Once again, I had difficulty sleeping. So I left the house at 8:30, taking the Keisei line to Asakusabashi, where I switched to the Chuo local JR train to Akihabara. Most of the Electric Town stores opened at 10, 11, or noon, but I figured that wandering around and seeing the sights was preferable to watching the walls of our rental house. Shortly before ten, many of the stores had small lines of patrons awaiting their opening. The pachinko hall, however, had a line stretching around two sides of the building.
Given my personal circumstances, where I am with my collection, the amount of space remaining in my house to contain collectables, I’d deliberately come to Tokyo this time around with the intention of buying only what items felt like mandatory purchases.
I first browsed the Lammtarra store on Chouo Dori because it opened earlier than its surrounding stores.
I also made my way through other shops including Animate, several of the Suruga-ya stores, and Comic Zin. Animate has expanded to occupy the former Toranoana store A building.
I was a bit surprised to see one of the Liberty stores selling loose anime figs at the same prices other stores charged for boxed and even brand new, unopened versions of the same figure. Yet another of the Liberty stores appeared to offer specifically low prices on its anime character figures.
I often see critics and YouTubers complain that Tokyo no longer offers any deals on anime collectable prices. I understand where the sentiment comes from, but I don’t entirely agree with it. Indeed, in early fall 2025 the prices of anime goods in Akihabara are higher than they were five or more years earlier. But the costs of practically everything have increased over the past five years. Moreover, in my observation bargains are still available; they simply require a bit more hunting to locate.
Now that White Canvas is gone, AkibaHobby feels like it’s trying to carry on that store’s legacy. AkibaHobby felt as if 90% of its inventory is Tohou merchandise.
By the end of my day, I was surprised by the extent to which live-action porno seems to have expanded its footprint in Akihabara stores.
Used panties vending machine. Double the price compared to machines in Nakano.
Cheerleader armpit smell for 1,900 yen?
I thought I was fairly aware of the current Japanese doujinshi scene, but I was surprised to see the extent to which Melon Books’ selections of recent doujinshi releases came from creators I’d not heard of before.
I was looking for the 2019 Art of Hitsugi Katsugi no Kuro book. I asked about its availability at two different stores with large selections of brand new anime illustration books. Neither store carried the book.
I spent several hours browsing the shelves of used adult doujinshi at the Mandarake Complex store. I figured that I’d devote the day to Akiba, so I had little reason to arbitrarily end my hunt just because I thought I should. I was pleased that I managed on my own to locate the Saigado doujinshi section. To my surprise, I found three of artist Ishoku Dougen’s earliest releases, Pink Macadamian volumes 2-4, priced at 3,000 yen each. But I didn’t find any of the half-dozen recent releases from the Saigado circle that I have yet to purchase. Also on my own I found the section for circle Mental Specialist’s Dirty Pair doujinshi. I found the section empty. I devoted a few hours to thumbing through the six shelves of unsorted, new-in-stock doujinshi. My effort proved worthwhile when I found a vintage doujinshi with a Dirty Pair cover for 1,500 yen. The comic was titled “Revival,” from creators “Bishoujo Production Ltd.” I’d never even known about the existence of this comic before finding it. Ultimately, I purchased 18 doujinshi from the fifth floor of the Akihabara Mandarake store.
The Mandarake Complex store had a very good condition copy of the 1st appearance of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga for around $3,200.
Phil left the house at noon to attend a day of the September 2025 Grand Sumo Tournament held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. How he purchased and ultimately acquired his ticket is a story unto itself. Even redeeming the ticket for access at the venue turned out to involve a bit of suspense for Phil. The venue ushers didn’t question the authenticity of Phil’s ticket. They did, however, question how he’d acquired the ticket. In the end, Phil sat in the stadium through the final match of the day.
I was susprised to find that the Lashinbang store within the AkibaZone building stocked used H doujinshi along with adult manga, adult figures, and adult-oriented doujinshi goods. I spent another hour or more browsing the selection at Lashinbang, although seemingly patrons don’t trade in very many vintage doujin to Lashinbang. Ultimately I ended up purchasing three doujinshi from the shop.
I stopped for lunch at a random curry restaurant off Chuo Dori. I was surprised and impressed that the elderly lady running the restaurant didn’t put my plate of katsu curry (no potato or carrot, though) up on the counter for me to reach for it. Instead, she walked it all the way around the counter herself so she could place it in front of me.
At 4:30pm Phil informed me by text message that he’d finish his day of watching live sumo at 6pm. So I told him that I’d meet him in Kuramae. I decided to save a visit to the venerable Radio Kaikan building for another day and departed Akihabara, riding the Sobu local line one-stop to Kuramae where Phil eventually found me. On Phil’s suggestion, we returned to Aoto station. I first led us to the Daiso store where I purchased an A4 sized hinged document case for 200 yen. We’ll use it to safely protect our anime production cels during their trip home. Then we returned to our house where I dropped off my doujin purchases. After a brief rest, Phil & I walked back toward the station where we opted to have dinner at Yoshinoya. Phil selected a large gyudon. I opted for a beef curry bowl with side orders of Japanese potato salad and a piece of karaage. We agreed that Yoshinoya’s beef bowl is superior to Matsuya’s, but Matsuya’s curry is tastier than Yoshinoya’s.
The week’s Shonen Jump on sale at the 7-11 next to our house.
On our walk home, we stopped at Lawsons to purchase some pre-packaged pastries including a small piece of chocolate cake, a cream-filled waffle taco, and cake rolls filled with cream. All of the pastries were decadently, surprisingly moist and rich.
