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Art Design Tokyo Walking

YamanoteYamanote

This is such a great project. “YamanoteYamanote” sees two Tokyo-based designers (Julien Mercier and Julien Wulff) produce a pair of posters inspired by each of the 29 stations on the Yamanote line. They’ve produced posters for Akihabara (pictured), Kanda, and Tokyo so far. Via Tokyo Soup.

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Advertisements Games Web

For Honor in Akihabara

It was pretty exciting to see the photo you see here, taken as a giant banner for the game I worked on for most of 2016 was being put up in Akihabara. We all know that western releases don’t get that much attention in Japan, and so it’s pretty great to see For Honor get featured front and center in the heart of Tokyo’s “electronic” district. I also see that Famitsu is hosting a special site dedicated to the game.

Categories
Games Stores

Retro Gaming Shopping Tips

Things have changed a lot when it comes to shopping for classic games in Japan — Akihabara isn’t filled with all the gems you used to find (or at the bargain prices you remember) — and so it’s great to find a post like the one written by Steve Lin, that gives a good idea of what to expect these days, and what to be on the lookout for.

Categories
Design Food Nightlife

Sign for a Bar in Akihabara

Spotted by Matt Alt in Akihabara: a sign for a bar, using a very recognizable casing.

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Events Meta

PauseTalk Tonight

A friendly reminder that tonight (Monday, November 16) is this month’s edition of PauseTalk (Vol. 35), the first one in over two months. The official session kicks off at 20:00 at Cafe Pause, but feel free to join us earlier, from 19:00, to have a listen at Tokyo Realtime‘s latest audio tour, covering Akihabara. So far, on the Facebook event page alone, we have 19 attending and 15 “maybes,” so looks like it’ll be a good one.

Categories
Events Meta

PauseTalk Update

Wanted to update everyone on what’s happening with PauseTalk Vol. 35. It is not happening tonight (first Monday of the month) because I didn’t want to have one during the design week, and since the cafe is not available the following Monday, the November edition is set to happen on the 16th. This will be the first edition since September, so hope to see many of you there!

Also, we’ll be doing something a bit different. The official start time will still be at 20:00, but from 19:00 we will be playing the recently released Tokyo Realtime Akihabara tour over the speakers, so come early to get a feel for what the tour has to offer. Its creator, Max Hodges, will be on hand as well.

Categories
Tokyo Walking

Tokyo Realtime Akihabara

It’s been a long time coming, but White Rabbit Press has finally released the second volume in its Tokyo Realtime audio tour series, this time covering Akihabara. The tour is currently available as a digital download — for $12, with a sample available on the official site — and the full print package will be coming out within the next few weeks.

The tour is hosted by otaku master — and The Otaku Encyclopedia author — Patrick W. Galbraith, and also features contributions by a host of otaku culture-related names you’ll recognize, including Patrick Macias and Danny Choo.

As I wrote for the Kabukicho tour, this is an absolutely terrific way to take in these areas. More than just a voice guiding you through the streets, spots, and stores, each tour features sound and music elements that help put everything in the proper context.