Manga Tour Day 2: Something Old: Asakusa & Something New: Akihabara

Day 2 of Pop Japan Travel's Mind Over Manga Summer 2008 tour took us to glimpse Japan's past in Asakusa. That was immediately followed by a visit to the epicenter of tech gadgetry and otaku culture, Akihabara. This was a day filled with vivid contrasts and it was also our first day to really take in Japan and take out our wallets to start shopping.

First Asakusa, with a visit to the Asakusa Kannon (Sensoji) Temple, one of the most popular and venerated temples in Tokyo. The main entrance Kaminarimon ("Thunder Gate") features a huge lantern, two carved demon guardians, and a whole lot of tourists jockeying for position to get a shot of themselves in front of the famous landmark.

Beyond the gates is Nakamise-dori, which is a pedestrian walkway lined with vendors selling everything from rice crackers and fans to deep-fried manju (sweet bean-filled cakes) and geisha wigs for your dog. It's a little kitschy at times, but by the looks of things, some of the vendors have had these shops for generations, and take great pride in their products.

I preferred the streets that were parallel to Nakamise-dori, Kannon-dori and Orange-dori for a more serene shopping environment and for finding traditional items like noren (curtains) and ceramics that were more traditional and craftsman-like than the usual cheap-y souvenirs.

Next, we hit Akihabara, the home of electronics, maid cafes, $2000 vintage plastic monsters, Neon Genesis Evangelion canned coffee and more otaku per square inch than anywhere else in the world. It was drizzly today, so perhaps the energy was a bit subdued than it would be normally, but there are still significant crowds in almost every shop we hit.

We were given a custom-written map book at the start of our trip with picks of places that our guides think would be of interest to us, e.g. places to find gatchapon toys, vintage or rare video games, anime figurines, DVDs, manga... you name it. For many folks on the trip, this was the moment they were waiting for and they hit the ground running.

My missions were more modest, as I was mostly looking for vintage manga, original manga pages and some goofy goodies like the "endless bubblewrap" keychain from Bandai (which lets you "pop" simulated bubblewrap and it plays a distinct popping noise like the real thing. It's supposed to be a stress reliever -- ah Japan, how I love thy quirks.)

After a nourishing meal of aka miso (red miso) ramen with corn and roast pork, I peeked into Tora no Ana ("Tiger's Den"), a hot spot for manga and doujinshi, as featured in Genshiken. Out of morbid curiousity, I checked out the 18+ floor in the basement and got completely grossed out by the fetish manga about underage girls in maid outfits or over-endowed women. The less said about that the better...

Then went next door to Animate, which is eight stories of anime / manga-related goodies; from toys, stationery, soundtrack CDs, gatchapons and even "yaoi (boys love) cookies," which Ben bought a ton of for the DMP online store. Yow.

Next stop: Mandarake, which houses a mind-blowing collection of new and vintage manga, anime cells, cosplay costumes, games and toys. You can find everything from vintage Osamu Tezuka manga and original kamishibai (paper play) panels from the post-WWII era to maid costumes, vintage kaiju (TV & Movie monsters) figures that can command up to $1,000 and up, new and used manga, original anime cells and lots more. Prices are mostly reasonable, and the finds can be mind-blowing.

Bought copies of the influential, avant-garde manga magazine Garo from the 1970's, featuring art from Kamui-Den (the iconic ninja / proletarian fable by Sanpei Shirato) on the cover and pondered buying a vintage copy of Nakayoshi from the 1950's before I realized I was only on day 2 of this trip.

Reunited with the rest of the group in front of Kotobukiya, which also has a great collection of anime toys and collectibles. Made use of the discount coupon that our tour guides got for us to buy some gifty oddities like a Hello Kitty dressed in Full Metal Alchemist cosplay and some "endless edamame" keychains (you can pop beans with tiny faces in and out of a plastic pod, just like real soybeans).

The rain started to come down a bit harder, but we headed off to Chofu for a fireworks festival. What was cool: Seeing a neighborhood summer festival, complete with couples in their summer yukata and lots of foodstands serving yummy foodstuffs like hot takoyaki (octopus dumplings), yakisoba (fried noodles) and jaga bata (hot buttered potatoes).

What was not so fun: The rain, and lots of it. Many of us were not prepared for the weather, so sticking it out for 2 hours waiting for the fireworks (which, I'll admit, were pretty spectacular at times) was a character-building experience. Also not so fun: the Japanese porta-potties. 'Nuff said.

Tired but happy, we returned to our hotels to fight off our lingering jet lag and look forward to the next day's fun: Comitia at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba, a visit to the Ginza and a meeting with manga artist Kaimu Tachibana.

Image credits: © Deb Aoki