Golden Golden Week

Wed, 04 May 2005 18:34:38 +0000

One thing Japan is blessed with is an insane amount of national holidays, which is great really. Currently, we’re part way through ‘Golden Week’ [GW], a collection of days (almost a week’s worth depending on how they fall) for various and sundry events. It really kicked off last Friday with ’ Midori no Hi’ (Green Day), but this week we have 3 days off: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday though a glance around town on Monday showed many people had headed out for the whole week, and I can’t blame them - the weather is fantastic.

Today we were just relaxing, but I hopped on the scooter, down to Akihabara to pick up a 512MB Memory Stick Duo for the PSP and was quite surprised by how many people were milling around - not buying, just wandering and looking. I suppose the pedestrianized streets (for the day) and an increasing number of new buildings and places to sit and chat make it quite attractive.

It’s a shame so many tech shops in ‘Electric Town’ have gone out of business, or moved, to be replaced by coffee shops, anime and manga shops, and even *normal* shops, and of course, the huge new office/apartment/convention centre which is almost finished. Ho hum.

Still, if you brave the back streets, there are still curiosities and deals to be had - my favourite today was a shop with over 50 Sun Cobalt 1U servers in varying states of functionality going for between 1000yen and 50,000yen. Not bad! Combine some with with the Cisco 4000 they had in the same shop, and it’s almost an office in a box!

Golden Week

Sat, 01 May 2004 14:52:53 +0000

Well, Golden Week is in full swing now, and here in Tokyo, the population just dropped by about 50%!

Golden Week is a collection of national holidays which just about make up a week, depending on when they fall. This year, there are 4 weekdays of holidays (last Thursday, then next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Combine that with beautiful spring weather and you’re looking at almost a week of sun fuelled relaxation. This means then that a lot of people head out of the big city, (thus driving the cost of plane flights skyward, and Shinkansen availability through the floor). Botton line? Enjoy the sights and sounds of Tokyo with virtually no queues!

Gw on Nanikore

Golden Golden Week

Golden Week