Day 44

Today was the yearly held Cave Matsuri in Akihabara. Matsuri means festival, and summer is the season for alot of different festivals - cultural ones like obon, omikoshi, hanabi and tanabata, as well as popular cultural ones like Comiket and the Cave Matsuri. I decided to sleep it out and not line up for anything this time. I got to the Cave festival around 12:30, and was handed a ticket to the shop for 16:30. Let's take a look at some of the stuff they got for sale this time.

The new bath house door covers, called "noren" in Japanese. The one to the left says "women's bath", and the other one men's.  

And Evac emblem you put on your belt.

5 chip pillows, which felt nice, but a little bit too expensive for just one. If it was 2200 yen for all five of them, then I would get them without thinking twice.

I thought I was gonna be able to just walk through and get my stuff, like two years ago when they had the Rakuen Baby festival at the same place. When I got there, there was an event going on at the stage - Wasshoi 5.5. The players in the newly released Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label & Death Smiles Mega Black Label Super Replay DVD was there to show the people some live playing.

I went there with a friend to show him some of Akihabara, so we went around to a few weird shops. In Akihabara you can find just about anything. If you can't make out what this is, don't bother.

Also checked the regular AKB stuff that I always do when in Akihabara. At the official shop I got the B3rd DVD, Ucchi's t-shirt and a CinDy clear file. In the hallway of the theater floor there is a big MVP frame with nicknames of people who have been lucky enough to get to see their stages a hundred times. And you can see the member's pictures being mirrored in the glass.

The Liberty near the big crossing is starting to sell more pictures. Prices are slightly more expensive than Trio 2, but you can find some cheaper ones here. I will stick to Trio 2 though as you can browse freely there.

Before going back to the Cave festival we paid a quick visit to Yodobashi Camera, to rest in their massage chairs, look at electronical dictionaries and iPod protection, and to meet up with a guy who wanted to sell one of his bearbricks. When we got back to the Cave festival I could buy the stuff that I wanted, and soon after there was another event going on - Midnight Live 360, which was being broadcasted on the Internet live. It was a continuation of last year, so not sure what it was all about, but I think IKD was there to talk about how it is working as a producer. And they were gonna take their time to listen to their fanbase to see what kind of shooting games they want.

Near the wall they had a bunch of framed artwork and sketches. People who wanted to, could write or draw something in the visitor's sketchbook. They also had the Ketsui helicopter 3D-pixelated inside a glass box.

Before heading home I met a friend there who I met at the same festival two years ago. I got to try the Daifukkatsu on his iPhone, which was great for being handheld and with touch pad. If I had an iPhone/iPod Touch, I would definitely get their games. I don't have enough interest in games anymore to hang around for longer, so decided to call it a day after this. Before jumping on the train home we had dinner at the nearby sushi-go-round.

This is the stuff I got today. First the Cave stuff, which is the men's noren, that I will put outside the shower or something, the new History Book with lots of data from all of their titles and events, Guwange chopsticks (called "ohashi" in Japanese), and a B2 sized poster of their latest title Akai Katana. I actually managed to not spend too much money on shit this time. Then it's the AKB stuff that I was talking about earlier in the picture below.

And this is what the bearbricks looks like unboxed. I will get a third one before I go back home, just because I'm thinking three of them will look good together on the shelf. I might get Ishida's, but not sure. I need to go to Nakano Broadway again.

Day 37

Today I went to Akihabara first to check the regular stuff. No new items at Liberty, but at the theater floor of Don Quixote there were less people than last time, so I could take my picture with the fishheads.

Nobody was trading pics which was a little dissapointing since I got a couple of ones I want to get rid of. But at the official store they got new items - B5th and K6th studio recordings CD's. Just outside Club Sega nar the station I saw a girl handing out flyers for some game, and her outfit looked completely like the Iiwake Maybe outfit. So I asked her if it was AKB cosplay, and she said "no, it's from this game" and handed me the flyer. Yeah right, I thought. After looking at the flyer, the cosplay was actually from one the girls in the game. Still a complete rip-off of the AKB outfit.

Then I went to Trio 2 at Nakano Broadway again to buy more pics. I've decided to try to get 3 or 6 of each set, because they look good together in the binder. Nakano Broadway is shopping mall located by the end of a long shopping street just north of Nakano station.

Trio got a few stores there, the first one is for all the boy bands like Arashi, SMAP, Hey Say Jump, etc. At Trio 2 they focus on female idols and movie stars. They got plenty of posters, old magazines, trading cards and pictures, promo stuff, etc. They got a special corner for the AKB pictures, which they really need to expand. There are always a bunch of people there browsing the pics. At Trio 3, they got Hello Project stuff, but I've never found that store.

Back home the BBQ party had already started, so I just dig in on whatever I could find. It's really nice that the landlord is doing this kind of thing for everyone, and it's a real pity more people living here don't participate or enjoy it as much as he would want them to.

Around the corner there was a bunch of people carrying around a shrine and making alot of noise. Not sure what the festival or activity is called.

When it got dark we did some fireworks. They got alot of different fireworks in Japan, and these were all for holding in your hand. Some of them were really nice and flashy, but very short.

And this is the loot from today. A bunch of pics and the two new studio recordings.

Day 35

Time to go back to Tokyo. I feel that I have seen enough of Japan for now, many of the obligatory stuff. Only two places left on my schedule. Enjoyed the very beautiful view on the train from Nagasaki to Hakata while listening to AKB music. This is the hotel/hostel I stayed at in Nagasaki. Share room, which is actually perfectly fine. Actually, it's just more fun, since you get someone to talk to and share experiences with.

And saw something funny on the scrolling text news at Hakata. There are now [b]48[/b] people above 100 years old in Japan now. Made a quick stop at Akihabara to check for new stuff and eat dinner. This is beef kebab from Star Kebab located on the street behind Sofmap Mac Center.

Day 19

Not much going on today since I seriously need rest. The blisters on my feet are a disaster. Just went to Akihabara to book more Shinkansen tickets and get some new schwag.

Also had dinner at Pepper Lunch. At Pepper Lunch, you buy a food ticket from the vending machine at the entrance (all in Japanese), then hand it to the staff behind the counter. They will ask you what size you want for the rice. You can even ask for free rice refill if you need to. After awhile the food comes on a hot plate where you need to turn the meat around yourself, steaking it the way you want to. There's also spicy and sweet sauce free to use.

Yukirin version of the Dragon Ball single and SKE 2nd Stage. Have not seen any SKE stages so just bought this on impulse.

Day 14

Another small shopping day today, so not too many pics. For lunch, I tried the AKB cup noodles from 7 Eleven for the first time. It was edible - nothing more, nothing less.

Since I haven't done any locations for awhile I did this one just for fun.

AKB 1/48 - Episode 3 (100117)

They had shushus (hair ribbons) again at the official AKB shop, so I bought Sae's one. I was mainly in Akihabara to look for headphones. Took me a couple of hours to decide which one to get. Then I went back to get Rena's shushu too. By then alot of them had sold out. Erepyon was already sold out when I got there the first time. Small stock, or do people want to support her just before she quits?

Kara-age teishoku at a Chinese place for dinner. Teishoku means "set meal", and usually includes rice, soup, and some vegetables. The main meal is chicken.

I had initially intended to buy the K5th and A5th DVDs, but they were out of stock. So I just got the CDs that they had. Now I can finally listen to the stages without the video.

Day 8

I could finally take out money today so went on a little (uninteded) shopping spree. Nakano Broadway is a dangerous place for your wallet. They had tons of stuff. Spent a few hours in there.

Also tried to do some Sakura no Shiori PV shots while in Akihabara to pick up the Yokohama DVD-box and B4th DVD. Didn't turn out well since it wasn't early in the morning.

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Pics! Rena was the most expensive one, but too awesome to miss. Somehow I bought four SKE kenkyuusei pics. Don't know how that happened.
Moeno, moe~ As you might be able to tell I love Team B, until they shuffled. With the current teams, K has most members I like. So I bought that Yokohama box. The pocket book is so-so, but Team PB vs YJ Special Mook is highly recommended! It has a fold-out poster as well.
The stuff in the right corner is from 7-11. The cups contains chewing gum, and the bag candy. Pretty lame plastic bag but the candy choice is good. Oh, and they have tissue boxes too now...

Day 2

Had AKB Team A "melon bread with whipped cream and strawberry jam" and the Kagome juice from 7 Eleven for breakfast. The bread was awesome but that juice tasted awful. Next, I went to Akihabara to loiter around before hopping on the train to meet zabitan. Found a nice showcase in a store called Liberty, and couldn't resist the 30 trading cards (the new ones) for 1000 yen. I got to browse the cards beforehand, and when I got to see Chikarina's smile I just said I'll take it. No senbatsu members but I'm cool with that as I love all the members!

Then went to meet zabitan for some chatting and trading. Really nice and cool guy! Afterwards it's back to Akihabara. Paid a quick visit to the AKB shop and theater before going to get the laptop. Since my old one is 3 years old and really slow with Vista, I didn't bother to bring it. I had already decided to get the Macbook Pro 13", and looked at kakaku.com for the cheapest store. Went there, but they were out of stock. Saw another similiar shop but they were also out. I asked if they could check kakaku.com for another store, which would have it in stock, and then it's off to buy it. I'm talking about really small shops, outside the center of Akihabara and its Sofmap/Yodobashi/Laox/etc. The small shops are wholesale, so you can get the same item for thousands or ten thousands of yen cheaper then at a normal store.

Back at the lodging there's a birthday party going on and a mongolian guy showed us something awesome. Left like 10pm to go to Shibuya and get the Seishun no Flag singles. I had already called to make sure they still had first press, but when I got there they were being assholes and said the only first press bonus is the event ticket. So I just bought the Akkanbebashi DVD, because it had another card with it. Was still pretty disapointed, so decided to hang around and take pictures. Got my first shot down.

img of mendol shot

If you ever wondered who designed the senbatsu posters, they're inspired by the politicians election posters.