Going back toward Harajuku Station, two well known fashion areas serving two different age groups coexist on parallel streets. Omotesando leans toward the older while Takeshita Dori leans toward younger.
This is the most crowded I have ever seen this place get. There are other periphery stores that will usually be found in areas like this just because of the foot traffic for one. Walkaway crepe stores and dessert shops draw the sweet tooth of those tired female shoppers
From what Ive been told, there has always been a Daiso located within these confines. Howeve, it seems they have move and expanded to this 4 story location. 3 floors above and 1 under ground
Just when I thought it couldnt get anymore tight it does as I get mid way through. Something is restricting the flow and causing people to bunch up. The only other time I ran across an experience like this was during a train ride during the peak of morning commute.
There is hope. The crowds begin to ease the closer I get to the end of the shops. I emerge out the other end none the worse for wear. This makes long for the open spaces.
The open spaces of Akihabara on a Sunday with the roadway closed to auto traffic. When I visited on the previous Sunday, traffic was allowed through on a wet day.
I found it odd but not unthinkable to let traffice through on a rainy day. There wouldnt have been much people to take advantage of the extra freedom. The weather was more cooperative today
So many shops, so many places to visit. Figures, video games, airsoft make this wonderland of toys for the young and old. Though I have not been into anime in quite a while, I still like to check out the Gundam models as well as the vast array of airsoft accessories for sale. Though, due to many laws, airsoft weapons can be hard to import.
Any trip here begins with the station itself. Yamanote, Keihin Tohoku, and others run north south. The Sobu and Chuo run east west. Over time, like Shinagawa, this station has gotten bigger. The Tsukuba Express has its terminus here. I recall all the small shops and restaurants that used to inhabit the station. It was somewhat small and cramped but cozy as well. Now, those shops and restaurants have all moved out to make room for the vast numbers of people that pass through the station. Its very cold and sanitary inside the walls of the station. It lost alot of its charm I think as a working man's station. Most everything is new and shiney but void of real character.
