So Thursday night I fly to Narita Airport for a four-day weekend in Tokyo. Since it is a short trip and I am not encumbe*cough* accompanied by anyone, namely Ah-Ling, it occurred to me that I can plan my excursions with exactly me in mind.
Having never been to Tokyo, my first (complimentary) thought about the place is the wired, futuristic, over-the-top, cyber-world of a William Gibson or Neil Stephenson book. Dirt, money, speed, electronics, villainy.
So now my hurried goal is to figure out a list of interesting sites along this Gibson/Stephenesque theme, both to experience and photograph.
Item One is to buy radio gear for our August trip through the Outback. That will involve going to Akihabara District. This is a pretty common tourist destination.
Item Two is also a common tourist stop (unfortunately) and at first you might not appreciate its connection to the Gibsonesque genre. It's the Tsukiji Fish Market.
Q: Why is this cool?
A: Because I love watching interesting physical markets.
Q: Why is this connected to Neil Stephenson or Wiliam Gibson?
A: Because an efficient market has more energy, excitement, and money involved than almost anything. Nothing pushes mankind into the future faster.
Being a good soldier, doing my research I grudgingly admit finding a very useful guide to photographing the market on photo.net. Now I have some idea of the logistics and the filming conditions.
Item N But now I am stuck. I need to figure out some more things to see while there, and I don't have much time to plan. I was given a hint that the term 'Otaku' might lead to some of the interesting futuristic cultural stuff I'm looking for.
Any advice?