Visitor from the West to the East ==> Fall 2007

A great buddy of mine Rich came down to visit in Japan. It was his first time in the country and as of the time of his visit I knew enough to be dangerous as a tour guide. With just a few months behind me in a country that I knew very little about especially not having family and friends as close (physically) to me like before made his visit all the more better, to hang out with a familiar face.





Sofmap operates as many as 16 shops in the Akihabara area including multiple branches, which specialize in used computers. The stores are numbered from 1 to 14 plus the main store and the Kakuta branch.





No Tour is complete with out a striking view of my local train station in Katsuta as shown in the background. Notice the cars in the background very futuristic and the consoles in them are definately high tech, which come standard in this country (dvd, cd, tv, and gps). After a 2 cent tour of my neighborhood and surrounding area of my new home, we were onward to the big city lights of Tokyo!!!
Please note the name of the train.......... Hitachi Express.


One of the temples in Tokyo City. Also a better known area that was also seen was the Asakusa Temple.



Of course my favorite area in Japan is Akihabara in Tokyo city which is a place for tech heads and computer geeks and last but not least, the home of Japanese anime. Hundreds of electronics shops of various sizes can be found around Akihabara Station and along Chuo Dori (Chuo Avenue). They offer everything from the newest computers, cameras, televisions, mobile phones and home appliances to second-hand goods and electronic junk



Two colorful girls were in costume from head to toe of one of their favorite anime characters!!!







Anime and fuzzy cute characters that are adorned in this part of Tokyo. This store was selling these mushroom characters by the dozens.....



As usual Tokyo city is hustle and bustle, the time we visited Tokyo was so busy that they closed the street down for pedestrians. The rest of the time was spent partying up till the sun came out. Although the trip was just a weekend getaway for him, it was a blast!!!!

I think my tour guide skills deemed good since his impression of Japan was very positive.




It was great having him drop into the counrtry and visit me. Of course if it hasn't been said before I will definately say it again that anyone who can come to Japan please do!!!!!

Thanks for visiting my site, there is so much more in 2007 that was done, that I am trying to push out on this web blog quickly , before I get too deep into the new year of 2008.

jjc