Today's quest was to find some new walking shoes of some sort. The trainers (sneakers) that I have are fine for going to the gym (non treadmill activities) but not for walking 7-10km at a time. The problem with this simple task is that even though there are shoe stores, seemingly on every corner, they don't stock sizes above 28. What is 28? 28 is a Japanese shoe size as represented in centimeters. I need a 29 or 30, which is a US size 11-12, depending on the shoe manufacturer, which is about a 46 in Euro sizes.
I have been to a few fancy department stores and a few market vendors with no success. You can get any shoe made in the world here in Tokyo, but not in all the sizes. I guess Japanese feet don't commonly grow to sizes over 28cm, even though I see lots of tall Japanese people.
After walking over to Akihabara for a cable I need for my upcoming motorcycle tour, I stopped by to see the lines over at the Gundam Cafe. What is Gundam?
Gundam (ガンダム, Gandamu?) is a metaseries of Japanese anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots (or "mecha") called "Gundam". The metaseries started in April 7, 1979 as a serial TV show called Mobile Suit Gundam.
One day I will stop in, once the frenzy dies down and check it out.
This July the 1:1 scale Gundam robot will re-appear in Tokyo for our viewing pleasure.
1:1 Life-size Gundam
As part of the 30th Anniversary of the Gundam series, the company officially announced a project on March 11, 2009 called Real-G to build a 1:1 real-size, scaled Gundam statue in Japan. The project was finished in early June 2009 and opened to the public on July 11, 2009. It is located in Shiokaze Park on Odaiba island in Tokyo, Japan, and attracted over 4 million visitors. The statue was then taken down in September. It will be re-erected in the city of Shizuoka in July 2010, this time with a beam saber.
Afterwards, I took the subway over to Shibuya and stopped by the Hachiko statue for a pic.
Hachikō (ハチ公?, November 10, 1923–March 8, 1935), known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō (忠犬ハチ公?, "faithful dog Hachikō" ('hachi' meaning 'eight', a number referring to the position within the nest the dog came from, and 'kō' being a Japanese familiar suffix)). Hachikō was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture,[1] remembered for his loyalty to his owner, even many years after his owner's death.
I then headed to do some shoe shopping in this area, where there exists some manufacturers stores like Adidas. The Adidas store in Shibuya has a very friendly staff and they basically went to their stock and brought out everything they had in a size 30cm. 4 pairs of shoes.
They had the TMAC Houston Rocket Shoe in a 30cm
I wouldn't buy this shoe even if it was the most comfortable shoe, since the Rockets no longer have TMac, but it was a narrow, narrow 30cm and was very uncomfortable. They had that same shoe in all black, so that was a no go as well. Plus, basketball shoes are not the best walking option and guys almost 40 years old don't really look right in them walking around a big city, in my honest opinion.
The other two pairs were very high end running shoes, but I figured why not try them on. Same shoe in mostly white color and then a limited edition color. Limited edition is orange and black. Sold! Best shoe ever? Probably. Very comfortable, light, fit perfect... I was very thankful to the staff that helped me and I know where to go again if I need another pair. Having a comfortable walking shoe in this city is crazy important and when you don't have them, you are very happy when you find them.
smugmug gallery here
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