Sunday 27th July 2025
Yeehah! At last a rest day – I even slept in until 10am. After a little washing we just lounged around in the hotel room. Reading, chatting and chilling out. A big first for this trip.

At about 3pm, David found out that the Electric Town, was just a couple of stations away and they close the main street to traffic on a Sunday, and people come dressed in their favourite characters. So David decided he would like to go and have a look. As always, my FOMO had me on my way with him. Oh well! Almost a full day’s rest.

So at 4pm, we headed to the Akihabara Electric Town. We decided to walk the 2km to the town. Once we arrived, we walked through the streets with a million others. There are many foreign tourists amongst the Japanese. It was incredible, the big and small shops, the cafe maids and so many people. We went into a Gundam store with many amazing Gundam (transformers) on display. It was like another world. We then went into a Pachinko and Slot gaming room. These are vertical pinball machines, where you try to get the ball bearings into a slot to win upwards of 10,000Y. It was truly an incredible space to watch. Next stop was the Yodobashi electronics store, which was impressive. An enormous store, 7 levels and so many goods – from phones, TVs, cameras to make-up, toys and clothes. It truly was incredible.

Well, 3 hours later, we were on our way back to the hotel, very tired yet again. After a little rest and then we headed out and enjoyed a lovely Thai meal followed by a crepe for dessert. Our rest day is done and dusted. Let’s see what unfolds for tomorrow. Your guess is as good as mine.

Akihabara (秋葉原), also called Akiba after a former local shrine, is a district in central Tokyo that is famous for its many electronics shops and has also gained recognition as the centre of Japan’s otaku (diehard fan) culture. Many shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga are dispersed among the electronic stores in the district. On Sundays, Chuo Dori, the main street through the district, is closed to car traffic from 13:00 to 18:00 (until 17:00 from October through March).
Akihabara has seen some redevelopment over the past years, which added some large, modern buildings to the mix of small to medium-sized shops and buildings. Most prominent among them is a huge Yodobashi electronics store just next to the station.

Electronics – Hundreds of electronics shops, ranging from tiny one-man stalls specialising in a particular electronic component to large electronics retailers, line the main Chuo Dori street and the crowded side streets around Akihabara. They offer everything from the newest computers, cameras, televisions, mobile phones, electronics parts and home appliances to second-hand goods and electronic junk.

Otaku goods – The character of Akihabara has constantly changed over the decades and continues to do so. In recent decades, Akihabara has emerged as a centre of Japanese otaku and anime culture, and dozens of stores specialising in anime, manga, retro video games, figurines, card games and other collectibles have filled the spaces between the electronics retailers.

Maid Café – Welcome home, Masters and Princesses! If you’ve ever wondered what a maid cafe is, imagine stepping into a charming, carefully curated space where friendly cast dressed in maid uniforms greet you as if you’ve just returned home. Originating in Japan’s otaku culture, a maid cafe blends the cozy comfort of a coffee shop with playful, interactive elements drawn sometimes from anime, gaming, and pop culture.
At maid cafes, instead of a quick cup of coffee, you’ll find a world where cute gestures, friendly conversations, and a touch of fantasy elements make your visit feel like a lighthearted escape to lift you out of the everyday. It’s why we like to think of ourselves not as a typical cafe or restaurant, but as a unique theme park experience, centred around our beloved idols, our maids, who bring smiles and magic to every visit.
At a maid cafe, service goes beyond delivering drinks and desserts. Maids often perform small gestures or “spells” to “enhance” your meal (many of which were born in at-home cafe) and engage you in a way that feels personal and fun. The goal is to create an atmosphere of warmth, where everyone, from families with children to solo travelers, can relax, laugh, and enjoy a unique cultural experience they won’t soon forget.

Gundam (Japanese: ガンダムシリーズ, Hepburn: Gandamu Shirīzu; lit. Gundam Series) is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now a division of Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name “Gundam”.

Japan’s Favourite Pastime: Pachinko. Originating in Japan, pachinko is a type of mechanical ball game resembling pinball. While pinball uses a larger ball, Pachinko uses small steel balls rented to players by pachinko parlors such as MARUHAN. Over the last six decades, pachinko has become an integral part of Japanese culture and Japanese leisure. With approximately nine million players in 2016, pachinko is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Japan. The ¥21 trillion JPY pachinko industry employs over 240,000 people and accounts for nearly a third of Japan’s entertainment and leisure market. In other words, pachinko is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Japan.
The pachinko industry in Japan is, however, highly fragmented, with over 3,400 different operators. Parlours have various kinds of pachinko machines, letting customers select a machine according to their preferences or the day’s mood. There are a large number of small operators and a smaller number of large operators, of which MARUHAN is the largest.
The pachinko industry is closely supervised by the Japanese government and other regulatory authorities. Rules and regulations are regularly introduced to control operations and a clear distinction between pachinko and gambling, which is prohibited by Japanese law. Strict rules outlined in the Amusement Business Law govern the licensing of pachinko hall operators, payout ratios, and technical specifications of the machines. MARUHAN conforms to all regulations in every respect and, for this reason, is recognised as an industry leader.

Yodobashi Akiba in Akihabara is the ultimate shopping experience when it comes to electronics. It’s a fabulous place to hunt down almost anything related to gadgets and doodads, and you can spend an entire day in there – if the irritating music doesn’t drive you up the wall first. Here, you’ll find pretty much everything you can think of related to gadgets and electronics – we mean everything. From mobile phones to underwater cameras, film rolls to USB-chargeable handheld fans, ergonomic kettles to dozens of different electric shavers, this is the ultimate place to find reasonably-priced, well-made gadgets in the area. There’s even an Apple Store inside.
Exploring this 8-floor department store can be an overwhelming experience. If the sheer product density, crowds of shoppers, and fluorescent lights don’t get you, the endless replays of the Yodobashi theme song over the store speakers will. Head up to the restaurants on the top floor after shopping to fuel up.