Belmont Hotel: 東京都台東区柳橋１−２−８.
(1-2-8 Yanagibashi, Taito Ward.)
Phone: 03/3864 7733. Fax: 03/3864 7732.
Price: from 9000 Yen per night.
You cant beat this location on picturesque Kanda River. Good access to Akihabara and Asakusa and close to the river cruise launches.
"Access -- From Asakusabashi Station on the JR Sobu line: 2 min.walk.
From Asakusabashi Station on the Asakusa line: 2 min. walk.
From Higashi Nihonbashi Station on the Asakusa line: 5 min. walk.
"Room Charge single room 8000yen〜11000yen.
Twin room deluxe twin room 15000yen〜16700yen 22000yen
double room 15500yen
Japanese special room 21000yen 40000yen."

Khao San Hotel: 東京都台東区秋葉原６−９.
(6-9 Akihabara, Taito Ward.)
Phone: 03/3251 0841. Fax: 03/3251 0844. Web: www.akihabara.yad.jp/map.html. Map: www.wh-rsv.com/english/akihabara/index.html#access.
Check In: 5pm. Check Out: 10am.
Credit cards accepted: American Express, JCB, Master Card, VISA.
Right next door to the Italian restaurant where I dined with Mrs Sasaki and her daughter once... on the banks of the Sumida River..
A night in a capsule hotel is a high priority for many tourists visiting Japan. I don't know why -- I mean I know capsule hotels are supposed to be a uniquely Japanese experience, an experience you wouldn't find in downtown Berlin or Chicago. Capsule hotels represent the two threads of Japan, the past and the future, coming together in one knot: the bonsai Zenlike love of miniaturization (in this case the miniaturization of your room!), and the Japanese love of high-tech. The end result is a style of accommodation reminiscent of those old sci-fi classics like Alien and Doctor Who -- humans stored cryogenetically in coffin sized bedchambers. If you want to experience a night in a capsule hotel while you are in Japan, what better place is there than Akihabara, the hightech heart of the whole country? On the other hand, I would rather spend the night in a Japanese love hotel, even if I was alone, because the love hotels are more fun. In a love hotel you can sing karaoke and enjoy light shows in your bathtub. In a capsule hotel you are basically crammed in like sardines. And from what I have heard (since I have never stayed in a capsule hotel before) you pass an uneasy night listening to a cachophany of neighboring wheezes and snores, before getting woken by the chorus of alarms which kick in about 6am, and continue until checkout time at 10am.
I am a cynic I know -- so go ahead and f00king shoot me!

Doll@Cafe: 外神田１−６−７秋葉原センタービル5F.
(5th floor Akihabara Center Building, 1-6-7 Soto Kanda.)
Phone: 03/3251 5865. Web: http://www.doll-cafe.net. Map: http://www.doll-cafe.net/html/access.htm.
If Akihabara is the wierdest part of Tokyo, then Doll@Cafe is probably the wierdest part of Akihabara. Located on the fifth floor of Akihabara Center, Doll@Cafe is not actually a cafe but rather what they would call in England a "place of ill repute". That's right it is a brothel, a whorehouse! But here's the catch -- at Doll@Cafe there are no females, at least human females at least (with blood in their veins.) At Doll@Cafe all the ladies are lifesize dolls. I admit, some of them look cute -- see some more pictures here. But for the life of me I just can't understand why people would shell out money -- and this case a lot of money -- to sleep with a doll. For that amount of money they could purchase a real hooker. It is obvious therefore that some Japanese men would rather make love to a doll than to a woman. It is just too strange for words (but such is the nature of Japan!)
Like love hotels, there are two options -- the short stay (euphemistically called a "rest", although we all know that short Japanese love hotel stays are anything but restful), and the overnighter (at this establishment they call it the "night course".)
It's cool to take photos of yourself with the dolls, and you can also dress them up in whatever turns you on -- school uniforms and maid costumes seem to be particularly popular.
The dolls are specifically made for love and weigh in at around 26 to 28 kilograms, and are 140cm to 150cm tall when standing. A night of passion with one of them will set you back 22,000 Yen (around US$250). If you want a quick rumble then a 45 minute session will cost you only 10,000 Yen.
Want to experience modern sex Japanese style -- Doll@Cafe is the place for you!
But if real women are more to your taste, then perhaps you ought to head to Thailand!

y o u s h o k u + c u i s i n e

YOUSHOKU (洋食) MEANS "WESTERN STYLE MEAL" IN JAPANESE, BUT IN MY OPINION AT LEAST, YOUSHOKU REFERS TO A PARTICULAR SUBSET OF WESTERN SYLE FOOD, PARTICULARLY THE KIND OF WESTERN FOOD WHICH BECAME POPULAR IN JAPAN ABOUT 30 OR 40 YEARS AGO. In areas in the eastern side of Tokyo, especially around Asakusa and the old "downtown" neighbourhoods, you will find plenty of restaurants advertising themselves as youshoku. These are the places where the locals (invariably old, because the neighborhoods themselves are old, emptied of children) have been dining since before the Bubble Transformation of the 1980s, and the faded decors within have plenty of stories to tell. Day after day, regular customers gather to eat the "western" meals which have been served in Japan for so long now, you could actually consider them Japanese. I am talking about those classic foreign favorites Hamburg steak, curry rice (it's been a popular dish since the Meiji Period according to one of my friends), Hayashi rice (I guess this qualifies as a genuine Japanese meal, but it has a foreign "feel"), pork cutlet katsudon sandwhiches, and so on. You could find all this kind of fare in the convenience stores, and it is worth a try. Go to one of the old-style youshoku restaurants somewhere like Kanda or Kichijouji or Asakusa though, especially one of the famous youshoku restaurants (the ones which famous Japanese writers and geishas used to dine at), and you will find this kind of cuisine raised to the ultimate level of finesse. It is funny how the Japanese, while imitating western dishes, can make them taste even better than they are in the West. I guess it is all down to that famous Japanese "tongue for detail".

Arizona Kitchen: 1-34-2 Asakusa, Taito Ward. Phone: 03/3843 4932.
A western restaurant opened in the 24th year of Showa. I haven't been here and Mr Tanaka has never heard of the place, but it is located in a cool area -- the historic backstreets of Asakusa, not far from the river. According to a Japanese reviewer: "It is known as the restaurant loved by a famous writer Kafu Nagai. We hear he liked stewed beef at the price of 2000 yen. This restaurant is full of cheerful atomosphere (sic) and is popular among the native young people (they mean young Japanese, not American Indians!) One week is spent for making the deminglace sauce of this restaurant!"...
For the complete guide to Arizona Kitchen in the old town of Asakusa in Tokyo, click here.

Youshokuya: Kototoi Dori (Kototoi St), near Iriya subway station (Hibiya Line), Iriya, Taito Ward.
Saturday，July 22，2006： Tonight I went to a local restaurant called Youshokuya, with my new friend Mrs Sasaki, and her beautiful daughter. The restaurant is on Kototoi Dori near Iriya Station, and is said to be a local institution, with nearly more than 50 years of history. That might not impress the conoisseurs of Paris or London， but Youshokuya does have a kind of genuine old world charm... not that old of course， but older than most places in Tokyo. The wood panelling on the walls is fake， but the food is real article Shouwa Era international Japanese cuisine. Mrs Sasaki and her daughter ordered Hayashi Rice, and as soon as their dishes arrived I felt an instant pang of urayamashii (regret) because it looked so good. My Hamburg steak and fried shrimp also looked good， but that Hayashi Rice looked heavenly. I wish I could have eaten it！ Other items in the menu include a steak set for just under 3000 Yen. The restaurant wasn't at all busy when I was there even though it was a Saturday night... but Mrs Sasaki were such enticing company that I didn't seem to notice.

(1-8-3 Sakumacho.)
Phone: 03/3255 3311. Fax: 03/3255 7343. Web: www.wh-rsv.com/english/. Map: www.wh-rsv.com/english/akihabara/index.html#access.
Check In: 2pm. Check Out: 10am.
Two minutes walk from Akihabara Station on the JR Lines and Eidan Hibiya subway line. Just across the road you will find the Tsukuba Express line, which can take you north out of the city.
Credit Cards accepted: Amex, Visa, Master, Diners.
Regular Rates: Singles from 11,550 Yen, Twins from 18,690 Yen, and Doubles from 17,850 yen. Breakfast is an extra 1,300 yen per person with tax.
This is a huge restaurant located in the heart of Akihabara, and is perfect for those whose idea of a holiday in Japan, is hunting through software shops and used manga malls. Conditions in this hotel, are just as hightech as those outside, on the neon streets. All guest rooms are furnished with a work desk, TV, high-speed intrnet access, telephone, refrigerator, air conditioning, hairdryer, bath, shower and toilet. Inside the hotel are two restaurants: Ginza (open weekdays only), a traditional Japanese number offering live seafood, tempura and kaiseki (Japan's answer to haute cuisine). The other place is Cafe Restaurant Bonjour, "a bright yet relaxing atmosphere in a fashionable cafe terrace style. Serves tea, coffee, cakes, refreshments and other light meals" according to the hotel website.
Someone who stayed at the Washington commented: "The room was microscopic, and the bathroom was even smaller, but the Hotel was super clean and in the middle of Akibahara, the mecca of Japan's nerd culture..."
On the other hand, a New Zealand guest of the hotel remarked: "Liked - great location, easy access to the trains and subway. (1 minute walk) Only one change to get to the airport. Close to the Ueno area for eating, markets and color. Easy access to Ginza. Clean rooms, competent and helpful service. Rooms a reasonable size - for Tokyo.

If you do end up staying in Akihabara, you should at some point check out some of the local maid cafes. On Big Empire Dot Com, the maid phenomenon was described thus: "Though the name may imply otherwise, a maid café is not a place to find a woman busily working a vacuum, nor even an ambiguous shroud for yet another type of Japanese sex establishment. With menus, written in deliberately unique Japanese, offering everything from ?glittle devil?h cocktails (600 yen) to full-body massages (4,000 yen for thirty minutes), these establishments allow customers to partake in a faux master-and-servant relationship with a young lady sporting a Victorian outfit or other seductive wear, perhaps a uniform based on a popular manga, anime, or video game. Conversations often include such honorific titles as my lord or my lady."

Here is a description of all (or at least most of) of the maid cafes in Akihabara. It should be noted that there is more to maidology than just cafes -- there are also maid reflexology places where young women dressed as maids give you foot massages, there are places where you can go and take photos of maids, and there are even maid beauty parlors for girls who want to look like maids. Check the links bar immediately below, to see which page you want to look at: