Somewhere in Japan & Rakuten Addiction
My IP: Japan
Posted: 3rd October 2015
I have landed to the strange and fantastic world of Japan. With it's cultures and embracing attitude towards modern technology, one just feels right at home. Even with the language barrier, there is much to communicate with these smart and sensitive enough people. Making friends has never been easier, and the abundance of IP addresses has never been bigger. To tell the truth, this has been an inspirational trip in many ways. When I was in Tokyo, I simply got lost in Akihabara. Now, I am officially addicted to exploring the gadget world of the country.
Then it hit me, a place called Rakuten which turns out to be the biggest e-commerce website in the whole country. They had anything you could ever imagine, even more than in the crazy streets of Tokyo. The turning point was when I found out Rakuten English which is a way to do the shopping in English from start to beginning. But don't be fooled, this is not the global Rakuten website, but the official version in Japan and in Japanese only, officially that is. What this means is that the range of product is totally different with the strangest and the most interesting "Japanese stuff" you can find on the planet.
I have gotten strange laptops and small smart devices with operating systems I have never seen in my life. Other than that I will be battling with the Japanese language menus when I get back home. But that is going to be simply a lot of fun. There are the usual selection of old consoles as well, which is pretty addictive. Shopping luckily is not so expensive there, and home delivery is very fast and free. Something the United States should learn about in my humble opinion.
Then, there is the kinky stuff which Rakuten doesn't seem to mind in it's "family friendly" collection of goods. I have no idea if there are age restrictions, but what I am talking about is not that nasty. Different, but only slightly nasty which is good. I was especially keen on these plastic toys that were more for the adult taste. Women in different kinds of situations, for example my favorites are the bondage ones. Now if only I could have had those kinds of toys when I was a kid. But no, not in the world of English children's products, not even if you could access the internet. Japan is really a treasure trove of the first world, but one especially needs to take care of the wallet in the end of things.
The only slight problem is taking everything back home. Obviously some have to be sent personally through mail which is not affordable but worth it I guess. But most importantly I am packing my bags as full as possible, and even more. You just never know when you can return to the country next time.. or if these 'collector items' will exist in the future. I checked the global version of the site in English and I swear to god, these things were not available for international order. So as a tip on your next trip to Japan, head on top rakuten.co.jp and shop till you drop! Cheers!
Carl Carroll