AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo


2018.09.13

NAVITIME TRAVEL EDITOR

Along with everyday hustle and bustle of the district, the advertising trucks with their forty- foot-long murals for idol groups, and mamachari cruising against traffic, the go-kart has become a fixture on Tokyo streets. Hitch a ride on one of AkibaKart’s rigs and get a new perspective on the city.

  • AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    Akihabara evolved from being a center for the electronics industry into a base for entrepreneurs catering to the collective id of the otaku subculture. AkibaKart’s tours head out into the heart of a neighborhood radically changed over the past decade: out with most of the seamy storefronts and electronics shops and in with major retailers, chain coffee shops, and Burger King. Akihabara may no longer—and probably never did—live up to its neon-drenched reputation but a tour of the neighborhood and environs by go-kart affords a chance to contemplate what Electric Town has become—or perhaps just mess around (while obeying all relevant regulations and laws) on public roads at the controls of a two-stroke-powered rocket-on-wheels.

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    The process of securing a kart is quite simple but it does require a bit of planning. An International Driving Permit (IDP) is required of those without a Japanese license, so be sure to secure this permit in your home country (and make sure you’re within a year of its issue). For those that want to go it alone, simply call ahead to ensure that a kart will be available for the day you want to drive, arrive with your IDP and passport, get a walkthrough of the kart’s operation, pay the surprisingly affordable fees, and hit the road. Getting out into traffic for the first time can be a daunting experience, but piloting a go-kart is more forgiving than getting behind the wheel of a rental car, and local drivers tend to be less aggressive than those in most other parts of the world.

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    The real fun, though, is in customizing the experience. In the holy land of cosplay, it’s only right to suit up in an appropriate costume (in the wake of lawsuits by Nintendo against other go-kart operations, it’s interesting to try to spot the loophole that allows this to take place). Akihabara is a place where fandom fantasies have always been indulged, so there’s no need to feel any shame in rooting for a plush Princess Peach costume. Putting on the costume is definitely half the fun.

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    For those heading out onto Tokyo’s roads for the first time or assembling a caravan, a guide is encouraged, and the modest investment is well worth it. The AkibaKart guides will save you from getting bogged down in traffic snarls or stuck on a dull route, and from other potential pitfalls. Other add-ons include rental GoPro cameras or a Korg MMA130 if you would like to hear the Mario Kart Wii soundtrack or “Ride of the Valkyries” while cruising.

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    AkibaKart: The Most Authentic Inauthentic Experience in Tokyo

    Tokyo offers a surplus of achingly real experiences but also no shortage of folksy pastiche and simulacra of authenticity. In this city of placelessness and postmodern consumer landscapes, in a country that Jean Baudrillard once called “a satellite of the planet earth,” there is a certain rightness to taking a break from temples and castles to rip around Akihabara on a 6000 RPM redline go-kart dressed as Elmo.

    Akihabara
    place
    Tokyo
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    JR-EAST HOTEL METS AKIHABARA

    1-17-4 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo

    Agoda
    • JR-EAST HOTEL METS AKIHABARA
    • JR-EAST HOTEL METS AKIHABARA
    • JR-EAST HOTEL METS AKIHABARA
    • JR-EAST HOTEL METS AKIHABARA
    • JR-EAST HOTEL METS AKIHABARA
    アキバカート
    rating

    4.5

    33 Reviews
    place
    東京都千代田区外神田2-4-6 ビルディング・ササゲ B1F
    phone
    0362064752
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    Ochanomizu Hotel Juraku

    2-9 Kandaawaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo

    Agoda
    • Ochanomizu Hotel Juraku
    • Ochanomizu Hotel Juraku
    • Ochanomizu Hotel Juraku
    • Ochanomizu Hotel Juraku
    • Ochanomizu Hotel Juraku

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