were eating and about five Japanese women, costumed in ridiculous maid costumes, served lunch. As shocking as the neon pick decor and adorably designed meals are, the most shocking thing is probably how not skanky the whole thing is! The girls are really covered up and more ridiculous than sexy. 

The maid cafe was such an "only in Japan" experience. Instead of saying "Excuse me" or "Ma'am" when trying to get a waitress's attention, we were to say "Meow meow!" and gesture in the air as if we had paws. The maids talk in hilariously fake high pitched voices and chant things like "Delicious delicious cute cute!" as they work, encouraging us to chant and clap with them. One of the girls was wearing some sort of woolly, giant ears which she ceremoniously put on Viet's head after he placed his order. She told us in broken English that Viet is the master and Kirby and I are princesses. I'm still really unsure of what this means, but I didn't know what was happening during most of the lunch anyway.

Our food was presented as a scene and was decorated at the table. Not only was our food adorable, but my tonkatsu and curry was surprisingly really tasty! 

our maid also painted a Hello Kitty on the tonkatsu, but I didn't get a good picture :[

At one point, the lights went crazy, music started blaring, and all the maids started excitedly singing! We eventually figured out that it was someone's birthday and there was no need for alarm. 

We took some pictures with a couple of maids and they decorated them with paint pens. Just so ridiculous. 

When I left the maid cafe and walked back out into the street, I was seeing spots of pink in the air. We wandered around a bit, but nothing in Akihabara was going to top that experience, so we left and headed for Harajuku. Takeshita Street in Harajuku is the spot to find the crazy Japanese fashion that you always hear about. It's not as anime-crazy as Akihabara, but the cutesyiness of Akihabara is still strong! We weren't able to spend a ton of time there, but we did enjoy wandering around the shops for a bit and looking at some of the crazy items for sale. 

We successfully navigated the subway once again, and our adventure came to a close.
Next it was time to rejoin the group at the hotel, load our things onto a bus, and say goodbye to Tokyo. 
I hate to leave Tokyo! I've loved my time here. But I know I'll be back for a short while at the end of our trip, and I know the next leg of the journey- studying Aikido, a Japanese martial art, in Utsunomiya- will be full of new things to learn! 

Seeya soon, Tokyo!