Akihabara

In the morning I headed over to Akihabara "Electric Town", an area famous for its various games and retro tech stores. The place was packed with various shops selling merchandise for every game you could think of, new or old.

I also spent some time exploring the arcades, which consisted of multiple stories, with various crane and "gatcha" prize games, retro arcade cabinets, and modern games. I tried my hand at the original Ridge Racer, as well as a classic "bullet hell" shooting game... I wasn't particularly great at either!

On the way back I had a change of pace and stopped off at the grounds of the Imperial Palace, unfortunately it's very difficult to see the palace itself, but the various gate houses surrounding it, and the ruins of an old Edo castle were still impressive.Read more