Monday, Day 5, was scheduled as another pretty full day for our group. This morning started out on a sad note, as we lost one of our group. Aka-san's sister, Kim, had to go back to the real world and work. (What? I haven't talked about any of my tour companions yet? That's coming soon ...) Although I only spent a few days with her, it was fun getting to know her a little and hang out with her during our after-hours adventures (which I will get to later).We started out traveling by train to visit the Tokyo Campus of Manga University. Unfortunately, I do not remember the name of the prefecture we traveled to, and worse, I cannot remember the names of our gracious hosts. However, we met two representatives of the school upon exiting from the train station and were led around the area over to the school. There, we learned a little about the products and training they offer. We also received a brief lesson from the manga-ka that illustrates most (all?) of their books, Atsuhisa Okura. Now, I have no skill whatsoever when it comes to drawing but I found the lesson to be very helpful, instructive, and gives me hope that one day I will be able to draw better looking stick figures. ;-)
Each of us was given a choice to have one of two of their published books as a gift. Even better, Mr. Okura signed the book we were given. I ended up getting this book, 50 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT JAPAN. I also purchased two copies (one for me and one for a friend) of the cookbook they had published so I could try out some new recipes at home. Although I wouldn't have minded staying there and learning a little more, we had a schedule to keep and Akihabara beckoned.
Ah, Akihabara. As quoted from Wikipedia, "Akihabara is a major shopping area for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku goods, including new and used items." Otherwise known as death to my bank account.We were scheduled to have a guided tour of Akihabara that would take us to some out-of-the-way places and highlight aspects of this district that have evolved over time. Quite honestly, I was a little apprehensive about this part of the tour because I knew that our tour guide was a little ... well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words (or something like that) so take a gander.
Yes, that was really our tour guide for our trip through Akihabara. And yes, he is dressed as Son Goku from the Dragonball/Dragonball Z anime franchise. Now my apprehension was based on my real worry that he would take his "character" way too seriously. Luckily, my fears were not proven true. Despite the cosplay, our guide performed professionally and took us around to various sites, sounds and stores in the area. He made sure to explain the history of the area, and mentioned cultural tidbits about various places. The tour took us around Akihabara for about two hours, and then we were let loose to shop/look around on our own. I ended up wandering around with Travis, Helena and Vince as went to a wrestling shop called Backdrop (I think), various novelty stores, and a couple of arcades.After Akihabara, we returned back to the hotel however the night was not over. We finished off Day 5 with a bout of karaoke, although we were Rickroll'ed in the process. And yes, there is picture evidence of my participation (Thanks, Travis).
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