Day Six: Shibuya, Akihabara, etc.

Today we took the train into Shibuya to meet with an SBC missionary named Mark Busby. We enjoyed hearing his experiences in Japan, as well as his vision for the future over, yes, a Krispy Kreme donut. Shibuya is one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations, but the intersection outside of the station is also one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world. Apparently at night it is swarming with people. While there, a man tapped on Tony Hodgson’s shoulder and talked to him about appearing in a fashion magazine. There may be a surge in mullets and mustaches in the next year or so in Tokyo if that does indeed go down.

We then made an attempt to visit the Emperor’s palace in Tokyo, but it was closed. We turned to wander around Akihabara, a popular electronics, “nerd paradise” in the city. There are scores of shops down the streets of this area in Tokyo. Many of them are harmless. However, some aren’t. They’re pornographic. We had to keep our eyes straight ahead for some of the walk, for sure.

Believe it or not, those visits involved some pretty long train rides, so that made for a great, but tiring day. Tomorrow we are going to catch up with John Evans, a church planter we have visited the past two years in Japan. I look forward to catching up with him.