“…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.”
Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein was recently interviewed on ABC Radio Australia. Jake, a member of the Japan Subculture Research Center, was asked to comment on the news that upcoming mass-redundancies at the national carrier Japan Airlines would lead to a sudden surge in demand for stewardess uniforms.
In the interview Jake mentions White Rabbit Press’ Tokyo Realtime: Kabukicho audio guided tour, in which the listeners learn about Sky Heart – a former club where clients, relaxing in airline seats, would be served by women dressed in genuine stewardess’ uniforms.
Japan’s No.1 free English language magazine, Japanzine, recently published a review of White Rabbit Press’ Tokyo Realtime audio tours.
“Getting to know Tokyo’s most interesting wards is one of the great pleasures of living in Japan, though it can be a haphazard process that takes years of trial, error, more error and disorientation (not to mention stacks of ichi-man-en bills).
Enter Tokyo RealtimeAudio Guided Walking Tours, an ingenious new series of products designed to introduce you to areas of the capital – beginning with Akihabara and Kabuki-cho – by means of the spoken word and simple English-language maps.”
You can download your own copy of Japanzine from the Seek Japan website.
“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 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
