At long last my good friend Stu has crossed the Great Ocean, the Pacific one that is! And he's here exploring Tokyo with me. Today we went to a 'mangakissa' or manga cafe, after work.
Manga cafes are more than just places to read manga, though there's always a huge manga library with aisles and stacks upon stacks of books to read. Also: magazines, books, DVDs, PS2 games. Our room had a two seater couch, this computer that I'm typing on, ambient lighting and music, and a nice big TV to play Playstation (we've been playing Guilty Gear, he's owning me) - basically a sweet place to crash with your friends for a few hours and treat like your living room at home.
And the single rooms have massage chairs! Way back in 2006, my friend Rachael and I stayed in one of these manga cafes for the night in Kyoto when we couldn't find a hotel. Some even have showers, didn't see that here, but we got a hamburger and curry delivered right to our little cubicle.
For me, this is one of the iconic places that makes Japan, though it might seem at first very similar, very different than America.
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