L. M. Lloyd

OK, as embarrassing as it is to have a blog, I figured I needed some way to track all the revisions to the KMZ I have been creating of anime shops in Japan, which you can download from the sidebar on the right. Now I know that I should have had some self respect and created my own CMS, and a page that dynamically updated everything whenever I made changes. However, I'm getting ready for a trip to Tokyo, and was feeling lazy. Thus, a Wordpress blog will have to do. That is also why it is just a stock template. When I get back, if I decide I care, then I might design a real webpage, actually lay it out, and generally pretend I give a damn, but for now, this is what you get.

So here is how this whole thing works. I am just sitting in my apartment putting in addresses I'm finding on the websites of these companies into Google Maps, and putting those results in my KMZ. If you have a friend who just got back from Japan ranting about how I don't know what I'm doing, and one of the shops I have listed is actually across the street from where I have it in my file, he is probably right. I am, at the moment, limited by the accuracy of Google Maps. If I have something in the wrong place, and I will move it. Once I get to Tokyo, I will be checking the location of any of the shops I come across, but unless someone wants to pay for my trip, I am not going to be going all over Japan just to make sure Google got it right.

All of my rambling up to this point has been about how to find out where you are in Japan, and how to find out where you are going in Japan, but the real question is where do you want to go in Japan? For me that question is easy. Sure, it would be nice to see some shrines, or maybe the Tokyo Tower, or experience the nightlife, but the real attractions to a geek like me are the anime shops! Sorry, I know it is a beautiful country with wonderful people and an amazing culture, but if there is one thing I can't miss, it is all those amazing shops with all their cool models, and toys, and books, and games, and videos. Of course, any anime fan worth the title knows that Akihabara is the anime capital of Tokyo, but aside from going down to Akihabara and just wandering around, how do you find the anime shops?

As long as I can remember, I have heard people talk about how strange the Japanese address system is, and how it is virtually impossible to find things without detailed directions from a known starting point. Now there are plenty of good, detailed descriptions of how the Japanese address system works, but the short version is that most of the streets don't have names, and the addresses are built on a narrowing grid of sectors down to the building. Frankly, it is an odd system, but not all that cryptic. I mean really, if you are at all like me, it has been several years since you found any address without looking it up in Google Earth or Google Maps, so what does the system matter, as long as the software points you to the right place, right? So, despite the numerous people over the years who have told me they couldn't find this shop or that studio without directions, I still arrogantly thought that I would just pull up Google Maps and be done with it. So, imagine my surprise when I went to Google maps, only to find that any search for any business or location in Japan brings up results, maps, everything, entirely in Japanese!