Paul, our tour leader pointing out that should we get hungry, relief was at hand in the form of a pasta-dispensing vending machine.

Paul is one of those hyper-enthusiastic history buffs with a head full of facts such as: Back in the day, 60% of the land was for the Samurai class, 20% for temples, and the remaining 20% for the rest of the folks. Getting me to remember even that much is just short of a miracle.

He took us to this amazing store--aisles and aisles of clear acrylic boxes in which people display whatever they wish to sell on consignment. Mostly collectible figurines of anime characters, a huge part of the culture.

Escapism is a sizable industry in Japan. Perhaps because of the long work hours and adherence to the many strict rules of conduct. The Japanese don't typically move from job to job--wherever they begin their career is where they will end their career. If that job is less than stimulating you can hardly blame them for hitting the comic books in their free time.