Thought I'd give an update on my perpetual search for an eReader that will do PDF's well and eReaders in Japan... After checking out Panasonic's website for the Sigma and WordsGear, I just had to get my hands on one of them to see how well it looks and if it could render PDF's any better than my Sony Reader. I armed myself with an SD card with various types of PDF's, just in case I spotted the elusive eBook-device on my outing. Mind you, a typhoon was bearing down on us, but I just had to get my hands on one of these to see if it lived up to the hype.
Made it to Akihabara and first stop was a shop with a huge neon sign advertising Panasonic (looked quite official, thought it might have been an outlet), walk in with my personal Japanese translator, poked around, and had no luck. We asked a sales rep, who had no idea what we were talking about; I suggested the Panasonic website, so he looked and came to the conclusion they didn't have it but recommended a few shops to check in and suggested to look in a bookstore(?). A few stores later and still no luck, so we decided to hit one of the major electronics/whatever you want shops, I figured they might be pricier but if they have, no problem. Nine floors and three hours later, with still no luck. We stopped by the translator/dictionary/encyclopedia area and asked one of the sales reps; he immediately seemed to know what we were looking for, so I got my hopes up. After a few minutes of chit-chat, my friend informed me that they could only be purchased online(?)!!! By this time I was a bit tired after several hours of looking so we just decided to call it quits on the search for the day, eat, and catch a train back before they closed operations due to Typhoon Fitlow.
So here I am, listening to the wind and rain blow outside, in absolute and utter disappointment with the so-called tech-mecca that's Akihabara. After searching here a bit, I noticed one person mentioned he/she had seen one of these elusive devices at a bookstore (should'a listened, huh?) so I might venture out tomorrow to Shinjuku and see if they have it there. My hopes are too high, since I was there about a month ago and didn't see any eReaders. I'll keep my fingures crossed, though since I wasn't really looking for this at the time and I was just in awe at how large the bookstore was.
Now, time to mope...
Edit: It looked to me like they're playing the old-school, top-down hack 'n slash adventure kinda like Zelda or Jimmy's Quest (old PDA game), but on a cellphone. I haven't really seen too much in the way of
shoujo RPG's, though I'm sure they're there. There's a ton 'o RPG's available at the computer shops here, though I really haven't searched that genre.