With a solid night’s sleep under our belts, we decided to head out to Asakusa. Before that though, we grabbed a bite to eat. Morgan had found a market nearby that not only had ingredients to cook meals, but a decent selection of prepared foods for us to choose from.
After purchasing our breakfast, we headed upstairs to eat. Back in 2009, I’d found this area after looking for a spot to sit down and enjoy some takoyaki I’d purchased on the main strip. This spot features a series of stairs where you can relax outside and partake in some people watching, or like in our case, chill while eating
Independent Vendors of Otaku Merchandise
As we continued to walk, I noticed an open area below that had a large number of tents and vendors. The vendors had all kinds of action figures, manga, and general merchandise from several otaku franchises. Considering the area, that was fairly appropriate. Akihabara is known for its electronics as much as it is known for being a mecha for anime and manga.
Gundam Cafe
Although we didn’t go inside, we had a great view of the Gundam Cafe and the line of people waiting to go inside. We were standing on a bridge overlooking the area and as I took I held the viewfinder of my Canon 5D to my face, something caught me eye. I noticed that a girl was trying to photobomb me by throwing up an unexpected peace sign. As soon as I took the shot, I moved the camera away from my face and smiled while I threw up my own peace sign to the group of girls. They laughed really hard because I suppose they thought they had been slick about it.
AKB48
Another spot we didn’t go into, but that surprised me for how many people were waiting in line was the AKB48 Cafe & Shop. It is themed after a popular Japanese idol group that goes by the same name. To be fair, I’m sure this place has seen longer lines, but that said, I also can’t really say that this was a busier than normal kind of day.
The Next Area To Explore
As we made our way to Akihabara Station in order to take the train to Asakusa, I took some final photos of the area. We headed down the bridge and entered the station to begin our next journey.
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