The Gundam Cafe

In Japan, there's this thing called Mobile Suit Gundam. Its an epic animated series that has spurred nearly countless spin-offs and sequels. As a cultural icon, I've read that it can be compared to what Star Wars has become in the States. Ever since it was introduced in America, I've been a pretty avid fan. When walking around Japan If you know what to look for there are quite a bit of iconic references. But to be even more specific: The Gundam Cafe. Everything about this place has been designed to reflect different aspects of the anime, from the outfits of the employees to the restrooms. It's also actually a pretty classy place, which struck me as odd at first because back home, Gundam isn't something that's necessarily associated with people dressed in formal attire, enjoying fine dining and expensive drinks. When I say expensive I mean it. The cheapest drinks were around 800 yen and I remember seeing some food items for over 3000! I've been there a few times now and every time I go it's pretty busy. Two of those times there was a line of people coming out of the place, waiting to get in. I think its really great that something that back in the U.S. that would be considered kind of nerdy can hold this kind of status here in Japan. Of course, I might be slightly biased because I'm such a fan but either way it was a pretty interesting and enjoyable cafe.

To see more, here is a link to the Official website.

Japan's Gaming Culture

Japan is known for its crazy food, manga, and strange TV. When I think of Japan I think of games. I am in love with gaming and have been since I was younger, and being in Japan is like the Meccah of gaming. We spent the first few days of this trip wandering around going to temples, and I always on my mind was thinking of where I could find the closest arcade. We finally went to Nishiki Market and right before we left we happened to run across A-Cho one of kyoto's more famous arcades. I was in heaven. I walked in and the first thing that caught my eye was the Taiko Drum game which was incredibly fun and easy to play. The visual culture of these places is incredibly intricate from the bright colors and lights to the black light fighting game area. The games have fun colorful characters and the machines are also quite bright and flashy. When you step into these places its like walking into a different world with the door being the separator. Arcades are so different from American arcades which happen to be dying out quite rapidly, and in Japan they are still going quite strong. In fact we would walk in at night and businessmen were always there playing games and its amazing to me the age range that come into these places. In fact they were not only older, but you were not allowed into these places if you were under 18 after a certain time and in some cases not at all. The players in these arcades are incredibly good at these games that well have been around for a long time and even those that are new. Just walking around in the arcades was awesome and sitting in the huge Gundam pods was an experience all its own. Sitting in these pods made it like you were actually controlling these robots in real life and the actions required are what would be required in real life to operate such machines. In many of the arcades there were girls dressed in Cos-Play as maids, samurai warriors, and even cats. These girls are used to attract the customers and it works very well in most cases. All in all the arcades of Japan are something you have to experience for yourself and its an awesome jaw dropping experience. Arcades are an essential feature in Japan to find out more go to Here