My colleague and I travelled back to Tokyo on the bullet train this morning. I had quite a bit of time before my flight, so he suggested we visit Electric Town. We took a local train, then searched for some empty luggage lockers so we wouldn't have to wheel suitcases around. All the coin-operated ones we found were full. But we did find an alternative.
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| A very nice gentleman took our bags and gave us a ticket. |
Divested of luggage, we walked around, marvelling at the sheer variety of stores selling everything electrical, electronic, technical, cutesy twee, and much that was unidentifiable.
A huuuge multistorey shop sold large expensive items, including mega-sized TVs, bicycles, telescopes, and sharks.
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| I've been to specialist telescope shops with fewer items on display. |
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| Difficult to get a scale, but this was several feet tall. |
At the other extreme, there were alleyways and arcades with tiny shops selling all kinds of electronics, from small boxes full of individual resistors and transistors, to crates full of old laptops. Everything for the hobbyist.
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| One shop among hundreds. |
It was lightly raining and getting dark: the combination of weather and goods made me feel like I was on the set of Bladerunner.
After that, we retrieved our luggage, and I caught a train to the airport, to wait for my just after midnight flight home.
I like the simplicity and clarity of the airport shop names.
The end of my third trip to Japan.
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