Tekknikal
10-23-2007, 12:00 PM
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5566.jpg" alt="" />
Jet lagged to all hell today. One day till the TMS show and the GTR unveil! Seeing as how the show tomorrow is two train rides away, we decided it would be a good idea for us to get used to taking the train.. so we went to Akihabara, which is the electronics town of Tokyo and arguably, the world... <!--more-->
Basically, if you plug it in -or it takes batteries- or its based off something that plugs in or takes batteries- you will find it in Akihabara. But somehow that's missing the feeling of what the place is like.
To say its huge would be misleading. It's epic. It's modern. It's not like stores in the states that tend to only carry mid ranged stuff. This is official. High end. Legit. Electronics heaven. Imagine the things that big companies (Sony, Panasonic, etc) make but don't really put in stores or list on their websites. That kind of stuff is everywhere here. The usually hard to find stuff is all over.... like it's nothing.
And it's like that on every street. For blocks.
Then there's Yodabashi. A department store. For electronics. This place alone is crazy. Floor after floor of electronics. The selection in this one single store easily dominates everything I ever saw in every store I've been to in New York. Combined. And then they had more than electronics. They had models. Toys. Electric Guns. And everything was high end but still better priced than most places in the states. Simply awesome.
On to some pics.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5559.jpg" alt="" />
911 turbo!
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5563.jpg" alt="" />
getting into Akihabara
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5565.jpg" alt="" />
AMD building
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0765.jpg" alt="" />
Japanese kittah. This one didnt meow or anything. He just stared at me like a gaijin. I don't think he liked me. Later on I saw him somewhere else. I hope this cat doesn't start following me.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5569.jpg" alt="" />
Yodabashi in the distance
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0764.jpg" alt="" />
The store layout. Each level is huge. Looks very small here lol. I had no idea what I was getting myself into....
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5570.jpg" alt="" />
This is how you sell a LCD.
Google earth in the background FTW
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5571.jpg" alt="" />
Cat5 is teh old and busted. Now they're working on Cat7. 10gbps. Signs for it all over. 1000mbps is the new 100mbps. LOL. I just had a house wired for Cat6 thinking I was up on things. I stand corrected.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5572.jpg" alt="" />
Take something simple like power strips. They have almost half a floor dedicated to it.
Same went for USB. Headphones too (incl DJ gear). There's just so much. And it's all quality stuff.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5575.jpg" alt="" />
And a whole section for airsoft weaponry. Simply awesome.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5576.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5577.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5578.jpg" alt="" />
Silencers FTW
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5581.jpg" alt="" />
Analog Cammo is so 20th century.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5583.jpg" alt="" />
Again. Awesome.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5584.jpg" alt="" />
Toys. Including model girls with huge breasts. I think the Japanese have something for girls like that. Then again, they probably aren't alone...
At another store, I took these for man like Duttyman:
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0787.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0788.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0790.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0791.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0793.jpg" alt="" />
He could appreciate them better than I. And there was floor after floor of it.
a little Skyline a day helps keep the jetlag away:
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0774.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0775.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0776.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0798.jpg" alt="" />
(nope, not a gt-r, but that's ok: tomorrow is gtr day)
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0799.jpg" alt="" />
Not sure what this was?
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0780.jpg" alt="" />
This store was crazy. It's all videogames but can't be compared to something like EBgames. They even had a chick outside hustling the sale.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0781.jpg" alt="" />
Sega is still alive
That's all for now. Time to figure out how to sleep before the big day tomorrow.
I'll be heading back to Akihabara in a few days, it's really a place where you have to take it slow. Especially if you're into electronics like me... You can easily catch a heart attack over there...
BTW One more thing that must be said. The Japanese are a very polite people. Service is excellent. Everywhere. Super polite.
Anyway, until tomorrow fellas...
Jet lagged to all hell today. One day till the TMS show and the GTR unveil! Seeing as how the show tomorrow is two train rides away, we decided it would be a good idea for us to get used to taking the train.. so we went to Akihabara, which is the electronics town of Tokyo and arguably, the world... <!--more-->
Basically, if you plug it in -or it takes batteries- or its based off something that plugs in or takes batteries- you will find it in Akihabara. But somehow that's missing the feeling of what the place is like.
To say its huge would be misleading. It's epic. It's modern. It's not like stores in the states that tend to only carry mid ranged stuff. This is official. High end. Legit. Electronics heaven. Imagine the things that big companies (Sony, Panasonic, etc) make but don't really put in stores or list on their websites. That kind of stuff is everywhere here. The usually hard to find stuff is all over.... like it's nothing.
And it's like that on every street. For blocks.
Then there's Yodabashi. A department store. For electronics. This place alone is crazy. Floor after floor of electronics. The selection in this one single store easily dominates everything I ever saw in every store I've been to in New York. Combined. And then they had more than electronics. They had models. Toys. Electric Guns. And everything was high end but still better priced than most places in the states. Simply awesome.
On to some pics.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5559.jpg" alt="" />
911 turbo!
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5563.jpg" alt="" />
getting into Akihabara
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5565.jpg" alt="" />
AMD building
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0765.jpg" alt="" />
Japanese kittah. This one didnt meow or anything. He just stared at me like a gaijin. I don't think he liked me. Later on I saw him somewhere else. I hope this cat doesn't start following me.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5569.jpg" alt="" />
Yodabashi in the distance
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0764.jpg" alt="" />
The store layout. Each level is huge. Looks very small here lol. I had no idea what I was getting myself into....
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5570.jpg" alt="" />
This is how you sell a LCD.
Google earth in the background FTW
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5571.jpg" alt="" />
Cat5 is teh old and busted. Now they're working on Cat7. 10gbps. Signs for it all over. 1000mbps is the new 100mbps. LOL. I just had a house wired for Cat6 thinking I was up on things. I stand corrected.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5572.jpg" alt="" />
Take something simple like power strips. They have almost half a floor dedicated to it.
Same went for USB. Headphones too (incl DJ gear). There's just so much. And it's all quality stuff.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5575.jpg" alt="" />
And a whole section for airsoft weaponry. Simply awesome.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5576.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5577.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5578.jpg" alt="" />
Silencers FTW
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5581.jpg" alt="" />
Analog Cammo is so 20th century.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5583.jpg" alt="" />
Again. Awesome.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_5584.jpg" alt="" />
Toys. Including model girls with huge breasts. I think the Japanese have something for girls like that. Then again, they probably aren't alone...
At another store, I took these for man like Duttyman:
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0787.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0788.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0790.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0791.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0793.jpg" alt="" />
He could appreciate them better than I. And there was floor after floor of it.
a little Skyline a day helps keep the jetlag away:
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0774.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0775.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0776.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0798.jpg" alt="" />
(nope, not a gt-r, but that's ok: tomorrow is gtr day)
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0799.jpg" alt="" />
Not sure what this was?
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0780.jpg" alt="" />
This store was crazy. It's all videogames but can't be compared to something like EBgames. They even had a chick outside hustling the sale.
<img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q218/tekknikal/Japan/Day2/IMG_0781.jpg" alt="" />
Sega is still alive
That's all for now. Time to figure out how to sleep before the big day tomorrow.
I'll be heading back to Akihabara in a few days, it's really a place where you have to take it slow. Especially if you're into electronics like me... You can easily catch a heart attack over there...
BTW One more thing that must be said. The Japanese are a very polite people. Service is excellent. Everywhere. Super polite.
Anyway, until tomorrow fellas...