This is the city…
Hi.
Akishima
Tour: Jusco
Let’s start with the bright lights in the background. Those lights belong to our Jusco shopping center. It has been in business for about a year and has sparked a shopping center war with our other local shopping Mall, ESPA. ESPA has not changed in the 17 years I have resided here. That changes this fall.
Jusco brought with it the one thing I wanted most, Starbucks! Some of you may laugh, but you go 17 years without a decent coffee shop! I promise that you will worship the very napkins from Starbucks.
Tour: The Secret Place
To the right of Jusco is the secret place. The secret place is mostly windowless. There are cameras. No one smiles.
Tour: Ritzy Apartments
The apartment complex to the left of Jusco is also fairly new. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it is about 2 years old. Most of the tenants are well off.
Tour: Public Housing
The smaller and darker apartment complex to the left of the ritzy apartments belong to the government and are for those of us who are not as well off as others. They look like something from the old Eastern Block. What is really funny is, there are a lot of nice cars in the parking lots. Not BMWs or Mercedes, but nice Skylines and expensive family vans. Weird how that works: No money for an expensive apartment, but plenty of cash to spend on a nice car. Hmmm…
Tour: More Apartments
Move your eyes to the left a bit and you will see another set of complexes - brighter than the other set. I have been inside this complex and it is nice. The cars in this parking lot are also nice.
Tour: ESPA
ESPA is hiding behind the last set of apartments mentioned above. ESPA is currently being remodeled and extended. Rumor has it that we are getting another Starbucks there. w00t! The wilder rumor is that we are also getting a mini cineplex of some sort. (I will believe that when I see it.) ESPA used to be the center of every Akishimain’s life. Need food? ESPA. Need baby clothes? ESPA. Need a dictionary? ESPA. Now you see why the owners were reluctant to make any radial changes over the past 17 years. I mean, why waste money making things better when there is no competition to force your hand?
Tour: The Green Lights
The road with the green lights -foreground - demarcate the old train line that ran there. My wife often shares her childhood stores about how they used to run down the tracks and almost get run down. Happy days.
The road has just been widened and sidewalks have been added. You may be asking, “Sidewalks? Added? 21st century? Japan?” This would force me to answer with, “Yes. Sidewalks.” Sidewalks are a novelty around my neighborhood. Heck, sidewalks are a novelty in many areas. All of the main roads around here usually have sidewalks, but that is about it.
Tour: The Apartments on the Green Road
These complexes house government employees. About 7 or 8 years ago, that area was a ghost town. Nothing but old, rundown wooden homes. No street lights at all. I hated riding through there at night. It was down right creepy when one of the two or three left over tenants would pop out of their home.
Tour: U.S.A.F Yokota Air Base
Yokota Air Base is located a few miles in the darkness behind Jusco. Four years of my life was spent there.
Closing.
Well, that was the tour of one-quarter of the city I live in. If you are lucky, one day I will find the motivation to photograph the other three-fourths.
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Very interesting! I also happen to see the same sights from my window!! Good to know there are fellow gaijin Akishimites out there…! (I don’t see to many of em)
Okay, Theo, you have my attention. Where exactly do you live in our wonderful little city?