To round off the day I go to Akihabara and finally to Asakusa for dinner.
Akihabara: Hunt for scale model kits
In Akihabara I had already visited the Yodobashi Akiba, ostensibly looking for electronics. But then I found a fairly large model building department there. Today I wanted to see if the other shops in the area had more to offer in this regard. So I went to the
- Akiba Radio: This is a former radio station, but now a department store for otaku supplies spread over eight floors, and then to
- Volks Hobby: Yes, it’s really called Volks Hobby.
Unfortunately, in neither store I could find what I was looking for – there are certainly large model building departments, also for classic Plamos. But the selection there consisted on the one hand of airplanes and tanks, and the other hand of all kinds of mecha stuff. Neither of those is my cup of tea.
But it was still fun. In both shops, I could admire a lot of other merchandise and cosplay items. I’m not that into cosplay, but the selection was still amazing. In Germany, the scene is tiny in comparison. Even on the street, you could see cosplayers everywhere. I then took a quick peek inside BIC Camera and Donki and generally let myself go with the flow.
From Akihabara to dinner in Asakusa
The day was now drawing to a close. I was also getting hungry. Because I had to get up at 6 a.m. the next day to catch the Shinkansen to Sendai, I didn’t want to be too late. I could have eaten something in Akihabara, but I decided to hunt something in Asakusa – it wouldn’t be that far home from there and I could have had a drink there without worrying how to get home.
No sooner said than done – I looked around for a while near the train station, because (as always) it was difficult to find something without a reservation. Finally, I ended up in a branch of the Isomaru Suisan. At the time I didn’t realize this was a huge restaurant chain. I found it quite cute and not huge at all (actually I still think so even now).
The staff greeted me warmly and led me to the bar. The fact that you could order everything via a website AND that it was in English made my life much easier. At this time of day, I didn’t feel like messing around with various unknown kanji. Initially, I wanted to order eel (unagi, 鰻), which Amber had told me was a specialty in Asakusa. But unfortunately, it was sold out. So instead I opted for a sushi menu, which was solid, although not as good as the Takashi. But it came at only a tenth of that price! I got some delicious shōchū with tea and a generous glass of sake as well. Yum!