Anime-niacs

A slower start to today following yesterday’s big trip out to Mt Fuji. After letting everyone sleep a little longer we got ready for the day and headed to a bakery we’d noticed just around the corner.

Breakfast has been an issue since arriving in Japan. We haven’t really seen cereal anywhere so finding the Bon Coeur bakery has been a lifesaver. We grabbed a bunch of different pastries for breakfast then headed to the nearby Dawn cafe for a drink.

Our drinks being delivered by robot.

The picture our robot host took of us.

Dawn is a cafe where you are served by robots. Food options are limited but drinks like coffee and flavoured milks are all prepared by robot baristas and delivered to you by robot wait staff. A smaller robot at your table engages you in conversation while you wait for your order.

It sounds cool but there is a cause behind the gimmick. Every robot is operated remotely by someone with a disability or chronic illness that means they can’t leave their homes to work conventional jobs. Dawn allows these people to have employment while offering customers a cool experience.

We were greeted at the door by a robot who explained how things worked before we placed our order and took our seats. Our table host was Mi-Hi, a Japanese woman who operated her robot from home because she suffers from fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP disease), an extremely rare connective tissue condition where tissues like muscle, tendons and ligaments basically turn into bone. Mi-Hi, through her Dawn robot, asked us about our trip and where we were from until our order arrived and she moved onto her next customers. All in all a very cool experience that is also a worthy cause.

This robot waved us goodbye as we left.

After we said goodbye to our new robot friends we jumped on a quick train to Akihabara AKA the anime district. This one was for Emily and Aiden who have developed a love of anime series like Demon Slayer.

It was a short walk from the station but we were struggling in the 30C humidity - this has been the warmest day so far. Akihabara is also known as Akihabara Electric Town because of its vibrant anime culture and arcades. I haven’t been overly impressed with Tokyo so far but I’m beginning to suspect we are seeing things during the day when we should be seeing them at night with all the neon colour.

Probably looks better at night…

We found the anime super store or whatever it’s called - six floors of comics, badges, plushies and figurines. We went floor by floor with the kids before they each picked something to purchase - Emily and Aiden grabbed a figurine of their favourite Demon Slayer characters. Kairi picked a pink Labubu (I’m not rolling my eyes, you are).

We spent considerable time in the anime tower before exiting back into the Tokyo heat. But no before I accidentally walked Aiden into a pornographic anime comic section. I immediately realised my mistake and steered him out but not before he saw some… err… things.

We visited a five-level video game arcade that was ok but Teneille and I both agreed it wasn’t as good as the one we briefly played at in Shibuya. After wasting God knows how much money at the arcade we grabbed a snack at a nearby Maccas to prove to the kids a cheeseburger really will just taste the same irrespective of country. Spoiler alert: They did.

We were about ready to hop onto a train back to the apartment when Teneille spied a huge department store we decided to investigate. The place was nuts. Seven storeys of appliances, stationary, toys, clothes et al. The electronics section was selling AI robots that you could keep at home to make small talk with. We found another robot playing checkers with a mechanical arm. I lost. There was also an entire section of claw machines like it was also an arcade.

Kairi punching stuff at the arcade.

Aiden bought a Princess Zelda plushie in the Nintendo section to accompany his Link plushie at home, then almost immediately left the bag behind moments later while trying some gadget out. Again, like Emily losing her handbag a few days earlier, the honesty of the Japanese public saved us. Someone had handed the bag in and we were able to retrieve it. For those playing ‘Lose It Bingo’ that is now Emily and Aiden crossed off the game card.

AI robots for the home.

Are we still in the arcade? Nope, this is a shopping centre.

Long live the Empire.

Umm, we don’t have Nintendo Switch games like this in Australia…

It is early to bed tonight as tomorrow is the big one - Teneille’s birthday and Tokyo Disneyland. It will be a massive day with an early-ish start and a late finish. Yes, I know Teneille’s birthday has been and gone but I am writing these a couple of days behind. Sue me.