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Imabari Station
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Originally built in 1604 by Lord Takatora Todo, Imabari Castle today is still a very good castle complex with great views of the city and Inland Sea. The castle tower was reconstructed in 1980. 今治城Unfortunately, my camera lens had a fogging problem.
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Welcome to IbarakiTrain platform of Kairakuen Station.
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Higashi Mito Station (on the way to Oarai)
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Imabari Station
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Train platform of Kairakuen Station
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Oarai StationShort ride from Mito Station.
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My bicycle
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Train platform of Kairakuen Station
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Observation tower at the beach and a symbol of Oarai
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City Hall
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Plum Blossom Queen at Kairakuen StationShe was passing out maps of the garden. It was a nice touch to see two of these kimono beauties greeting us.
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Ferry port (service to Otaru, Hokkaido)
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Imabari Castle 今治城
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Shopping arcade with Shimanami bannerImabari is on one end of the bridges linking Shikoku and Honshu.
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Plum Blossom Queen
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Sign saying Oarai is famous for noren curtains.
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Shopping arcade
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Entrance to garden via Tokiwa Shrine. One of Japan's three most famous gardens, Kairakuen is especially noted for thousands of plum blossom trees which bloom in Feb. and March.One of Japan's three most famous gardens, Kairakuen is especially noted for thousands of plum blossom trees which bloom in Feb. and March.
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Wave breakers
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Near the waterfront
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Tokiwa Shrine, MitoDedicated to Lord Mitsukuni Tokugawa, the second lord of Mito, and Nariaki Tokugawa, the ninth lord of Mito and the one who built Kairakuen Garden.
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Resort hotel
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Castle tower entranceThe castle tower is a local history museum.
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Street near waterfront
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Bonsai plum treesI bought one of these once and the flowers smelled good before they withred away. The tree also died soon afterward.
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Top floor balcony
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Main road from the train station
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Crowd at Higashi-mon East GateThis was the defacto main gate and most crowded since it is closest to the train station.
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The beach
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View from top floor
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Shimanami bridge. Imabari is on one end of the Shimanami Kaido Expressway and Cycling Road that goes across the Seto Inland Sea to Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture.
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Map of Kairakuen, a garden built in 1841 by Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860), the ninth Lord of Mito. It is one of Japan's three most famous gardens.
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Oarai Isosaki Shrine's giant torii
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Shimanami bridge
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Pinickers
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Oarai Isosaki Shrine's giant torii
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View from top floor
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Shimanami bridge
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Plum blossom-viewing picnickers
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Oarai town
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View from top floor
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Red and white plum blossoms
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Oarai Isosaki Shrine torii at sea
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View from top floor
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Shimanami bridge
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Oarai Isosaki Shrine torii at sea
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Roof of nearby shrine
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Shimanami bridge
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White plum blossoms, the most common variety, and with the sweetest aroma.
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Oarai Isosaki Shrine torii at sea
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Shimanami bridge
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Torii at sea
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Shimanami bridge
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Osaka-zuki red plum blossoms 大盃Osaka-zuki
大盃
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Shoreline
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Shimanami bridge
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Plum tree grove, about a week too early.
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Isosaki Shrine torii as seen from the beach
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Fantastically-shaped plum tree
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Isosaki Shrine's second giant torii
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Welcome to Akihabara! (Or Akiba for short.) Japan and Tokyo's largest cluster of electronics shops.
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Konan Shomu plum blossom 江南所無Prunus mume Kounanshomu
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Isosaki Shrine torii
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JR Akihabara Station
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Plum Blossom Queens in Kairakuen, Mito
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Isosaki Shrine torii
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Always a crowd in front of JR Akihabara Station
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Plum Blossom Queens in Kairakuen, Mito
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Isosaki Shrine
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Here's one reason for the crowd...
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Giant votive tablet (2006 is the year of the dog)
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And another one. Young pretty/cute girls in costume pass out flyers, but end up being street models for amateur photographers who have no girlfriends to shoot.
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Plum trees and Lake Senba
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Shrine
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They are happy to pose...
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Plum trees and Lake Senba
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Koma-inu lion dog and lanterns
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The maid costume is all the rage in Japan, for several years now.
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Plum trees and Lake Senba
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Boat museum within the shrine grounds
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Santa suit appears in Dec.
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Path from shrine
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Coming out of Akihabara Station
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Torano-o plum blossom (Tiger's Tail) 虎の尾
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Seafood restaurants
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Pine trees and plum trees
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Seafood restaurants
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Lake Biwa shore. If you leave Maibara Station and head straight for the lake, this is what you will see.
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Main drag of Akihabara
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Plum tree grove
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Anko seafood soup (miso-based)
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Lake Biwa shore
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Plum tree and train
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Fresh oysters
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Lake Biwa
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Train bridge
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Monument proclaiming Kairakuen as one of Ibaraki's 100 Best Sights
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Baby scallops
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Train bridge
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Poem monument
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Ika squid
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Train bridge to Akihabara Station
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Dried fish
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Under the train bridge is "Radio Center," a cluster of many little stalls selling electronic parts.
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Closeup of white plum blossom
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Train back to Mito.
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Inside Radio Center, where many teens (and future electronics engineers) bought their parts to build their first radio or motor or whatever.
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Closeup of red plum blossom
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One stall in Radio Center.
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Other side of Akihabara Station
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Plum grove
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Going down the main drag (Chuo-dori) of Akihabara.
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Large and small electronics shops line the main drag on both sides.
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Path to natural spring
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In autumn, we see fall leaves, a most appropriate sight in Akihabara because "Akihabara" means "Autumn leaves field."
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Natural spring (cold water)
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Bamboo grovePine trees, bamboo, and plum blossoms are called Shochikubai in Japanese. This trio of trees is most famous.
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Akihabara has undergone a few transformations over the decades. From general electronics, to computers, and now anime and video games.
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Omote-mon GateThis supposed to be the front gate.
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Sake
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Akihabara is also undergoing a major physical transformation with the new Tsukuba Express train line, a revamped Akihabara Station, Yodobashi, and several skyscrapers.
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Kobuntei Villa has exquisite Japanese-style paintings on paper sliding doors. Kobuntei was damaged by the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and was closed until early 2012 for repairs.
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Kobuntei Villa was originally built in 1842 by Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860), the ninth Lord of Mito. It was his summer villa.
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Akiba Square in the new Akihabara UDX (Crossfield) building next to Akihabara Station.
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Kobuntei Villa, fusuma sliding door with painting of plum trees
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Kobuntei Villa, fusuma sliding door with painting of azalea
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Kobuntei Villa, fusuma sliding door with painting of fall leaves
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Near JR Akihabara Station is a new building called Akihabara UDX (Crossfield). On the 4th floor is this Tokyo Anime Center which has anime displays, a theater, and voice acting recording studio. Free admission.
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Display case of dolls and cells
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Anpan Man
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Anime film
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Maids to greet you
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Maids, the costume rage in Japan for several years already.
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Welcome!
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Tokyo Anime Center
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Many life-size costumed characters on display.
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Tokyo Anime Center, Akihabara
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Big expressive eyes.
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Straight black hair is pretty too.
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Blue ponytails
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Goldilocks?
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Space teen?
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School uniform
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Redhead in school uniform
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Kobuntei Villa
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Anybody who knows the names of these characters are welcome to enlighten me...
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Sakura
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Merry Christmas
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Pikachu, Astro Boy, Doraemon
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Goshikinuma is a chain of five colorful volcanic ponds. Pleasant hiking trails lead to the ponds. Part of the Bandai-Asahi National Park. Bishamon-numa Pond is the largest of the five and it has rental rowboats. 毘沙門沼
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Kobuntei Villa
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Kobuntei Villa
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Colorful koi carp fish in Bishamon-numa Pond, Fukushima Pref. 毘沙門沼Bandai-Asahi National Park
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Former site of Mitsubishi Bank to be transformed soon. This is also the intersection where Tomohiro Kato ran a truck through to hit and kill three pedestrians and went on a street rampage with a knife killing four others on June 8, 2008.
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Kobuntei Villa, fusuma sliding door with painting of maple leaves
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Bishamon-numa Pond, Fukushima Pref. Bandai-Asahi National Park 毘沙門沼
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Don Quixote in the huge building which used to be Minami Denki.
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Kobuntei Villa
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The color of the water is stunningly beautiful.
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Inside Don Quixote, Akihabara store
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Kobuntei Villa
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More fall leaves in Akihabara
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Kobuntei Villa
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Nature trail to other Goshikinuma ponds.
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On Sundays, the main drag is closed off to vehicular traffic, allowing us pedestrians to walk on the road.
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Kobuntei Villa
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It's also when some street performers start to sing.
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Kobuntei Villa
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Here's a cutie trying to gather attention.
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Kobuntei Villa, fusuma sliding door with painting of cherry blossoms
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Another one is happy to sing while a horde of amateur photographers click away.
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Kobuntei Villa
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They sing on the street to advertise something, usually a night club where they appear.
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Cherry Blossom Room, Kobuntei Villa
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Benten-numa Pond. 弁天沼
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The ever-popular maid outfit.
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Kobuntei Villa
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Benten-numa Pond, maximum depth 6 meters. 弁天沼Bandai-Asahi National Park
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Kobuntei Villa
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Maids attract much attention so they are used as living billboards for stores and whatever needs to be advertised in Akihabara.
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Kobuntei Villa
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Aonuma Pond 青沼
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Cosplayer teenager posing on the road.
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Kobuntei suffered quite a bit of damage during the big earthquake on March 11, 2011. Repairs have started in Sept. 2011, and they hope to reopen the Kobuntei by Feb. 2012.
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The problem is that the police patrol the main drag to expel these street performers. It is not allowed. It would be the Japanese police to try and kill Japan's street culture.
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Inawashiro Station 猪苗代駅
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Developed area next to Akihabara Station. Once upon a time, this used to be a wholesale area for fruit. Then an outdoor basketball/skateboard court.
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JR Akihabara Station's new Central entrance faces Yodobashi camera shop.
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JR Akihabara Station's new Central entrance (Yodobashi on the left)
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Inside JR Akihabara Station's new Central entrance. Very nice, very spacious.
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View from the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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Bus stop near JR Akihabara Station's new Central entrance
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View from the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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Yodobashi-Akiba, the largest store in Akihabara. Major camera, computer, and electronics store. A favorite store for photographers in Japan.
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View from the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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Crosswalk to Yodobashi
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View from the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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Street singer in front of JR Akihabara Station's new Central entrance
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Inside the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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Street singer in front of JR Akihabara Station's new Central entrance. A cute face and miniskirt really help to gather a crowd.
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Inside the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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Her setup is simple. A portable and battery-powered amplifier connected to a microphone. The amp is on a luggage cart. When the police comes, she can pack up and leave within 5 sec.
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Balcony on the top floor of Kobuntei Villa
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These girls usually have a lookout man who watches out for the cops. As soon as he sees one coming, he runs up to her and gives the "Outta here" signal. They're gone before the police can even see them. It's a constant cat and mouse game
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She says that it was her first "Street live performance" (rojo raibu).
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