Bookstore?

There’s a bookstore down the street from me. Or at least, I thought there was. Except that when I was going in, I noticed that there was a sign saying something about “18 years old” (「18歳」) and I started to be a little suspicious. To go in, you have to go through this little two-turn maze that is kind of like the little half-wall in many public bathrooms.

Once you go past that, there are three vending machines, one with magazines, one with magazines and DVD, and one with DVDs and, I think, panties. I’ve heard stories of the panty vending machines, and I’d been hoping to see one while I was here, just for the… actually, I don’t know why. But it was on my list of things I hoped to accomplish, so there you are.

I didn’t take a picture because it was surrounded by softcore porn titles and I’m trying to keep this at least mostly not-NSFW.

As it turns out, there is no actual bookstore. It’s just the vending machines and a locked door. And some sex toy advertisements. The prices were pretty bad, as you might imagine, ranging from $10 to $50 for a DVD.

Anyway, the better part of this story is that I found an okonomiyaki place about a three-minute walk away from my apartment. It’s sort of like a pub, so it’s only open later in the day, but they have reasonably-sized okonomiyaki. It’s not nearly as big as Mr. Young Mens, but it’s also not a train ride away.

Two pictures, both from my phone, and you can really see the limitations of the camera as it jacks up the sensitivity to counter its pathetically small aperture. The increased in sensitivity is where the noise and random discoloration comes from. Also splotchiness.