If you grew up
playing game consoles such as the Family Computer, SNES, N64, and PlayStation 1,
you might want to skip Denden, or prepare some cash because I am telling you
that you will be tempted to buy something! I was lingering around that store
for an hour or two just looking for familiar games and getting amused on how
cheap everything was. A recycled N64, for example, only costs 2,980 yen, which
would be less than 2,000 if converted to pesos. It comes with a free gray
controller and the necessary wires. As for the games there is a wide variety of
cheap options. Wave Race is just 180 yen, also recycled. An original Super
Mario 64 is more expensive at around 1,000 yen, which would still be cheap if
converted to pesos, considering how expensive those were when I was in high
school! Of course the games would be in Japanese. It's actually a cool
alternative method for learning that language!
A recycled
PlayStation 1 would cost 1,980. They have a wide collection of games for that.
There are around two or three stores at Denden that sell those old game
consoles. Prices really depend on the model. An Atari, for example, costs a lot.
I forgot how much but it is expensive because it is considered rare. It's like
the grandma of all game consoles that followed it. Any game console freak would
see Denden as heaven and would probably have a heart attack even if they had a
healthy heart. In the end I decided not to buy anything for the sake of my
future trips, and to avoid any form of hassle with the reptiles at the Customs
counter back home. But now at least I have an idea where to go in the future.
The road going to
Denden is a long one. If you are coming from Shin Imamiya, you just go north.
Across the street you would see a building with roller coaster tracks looped
around it. I think it used to be part of Spa World, a giant multistory spa
complete with water rides and slides aside from the usual massage facilities. I
did not try that one out, which was sad but I simply had no time. You might
want to include it in your itinerary. Walk farther north and keep your gaze to
your right to see the entrance to Sinsekai, which is a series of connected
streets with a lot of food stalls and other stuff. It is famous for its
blowfish lantern and the sight of the Osaka Tower located at the center of the
said area. The tower is not that cool but its observatory offers a good view of
downtown Osaka, again for a fee.
There is a Matsuya
and Yoshinoya branch before you reach Denden. These fast food chains would save
your wallet. A Yoshinoya beef bowl is one of the cheapest meals you could get
in Japan for just 350 yen. It comes with bottomless green tea. Days later I
discovered Matsuya because of their large posters of the said gyudon (Beef
Bowl) with large numbers on them saying 250 yen. For less than a hundred you
get free miso soup and refillable water. Their gyudon is as big as and tastes
the same as Yoshinoya’s. Considering how expensive food is in Osaka, these are
perfect alternatives for the backpacker on a budget. Yoshinoya and Matsuya will
save you.
What else could
you find at Denden? Porn. Lots of it. I’d like to think that the Japanese are
not that porn crazy, but three floors exclusive for porn? Even then there was
still a spillover on the ground floor, next to the clothes and the noodles.
When you see girls in posters in a suggestive pose and smiling like they’ve
just won the lottery, that would be porn. It would usually be accompanied by a
curtain with a warning that you must be 18 years old and above. So, what do you
see inside? No holds barred, breasts and vaginas everywhere. Most of the
patrons there are middle aged men and could be found on the upper floors. The
system seems to be clear, cheap porn means going up an extra floor. By cheap, I
mean those that are less than a thousand yen. A typical porn DVD costs 2,000
yen and above.
These porn,
however, are aimed directly at men. For women and the gay population, you
have limited options. The only gay porn I saw comprised
just two shelves, and they cost 10,000 yen. That’s not
cheap. For women, the most risqué that I was able to find were those anime with
effeminate looking guys in them that seem to be in love with each other. Most
of them were comic books. I do not know if there are DVDs available. What am I
trying to say here? For my female readers, you have limited options. For my gay
and bisexual readers, there really is nothing pornographic for you at Denden
unless you are willing to spend money, or are planning to go back to being hetero.
Porn at Denden is mainly for heterosexual guys. You might want to consider
buying electronics instead. Laptops are cheap!
After a rather XXX
rated trip focused on the female genitalia, I then set out to find my mother’s
Hello Kitty component. I don’t know where she got the idea that such an item
exists, but I’ve been trying to find one since day one but no store seems to
have it. The only Hello Kitty electronics I found were water heaters and alarm
clocks. I did not find any of those at Denden. Perhaps in Tokyo they have it
but not in Osaka, and I am not going to Tokyo. Since I already had an early
dinner at Yoshinoya, I just headed back to Shin-Imamiya to ride the JR Osaka
Loop back to Momodani. Tomorrow I transfer to Hotel Toyo, which is less than
five minutes away from Shin-Imamiya. At least I got closer to Yoshinoya. Yipee!
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