Akihabara's Shosen Book Tower

A couple of walks around Akihabara have acclimatized my senses to the world of geeks and anime fandom, yet surprisingly, the sight of books and magazines multiplied a gazillion times still amazed me when I visited Shosen Book Tower, as assorted and vibrant colors greeted my eyes on every floor.

A few steps away from the rabbit warren of electronic and gadget stores, food and hobby shops, just past the Yodobashi Akihabara and prior to my reaching my intended destination by the river for a quick lunch, a tall blue building by the corner of the street caught my eyes and piqued my interest and curiosity.

“I have never seen so many books in my entire life!” My mind silently screamed with excitement. A bookworm like me would go crazy over the sight of shelves overloaded with so many books, or what's more, a ten-floor building that houses only rows and rows of books, magazines, publications and other reading materials. Each floor holds thousands and thousands of things to read in different categories.

You can reach the highest level of the building through the escalator that zigzags all the way to the 10th floor. The elevator would be more convenient, and would take you to the top floor in a matter of seconds or a minute, but then you wouldn't get to behold the surprises that await your eyes on each floor. Thus, I took the escalator and experienced a less than ten-minute joyride to the top of the tower.

As I browsed through each section from the different floors, it dawned upon me that the Shosen Book Tower is for the glee and pleasure of the geeks and gadget-freaks, as everything still reflects the geekery of the locals and the place. If you delight yourself in novels, poetry and other fancy reading materials, Shosen is not really a haven for you, as most of the books and magazines are about electronics, gadgets, electric devices, with other educational and informative publications related to computers.

Shosen Book Tower can easily be spotted at a glance, as it stands majestic on a street corner with windows reflecting the sun and glistening blue. You will see a huge “SHOSEN” written against a green rectangular background at the topmost part of the building. From Akihabara Station, it's about a 4-minute walk to get there.