“…there is always something new to discover in the dense, multilayered, eternally evolving metropolis that is Japan’s capital. And so up on the sixth floor of Akiba’s famous Radio Kaikan, I find myself in Volks, marveling at beautiful — but creepily realistic — Super Dolfie dolls that are priced at over ¥100,000. In an adjacent case a miniature figurine of a limping, black-eyed girl with a hand inching its way out of her emaciated chest is displayed beside a pop band of perky, innocent-looking teenage schoolgirls. I had passed through the rabbit hole and, like Alice, emerged in a wonderland where anything is possible.”

Read more…

Jump to 3m09s for the Tokyo Realtime segment.

To find out more about Tokyo Realtime, please visit www.tokyorealtime.com

If you have one hour free on Sunday 14th March 2010 why not come along to Akihabara for a behind-the-scenes exploration of the area’s must see spots?!

Here at White Rabbit Press we’re looking for people who’d be interested in taking our new mp3 audio walking tour of the area, and telling us what they think of it.

To thank you for your time you’ll receive a free copy of the tour (which comes with a photo booklet and map), and a big smile.

The tour is narrated by Patrick Galbraith (editor of ‘The Otaku Encyclopedia’) – he’ll be joined along the route by a team of expert commentators who’ll all help paint a complete picture of the area.

We’ve mixed the narration, directions and commentary with sound effects and music, making it into a unforgettable augmented reality experience.

At the end of the 57-minute tour we’d like to ask you a few questions about what you thought of it, that we can then use in a short video for YouTube.

If you’d like to take part, simply contact us via our support site or comment on this blog post and we’ll send you a special download link and further instructions – you’ll need to copy that mp3 to your iPod / any other mp3 player before showing up on Sunday.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

The New York Post recently reviewed White Rabbit Press’ Tokyo Realtime guided audio tours.

“If everything you know about Tokyo you learned from a Ranma ½ marathon, you need help. And it’s here, in the form of mp3-player-friendly audio.

Tokyo Realtime ’s guides (order on CD or download directly) give you a serious insider’s walking tour of the 東京’s wackiest, seediest and geekiest hoods. The first in the series, narrated by a researcher of otaku (anorakism) at Tokyo University, explores Akihabara — a k a “electric town” — the city’s top stop for all things gamer, manga and cosplay related (this being Tokyo, that’s saying something).

Packing in even more of the awesome, though, is the tour of the Kabukicho area, Tokyo’s red-light district. Interviews with bar owners and a bondage artist, among others, take you through a world populated by Yakuza, hookers and pay-per-hour hotels — makes Bangkok look like Salt Lake.

Besides the hour-long audio, each $12/$18 Tokyo Realtime guide comes with a map and photo book. Order online here.

The physical version includes a CD with mp3 audio, a waterproof map and a 20-page full-color booklet of area photography

With TOKYO REALTIME: Akihabara, visitors and residents alike can experience a unique behind-the-scenes tour of Tokyo’s ‘Electric Town’, a subculture hotspot for anime, games, manga, maids and more.

Assisted by his sentient GPS ‘Navi’, Akihabara expert Patrick W. Galbraith, author of The Otaku Encyclopedia, guides visitors through all the must-see places. Patrick provides historical background and cultural insight along the way, as well as breaking down insider jargon such as otagei, moé and itasha.

The release of TOKYO REALTIME: Akihabara marks the second volume in the highly-acclaimed Tokyo Realtime audio tour series. Interweaving narration and interviews within a soundscape of location ambience and music, Tokyo Realtime audio travel guides deliver a seamless mix of adventure and cultural insight while navigating real-world spaces.

“Producer Max Hodges has assembled a crack team of über-geeks from Japan and abroad to navigate Akihabara’s alleys and decode its mysteries. The audio guide is an illuminating portal into the neighborhood’s colorful history and vibrant currents of contemporary pizzaz.”

- Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica

This Akihabara audio tour features guest commentary by:

• Patrick Macias, author of Cruising the Anime City & editor of Otaku USA Magazine
• Danny Choo, pop-culture blogger & Tokyo Stormtrooper
• Kaichiro Morikawa, Meiji University professor & author of Learning from Akihabara
• and others

This 57-minute tour, available from White Rabbit Press, includes a CD with mp3 audio, an area map (printed on durable, waterproof paper) and a 20-page full-color booklet of area photography. Listeners simply transfer the audio program to their iPod, iPhone or any other portable mp3 player, go to the starting point shown on the included map and press play.

TOKYO REALTIME: Akihabara represents the second volume in the Tokyo Realtime series which launched with an audio tour for the Kabukicho district, Japan’s most imaginative entertainment zone. Each expert guided tour is brought to life through music, sound effects, location ambience and guest commentary from local personalities.

Additional details and audio previews are available on the Tokyo Realtime showcase site: www.TokyoRealtime.com. A media kit with images, sample audio and an interview with narrator Patrick W. Galbraith and producer Max Hodges is available for download here.

About White Rabbit Press

With customers in over 80 countries, Tokyo-based White Rabbit Press is widely recognized for producing outstanding Japanese language products. With the launch of the TOKYO REALTIME audio tour series, White Rabbit Press continues to receive praise for making Japanese language and culture more accessible to the world.

For further information, or to schedule an interview with Patrick W. Galbraith or the tour producer, Max Hodges, please contact:
Joseph Tame
Media and Communications Manager
joseph@whiterabbitpress.com

The cover shot of  the CD & photobook of Tokyo Realtime: Akihabara features Arisa, one of Tokyo’s most celebrated maids, who can be found tending to customers at Café Mai:lish.

The theme at Café Mai:lish is one of relaxation – an oasis of calm in the heart of the city.

Within that oasis, Arisa is a princess who warms the hearts of clients and brings smiles to their faces – it’s said that flowers bloom wherever she walks.

Arisa’s Profile

-Birthday: July 20th
-blood type: A
-favorite: flowers, gentle music, and other soft things

(see the original in Japanese)

Café Mai:lish Opening times

• 11am-10pm (Open year-round)
• 11am-5pm: maid time (maids wear maid uniform.)
• 5pm-10pm: kosupure time (maids wear costume.)
• *Every Tuesday and Friday, maids wear maid uniform all day.
• There are 20 maids (see their website).
• No photos allowed inside the cafe

Café Menu

• Cakes
• Soft drinks
• Coffee
• Alcohol
• Food (curry, pasta, etc)

Tokyo RealTime: Akihabara is available now from White Rabbit Press. To learn more about the Tokyo Realtime series please visit www.TokyoRealtime.com

The following article appeared on Akiba Today, in collaboration with the Akiba Keizai Shinbun.

The audio guide series Tokyo Realtime began distribution of its Akihabara edition in mid-October.

Tokyo Realtime is an audio guide published by Japan-based White Rabbit Press to help non-Japanese sightseers on walking tours. The company has also released guides for Shinjuku and Kabukicho.

And now White Rabbit Press is featuring Akihabara, with Patrick W. Galbraith as your navigator, who is the administrator of Otaku2 (an otaku information website for non-Japanese) and who conducts tours of Akihabara dressed in a cosplay costume of Goku from Dragon Ball. Galbraith’s code name when serving as a tour conductor: Gaigokujin, a play on words that mixes the Japanese word for “foreigner” (“gaikokujin”) and the character name “Goku.” The Akihabara guide has recordings for visiting locales such as Radio Kaikan, maid cafes and Mandarake, as well as explanations of Akihabara’s history and of otaku (nerd) culture, like itasha (a car that has anime or game characters decorating the body). In addition, also included is commentary by Otaku USA editor-in-chief Patrick Macias and Danny Choo, the administrator of dannychoo.com, a Japan pop culture website with over 20 million monthly page views by 2 million visitors.

The audio content is currently on sale for download at White Rabbit Press’ website for $12. There are also future plans to sell a packaged edition with a set containing the audio guide CD, an Akihabara map and a photo collection.

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

オーディオガイドシリーズ「TOKYO REALTIME」で10月中旬から、秋葉原版の配信が始まった。

　「TOKYO REALTIME」は、外国人観光客のウオーキングツアーをサポートするオーディオガイドで、日本に拠点を置くWhite Rabbit Pressが手がける。これまでに、新宿・歌舞伎町ガイドをリリースしている。

　同社は今回、秋葉原にフィーチャー。外国人向けオタク情報サイト「Otaku2」の運営や「ドラゴンボール」の悟空のコスプレをして秋葉原でツアーガイドを行っている通称「ガイ悟空人」ことパトリック・ウィリアム・ガルバレス（Patrick W. Galbraith）さんをナビゲーターに起用。ラジオ会館やメードカフェ、まんだらけなど実際に秋葉原を巡りながら録音したという秋葉原ガイドや、秋葉原の歴史、痛車をはじめとする「オタク文化」の解説を収録。加えて、「オタク・イン・USA」著者パトリック・マシアスさんや月間200万ユニークユーザー、2,000万PVを超える情報サイト「ダニー・チュー．com」管理人ダニー・チューさんなどのコメントも。

　「秋葉原はわたしの生きる場所」だというパトリックさんは、同オーディオガイドについて「うわべだけでなく、秋葉原の街の雰囲気も伝えたかったため、実際に路上の音や街行く人の声なども合わせて入れたのが特徴。秋葉原を初めて訪れる外国人にも、秋葉原の魅力を一緒に楽しんでもらえれば」と話す。

　現在、同コンテンツはサイトでダウンロード販売中。料金は12ドル。今後、オーディオガイドCD、秋葉原マップ、写真集をセットにしたパッケージ版の発売も予定する。