Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Excelsior Caffe in Akihabara

There is a coffee chain called "Excelsior Caffe" in Japan. It is a bit expensive coffee brand of Doutor, which I introduced in this posting. Doutor has been in business since 1962, but this coffee chain is relatively new and it spun off Doutor in 1999.

This shop is at the heart of Akihabara, so it would be hard for you to miss it when you come to this district. You have to come out of Akihabara Electric town Entrance and head for Kandamyoujin Street.

I bet you should be familiar with the automaker Honda. It developed a humanoid robot called ASIMO that walks with its two feet. And on the same floor the Excelsior is you can see "Studio ASIMO".

This one is supported by wheels, but it can actually walk without them. The acronym ASIMO is short for "Advanced Step in Innovative MOblity".

I was about to forget this posting was on coffee. I ordered a "Coffee of the Day". The price was a bit more expensive than a regular coffee at Doutor, 280 yen. The map the coffee was standing on is the 47th edition of AKIBA MAP. As I told you before, you can get this map at the information center near GAMERS. You can see who's giving out this map by clicking this video. She calls visitors to Akihabara "master" and "mistress".

The scenery I could command from the seat was so good. You can see "Yodobashi-Akiba" beyond the windows. You can get almost any electronic devices at the store. 

From the coffee shop you can see trains with green lines heading for JR Ueno station. The trains are called "The Yamanote Line" and they go round the Tokyo metropolitan area in about an hour.

Please take a look at the ASIMO and have a coffee on the second floor of Akihabara Dai Building. You would feel tired after dropping by every shop you like in Akihabara, so take a rest at the Excelsior Caffe where it's cool when it's hot outside in the summer.