Next, I visited Akihabara, the “Electric City”. Wow. Akihabara is really the place you want to go if you’d like to build your own Cylon Centurion from scratch. I’m not joking – I really think you could make one, if you were determined enough, had enough Yen and could speak enough Japanese.

There were gaming and comic stores there that made Toronto’s flagship Silver Snail look like a shack. The insane amount of toys, statues, manga and anime on sale in just one of the hundreds of shops that cater to fanboys and fangirls of all stripes was astonishing. There is a clear division between the “old style” stores that specialize in one item, like LED lights, or electrical outlets, or cables, or illuminated buttons, or switches, and “new style” stores that sell mostly pre-assembled electronics, like laptops, TVs, mp3 players, etc.

In terms of general technology, I was amused to find that unlike in Canada where the coolest cell phones are getting smaller and smaller, until they become virtually invisible (see: Derek Zoolander’s mobile), the models in Japan are getting bigger and bigger. Some of the most expensive ones are huge, like bricks! To be fair, they are also 8 megapixel cameras, hi-def televisions and mini-computers, all in one. They may also make toast for you, I’m not sure.

I was very moderate in my purchases: although there were laptops from the future, with cool English/Japanese keyboards and probably lasers and anti-gravity switches, all I bought (on this pass at least; I will be back in Tokyo in 2 weeks) was a second rechargeable battery for my camera, two 8GB microSD memory cards with adapters for my cell at home and maybe my camera in a pinch, and a hilarious novelty digital photo-frame keychain which has zero English on the packaging and I have no clue how to use. Just going to wing it when I get a minute to open it and plug it in.

Currency-wise I’m not doing very well at the moment. The exchange rate for Yen to Canadian dollars has been about 100 Yen = $1.30 CDN since before I left. I’ve decided that to maintain my sanity about how much I’m spending on this trip, I’m going to pretend I’m changing Yen to American dollars (which is closer to 100 Yen = $1 US) and just move the decimal point over two places to the left. It’s less painful that way.

Akihabara isn’t just about conspicuous consumption of electronic goods; it’s also about gaming and play. There are millions of capsule toy machines lining the streets, fighting for space with food and beverage vending machines. And lots of game centers, especially Sega Centers, with arcades and many “claw” games where you pay between 100 and 500 Yen to try and maneuver items into the dispensing hole.

I watched this guy feed 200 yen coins into this machine for nearly a quarter of an hour, and he never won the toy. Seriously, he could have just bought the stupid doll for the amount of money he threw in there. And he wasn’t even playing to impress his girlfriend with his claw-handling skill and prowess. I don’t get it… I amused myself by quietly whispering “The claaaawwww!” under my breath, and giggling as I had flashbacks of the movie Monsters Inc.