My friends and I were due to go back to Kyoto to check out the thousand red gates and more of the area that we didn’t get to see on our first visit. But one of my friends and I made no effort to rush and get ready that morning, having clubbed it up the night before. So I said I’d hit the other fella’s up on the keitai when we reach Kyoto, and then rendezvous with them here. As we were getting ready to leave, my friend couldn’t find his Japan rail pass. So Kyoto was a no go. I could’ve left him, but I’m not that much of an bastard (despite what some of my friends say), so I said I’d stick around with him. We decided to make a day out of checking out the local area, mingling with the random people we come across and head back to Den Den town, seeing as we didn’t get to see the best of it the first time we went a couple of days ago.

Two purchases in an Adidas store and one wrong subway stop later we finally ended up at our destination of Den Den town. We doubted ourselves at first and started to curse and cuss we’d gotten off at the wrong train stop (again) because the area looked NOTHING like the Den Den town we’d visited before. But after asking a local in the nearest shop where Den Den town was and being told we were in it, the exclamation mark appeared above both of our heads like a Genome soldier: we hadn’t been to Den Den town before, and we were in it for the first time! Suddenly our second trip to Kyoto didn’t seem like something we’d badly missed out on.

Nipponbashi is also known as Den-Den town, and also known as the ‘Akihabara of Osaka’ because of the parallels in terms of what you find within the area: electronic stores, bargain bins, figurine stores, video game havens, arcades, niche restaurants and eateries, with smut and pr0n (that’s a whole ‘nother post!) on every block or so. To put it bluntly: it’s Otaku heaven on Earth. Nipponbashi has it all.

Video game stores all had their own little quirks. One store was entirely devoted to Nintendo’s Wii and DS. The store was brilliant white. Every Wii and DS accessory you need, they’ll have it here. The staff were decked out in white and baby blue polo’s and demo kiosks ran unplayable demos of the latest DS Dragon quest game (which wasn’t out at the time) and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (also not out at the time). Another store was devoted to all things retro. Every old school console, they had it here. That obscure game that only got a Japanese release and limited production? 2nd aisle from the left. The Japanese release of Streets of rage 3? At the back in the Mega Drive section. The shop looked dingy, but cool. The floor was made up entirely of pages cut from gaming magazines. It probably would’ve been a better idea for the floor to be covered over in a tough wearing glass. As the customer treads was tearing up many a section of the floor. But the rough cut, ragged edge only added to the dingy retro-ness. A couple of arcades were also located not far from these gaming shops. Each arcade looked run down and like it’s been around since the 80’s, but they all featured the latest games and cabinets. Tekken 6 and Street Fighter IV got treated to some yen for plays. The arcades were surprisingly empty, so I got a chance to play without being challenged, which is always nice. Nobody likes to be humiliated on a video game. Especially on holiday.

Figurine (toy) collectors will bust a nut or two over what’s on offer. There is no shortage of shops selling figures. Gaming related, movie related, anime related, popular culture related. You name it, you’ll find it here; both of key ring size and 12 inch stature variety. Nipponbashi even has it’s own Osaka Gundam store for your self assemble Gundam kit needs. A couple of my friends are into their ‘toys’ and freaked when my mate and I told them we went past a Gundam’s Osaka store that had everything and that it was “Alright. Nothing special”.

Den Den town lacks the flair you would find in a place like Akihabara, but in terms of what’s on offer you’ll find much of the same stuff. Den Den town isn’t the kind of place you could spend a whole day in, but it borders on some of the more ‘cooler’ and happening area’s. So it’s very easy to either start off in Den Den town and move on; or to pass through Den Den town, check out all it has to offer and then keep moving. If you are a self confessed or closeted otaku however, you’ll probably want to spend the whole day going through every nook and cranny of the place with a fine toothed comb, and then kick it in a maid or cosplay cafe when you begin to feel a bit tired or peckish.