Gacha-gacha shop, Akihabara

I walked around Akihabara all day. Again, it was surreal to be back, and it was surreal how little luster was left for me. It was nice to wander in and out of game, figure, and music shops, but in general I just felt like getting my merchandise and getting out of there. I wanted to go back to the apartment and just hang out with Roko. I wanted to escape the throngs of nerds, the walls of attractive but shallow poster-advertising, the drizzle, the unfriendly cash machines. One of the main attractions of Tokyo is the availability of merchandise. If you want obscure comics, hobby equipment, or entomology samples, Tokyo is the place. It’s distilled consumerism. Once you’ve bought all that crap and you just want to relax, though, the city stops being so appealing. When I got frustrated at the train ticket machines that don’t take the new 1000 yen bills, I had to make change by buying from a random machine. I ended up with Ikinari Happy Bell. :