Akihabara is changing. Sure, the electronics stores are still there, including the amazing collection of small passageway stores under the railway lines just there at the station and the stores selling PC parts and duty free electronics. But there is a new game in town: entertainment. The stores along the main street now sell DVDs and video games. You need to venture down the side streets to find the hardcore electronics places now.

The other new thing is the French Maid cosplay cafe. I didn’t know about it until after I’d been this time, and I didn’t see any of them, but it seems that there is a definite transformation taking place.

Along my walk from Harajuku to Shibuya I passed through a complex that included the NHK broadcasting facilities and a large open area that would probably be called a county fairground in the US. There was an event going on that day with lion dancers on a small stage area, and drummers like the one in the photo all around the area. Of course, there were also the numerous food and beverage stalls that one would expect from any outdoor event like this, anywhere in the world, and plenty of people walking around watching.

The scene on the Jingu-bashi bridge as I was leaving to walk over to Shibuya. In addition to the crowds of Harajuku Girls and tourists, you can also see some more evidence of autumn in Tokyo. Everywhere I went there were trees showing their autumn colours. It really was a beautiful day too – mostly clear skies and sunny, but still relatively cold.

Sitting on the side of the Jingu-bashi bridge, just outside Harajuku JR station, methodically applying makeup as the first step of her transformation from a teenage girl into a Harajuku Girl.

Update: I found another photo of her taken the same day, but once her makeup was complete and she was posing for the cameras. And I wasn’t even looking for that – I simply followed some links and found the photo by chance.

On the wall of a building right next to the entrance to the Omote-Sando metro station was a mosaic. The photo is but a small part of it, but it does give a flavour of the whole thing. Capturing it all would have been difficult.

Walking around outside my hotel in Tokyo on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving looking for a Starbucks that was open (the one right next door to the hotel was closed), I walked past this building. I think it is probably the most unusual building I’ve seen in Tokyo, and I cannot fathom why anybody would build anything like it. Still, it makes for a fine photo opportunity so I can’t complain 🙂

Another shot from the Shibuya district of Tokyo, this one a simple reflection shot showing some of the modern stores in the district reflected in the windows of one of their neighbours.

Another of the cast of characters outside Bic Camera for the November 23 release of the episode 3 DVD in Japan.

An interesting contrast here I felt with the autumn tree, the modern reflective glass building and caught in the reflection an older building’s rooftop hut (presumably an elevator covering). The building was on the edge of the Shibuya district, and was one of the images I captured on my walk from Harajuku to Shibuya on Sunday morning a week ago.