Thursday was quite the lovely day, I daresay! Usually I am reluctant to go to class this day simply because of how long of a day it is (second period through fourth, so about 9AM until 5:45PM including travel time). But today's guest speaker in Prof. Roberts' class made the day start off just right. A professor from UC Riverside, currently teaching at a Japanese university, came to talk to us about her research in the area of Japanese fathers in the child-rearing process. As a social psychologist, her way of thinking and research collection struck a chord with me from the get-go. We had a fantastic lecture on how Japanese fathers used to never participate in the child-rearing process (especially during weekdays), rarely if ever do household chores, and basically work like machines through what would normally be family/maternity leave. We talked about how policies and organizations have worked to give Japanese dad's the incentives for taking time off of work and helping them understand the importance of the father figure in the child's life. And with research data to back up these claims, I felt a bit more reassured that this wasn't just merely conjecture. I definitely missed having my psychology fix for so long, so I was glad to get a little "hit" while abroad here. Also, I mentioned to her about my research lab's studies (which she was quite interested in) and we swapped contact info, so hurray for networking =]
Professor Gill's class was a discussion this time on financial distribution between classes in various countries of the world. He wanted a UC student for every 2-4 Meigaku students, so I got to spend the entire class time working around a language barrier with a gaggle of Meigaku girls. I think they understood more than they spoke, but I'm sure that the class is really difficult to grasp when Prof. Gill's english is just so fast. Poor things. So we struggled a bit through that, but it was fine. Just a different way of going about class this time around.
Genji class was especially interesting because we had discussion on an difficult-to-discuss chapter regarding Genji's possible rape of a woman (for the first time thus far). In case you don't know, Genji has sex with women in every chapter of this book (keep in mind, it was written by a woman, too), but this chapter, he forces himself on a girl who initially rebuffs his attacks, but eventually accepts who he is and what happens between them. Coincidentally, this person turns out to also be the woman betrothed to the future Emperor. Uh-oh, Spaghetti-O's. So that was an interesting talk for Genji class, needless to say.
Later on, I joined Niki and Kim for Mister Donut (how could I possibly turn down Donut-san?!) and finally got a point card. So now for every donut I buy, I get points that I can redeem for stuff. Muahaha! The main purpose for leaving, though, was so Kim could pay for her flight to Okinawa after the semester ends. Interestingly, one pays for a variety of bills and purchases through touchscreen kiosks available at convenience stores (konbini). So Lawson's Station, an alternative to 7-11, was our konbini of choice for the evening. Finally, we decided to stop by Taito Station for a little quality time with the video games and to see what new products were available through UFO catchers. All in all, a full day.
Friday, friday, gettin' down on Friday~~
Actually, I did indeed get down on Friday, specifically at AKIBA! Yes, I was convinced by the Devil (Cheryl) to go with her to Akiba so she could find a rice cooker and check out the Gundam models. As it turns out, she's the biggest Gundam model nerd I've ever met, and it's AMAZING. I'm so jealous and in awe of her knowledge/skills.
So we go to Akiba after Japanese class and hit up stores I'd never touched before, as well as arcades galore. I dumped more money than I'm willing to say trying to win a particular figure of one of my favorite characters from my favorite anime, but later learned that there's a store next to the arcade that sells UFO catcher prizes for cheap. So for people who can't win them, you've got a way to go home with an awesome prize! I didn't buy it while there, but I'll be checking it out sooooon enough. We had Matsuya for lunch, which is like Yoshinoya but... worse. Actually, it's the only Japanese food I've had here that I haven't absolutely loved. It probably was obvious since a total of two workers were serving and cooking for approximately 20 people at any given time, but it just wasn't up to par with what I've had in Japan thus far. We went into a massive, 6+ floor anime goods store called Animate, and I died wanting all of the things. And I died because they sold so many light novels, or short story novels, that I wish I could read Japanese well enough to decipher. Sigh. But it was a glorious building and I found a nice plastic folder to use donning characters from Sword Art Online, a currently ongoing anime series I like.
Arcadessss... We went into this shady door between a crepes store and an anime knick knack shop and took an escalator up to find some of the craziest things ever. Floors 2-4 were random home good products. Like a mixture of wal-mart, target, and the decoration/darkness of Spencer's Gifts, these floors were really surprising. You could find makeup, appliances, halloween goods, and so so much more. But just one floor higher and you'd be at a halloween costume floor. Everything was there. Wigs, outfits, shoes, the works. If I was doing anything for halloween, I know where I'd go to get stuff for it. But what was really unique was floor 6. Here we found an arcade. A random arcade in a shopping mall-like building. But this arcade was glorious beyond measure. Because all it had... were music games. Upon entering, three Project Diva terminals. Nothing strange about that. Beside that, three Taiko Drum Master machines. Also kinda standard. But then... four Dance Dance Revolution machines, back to back with each other, and another one in the corner of the room. Every one of them was being used. And on one, there was a line of 9 people sitting down on the ground behind the player using the machine, waiting their turn. There was a crowd around them, and a professional quality video camera being used to document every song played. I had no idea what was going on, but it was awesome. Against the wall was about 6 or 7 Jubeat machines (*twitch*), FOUR Beatmania IIDX Tricoro machines (*TWITCH*), two Pop'N Music machines (with one being a brand new, HD screen-enhanced version *T-T-TWITCH*), two ReflecBeat's, DrumMania/Guitar Freaks XG3, three Sound Voltex booths, and the peace de resistance, the first DJ Max Technika 3 machine I've ever seen since coming to Japan. I couldn't even comprehend this Paradise. Oh, and they had the easiest UFO catchers to win pretty much ever. I won a figure for about $3, two tries. Either my skills are superb or these machines were just dirt-simple. I wanted to live here forever and ever, until the end of time.
Alas, we had to move on eventually. The top floor, strangely, was an AKB48 cafe. In addition to the main theater where the group plays by the Akiba station exit, next to the Gundam cafe, they have another theater on the top of this random building. And this was just... whoa. The walls and floors were all wooden, there were pictures of all the members, framed portrait-style, on the walls, and two cases on another wall depicting "Members Who Have Attended This Theater More Than 100 Times". Security guard-ish people errwhere too. It was nuts. Just nuts.
Eventually we left and found what is known as Yodabashi. It's probably the single biggest electronics store in all of Japan, but at least the largest in Akiba for sure. It had 8 stories of electronics, a 9th floor of restaurants, and basement floors as low as B5. And these floors were not tiny, either. It would take a good 8-10 minutes to walk around the perimeter of any one floor. This place was just massive. And on that 8th floor, we encountered the Gundam shop. Think about Anime Expo's Gundam model booths, but multiply it by 5, and add in model trains, figures, and painting/cutting/crafting materials everywhere. The selection of Gundams available was unrivaled, and I myself had to hold myself back multiple times from Nerdgasming everywhere over these gorgeous things. Cheryl did well in teaching me about the different models, the way of Gunpla, or Gundam Play (the act of assembling, painting, and customizing models), and showing off what all she has back at home in Singapore. If my mind hadn't been broken by the day thus far, it certainly crumbled and crashed to the ground in a heap of brain matter at this point. How I walked out of that Gundam place without purchasing anything was beyond me. I think I was just too overwhelmed to pick up any one box and decide on it. Every series of Gundam was represented there, with many of the favorites being available in both High Grade (smaller, beginner level) and Master Grade (medium-sized, much cooler). When Cheryl said that one day, when she moves out of her family's house, she'll probably need a room just for her Gundams and other assorted items, I knew I'd found a great friend.
We ended the night with a trip to food once more. This time, we went to the top floor of Yodabashi and decided on an indian restaurant. I know I mentioned this before in the Yokohama International Fair post, but I. LOVE. Indian food! The size of the naan that we got was nothing less than absurd. I got chicken curry to go along with it, and a small salad was tacked on as well. But what I didn't know until later on in the meal was that the naan was free-flowing. UNLIMITED NAAN. AHHHH. But the size of these monsters was such that I could only stomach two full pieces before being about to the point of explosion. The water I drank probably helped this lots, but my tummy was so happy after that meal. Mmm...
And so ended the third excursion to Akiba. Sunday will be my first concert I've attended since Thrice's farewell shows earlier on this summer, and from Wednesday night onwards, I'll be traveling to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka for four days! Plenty of exciting events yet to come. Stay tuned!
Also, I'll be posting a bi-weekly Interesting Japan Cultural Thingy later on today, so keep an eye out! Thanks for reading~
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