Harajuku district in Tokyo has always been the epitome of youthful exuberance. Off beat, irreverent and often rebellious in nature, Harajuku has a life of its own.
Takeshita dori (street) just opposite the Harajuku train station is the place where this youthful subculture flourishes. Ever-changing and always trend setting, this is where the happenings are.
Cosplay, or costume roleplay, is the activity where the Japanese youth dress up as their anime or manga comic characters. Harajuku is where cosplay events dominates the weekend. The area just south of Harajuku Station is the grand mecca for all things relating to cosplay. This culture has even spread to areas outside Japan, including Singapore which has a large cosplay fraternity.
I shot this video around 2005. Sorry for the low-resolution as some of you had mentioned the slow downloads. If you want to see a high res version, click here
Akihabara, nowadays shortened to Akiba, is the gravitational center of all things you imagine the modernunconventional japan that is. Especially if you think electronics, gadgets, anime, cosplay, maid cafes, internet and all things that are weird and typically Japanese in nature.
Remember the time when Sony introduced the Walkman? Walk Man? The mind boggled at the 'japaneseness' of this word. Today we understand instantly but back when it was launched, you wondered whether to laugh or cry at the mangling of such terms.
And this is what Akiba is all about. Here in this city within Tokyo, the Akihabara Electric Town is the epitome of Japanese quirkiness.
The main focus in this place is consumer electronics. You find the latest gadgets here long before it is introduced to the rest of the world. I remembered back in 2002 when we were still selling normal 29" and 34" large CRT TVs (I work for an electronic retail store) and had just begun selling 14" & 21" LCD TVs, our jaws dropped when we saw whopping 42" LCD TVs being sold here! Hitachi it was, I can still recall.
Today, Akiba has evolved from purely electronics to the internet and video gaming arenas and more especially into the center of the anime revolution. Anime is the Japanese form of cartoons and animation. And this place continues to evolve, with maid cafes being the current craze.
Here in Akiba are found all the unusual things that you would normally only fantasize about out. Almost everything you want can be found in about 400 to 500 stores surrounding the Akihabara train station. Building after building, each 7, 8 or 10 floors tall, all catering to a certain aspect of the electronic trade. I went into Pockets, the store you see in the picture above top left (under the bridge). It sold nothing but used Apple products, all re-conditioned and looking new. G4 Macs were going for only US$300!
However, not everything is computer related. The building next door called Merci Love is an adult store with 8 floors of paraphernalia ranging from truly unmentionables for all your wildest fetishes to adults toys. to new as well as used uniforms and used underwear. (Whatever for, I'll leave that to your imagination)
Akihabara is that quirky side of Japan that you want to see. There is really nothing in the world that comes close to its uniqueness.
Since my last posting about dining on Monjayaki back in Sep 08, the truth was that I had not had this dish despite the number of trips I've made back to Tokyo since then.
Thus, it was to the greatest of satisfaction that I found Sakuratei in the back street area of Harajuku. This delightful little restaurant, with its youthful and friendly servers, may be a little off the usual beat for tourists at the moment. But as Harajuku is still spreading from the main Omote-sando and Takeshita-dori areas into the back lanes, this restaurant will soon, no doubt, be right in the midst of the growing Harajuku cultural area.
Sakuratei is located right at the edge of the residential area. I had found the place after walking right through Takeshita-dori, that youth and fashion mecca street, and into an entirely new area which I had yet to venture, and was on the verge of turning back when I spotted this semi-hidden gem.
There are about 20 tables which can can seat 2-6 persons and their specialties are Monja-yaki and Okonomi-yaki. The decor is fun and youthful in keeping with the Harajuku culture.
They have an excellent menu which, because I was gaijin (foreigner), was given to me in the English version. Accompanying this menu were also instructions on how to cook your monja-yaki. Nothing could have been easier.
Cooked Monja-yaki (..I hope!!)
In my previous posting on recommending you to try Monja whilst in Tokyo, I would now specifically direct you to this gem of a restaurant in Harajuku. You won't be intimidated by the strangeness of this Tokyoite dish here and I can assure you that it is delicious. Goes along great with some sake or beer.
