On the train from Tokyo to Osaka. A bit tired and nervous about making the bus to Tokushima. We saw Akihabara yesterday but it was basically like Hong Kong’s electronic markets with higher prices and more anime. Manga and figures from every show. And more buxom figurines than you can shake a stick at, as well as many themed maids with various outfits. There was one particularly feminized gentleman wearing a maid outfit coming out of the Mister Donut. At first no one recognized that it was a man, but I pointed out and Raynor was quite sad :). When we got back to the hotel, we just ate in at the cafe and ended up talking to a guy in his 40s who had lived in Hollywood for a while. We talked about the efficient train system and why per capita manufacturing in Japan is likely to stay higher than in China for the foreseeable future ( better access to the ocean), among other things. Today has been a hot rush from the ¥350 breakfast of toast and coffee to the Postal Bank ATM where Raynor’s card got turned down to Google Tokyo, which we saw in literally 15 minutes, meeting some random customer ops and editorial employees camping out. The shinkansen runs every 7 minutes which is crazy as heck! And it’s hot as hell. Holy cow the metro was a mess getting to Shibuya at 9 AM. I accidentally left Raynor behind because the train was full but he was on the next train, 3 minutes later.