The next day brought another clear blue sky, and with a full day of shopping in Tokyo's hottest areas was looking to be perfect. We grabbed our JR all-day free passes and set out for the anime mecca of Akihabara (known as "Akiba" for short).
Akihabara is a fantastic place for anyone that confesses a love for anime, games, or manga. With lots of anime goods shops - selling things from Gundam models and anime figurines to character keychains and anime DVDs (both used and new) - game arcades and electronics shops spread throughout the town, "otaku" (loose trans. = "extreme fan") flock to the area to buy all the latest stuff. The whole town is constantly bustling with excited shoppers and generally happy people. Akihabara is a must-see area on any trip to Tokyo even if you have no interest in these things. It's worth a couple hours of sightseeing just to get a taste of modern Japanese pop culture.
The main schedule for the day was a triple-threat of some of Tokyo's coolest areas: Akihabara, Harajuku, and Shibuya. But one thing that sets Destination Japan apart from other tours is the degree of freedom each participant has to break off from the group and do their own thing. This day was no different! A majority of the group expressed an interest in simply staying right there in Akihabara for a few more hours and skipping Harajuku and Shibuya in favor of their own shopping agenda. NO PROBLEM! We want people to have the freedom to use their time in Japan for exactly what they want.
So the rest of the group journeyed on to the next area: Harajuku. The hip hang out of underground fashion pioneers and punk/metal/rock music lovers, Harajuku is home to several must-see stores and sites. Takeshita street for the latest fashions, Kiddy Land for awesome toys and trinkets, crepes and great food... It was enough to convince the rest of the group to just spend the whole rest of the day there.
Returning to our hotel walking through the night lights of Shinjuku, we called it a day.
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