Need advice on Comiket 88/Akiba

[SeijaK14]

Hi! I'm looking for advice for C88 which I'll be attending solely for it's Touhou day.

A few questions though,

What time should I arrive at Big Sight?
How should I prepare before going there?
How long are the lines for the popular stuff? (eg LoLK)
I'm interested in Renko/Merry/Hifuu Club stuff, what would you people recommend?
I can't read/speak Japanese well (only know really basic terms), so is there anything I should take note of?
How difficult is it to navigate through the area?

And if there's anything else I didn't mention, feel free to advice me on other stuff as well.

Thanks in advance and apologies if this is on the wrong board!

ADDON: I'll also be in Akiba for a day or two, so where can I find cheap-ish Touhou figurines/artbooks/doujins ?

(Posted it again because I posted on the front page headlines by mistake)

[N-Forza]

What time should I arrive at Big Sight?

If you wanted the best chance to get rare stuff, I'd say 6-7 am. If you just wanted to look around and don't want to wait in lines, 11 am.

How should I prepare before going there?

Bring at least two water bottles and food/snacks (though there will be vending machines and convenience stores there, you'll have to fight those lines as well). Towel might be a good idea, as well as a spare bag or two.

How long are the lines for the popular stuff? (eg LoLK)

ZUN's lines go fast since he's only selling the one new thing each event, so while it may look long it shouldn't take too long. Otherwise, any door or popular wall circle could take up to two hours or so.

I'm interested in Renko/Merry/Hifuu Club stuff, what would you people recommend?

They group circles by what characters they feature, so if you find one Sealing Club circle, you should find the rest very close by.

I can't read/speak Japanese well (only know really basic terms), so is there anything I should take note of?

They will sometimes split up very long lines for better management, and at the end of each chunk of line there will be someone holding up a sign, either saying "最後列 (end of line)" or something else that means "line portion" if you just remember 最後列 you can tell if its the end of a line or not.

How difficult is it to navigate through the area?

If you mean trying to find stuff, it's not too hard. If you mean trying to walk through the crowd, it's a lot more troublesome. However, I recommend taking the rear path between East and West Halls since it's much faster. It should be located on the map.

I'll also be in Akiba for a day or two, so where can I find cheap-ish Touhou figurines/artbooks/doujins ?

If by cheapish you mean second-hand, K-Books, Mandarake, and Lashinbang will have a lot of stuff.

[Ruka]

I also recommend visiting Radio Kaikan in Akiba when you get there.

As you turn left outside the Electric Town exit at Akihabara station, you'll find a Sega arcade. Next to that is the Radio Kaikan with a large yellow store sign. It's several floors of stuff that's worth checking out.

A lot of them sell the same things but are priced differently. There's also one small Touhou shop Forza, Nietz, and I found on one of the floors (5th maybe?) that had merchandise that was priced very reasonably compared to the other shops there.

And speaking of the second-hand shops like Mandake, shop around and you'll see prices vary a lot even within the same store. It's mainly because of the rarity and condition of an item. Find a middle ground if you don't care too much about the condition or prepare to empty your wallet for some of those figures.

[N-Forza]

I think that shop was at the next-to-top floor actually.

[Rin Kagamine]

Is the Touhou cafe still open? It was well off the main path (out past Showa-dori I think) but I haven't been there since C79 so it may have changed theme or closed.

Bring towels and headbands if you sweat a lot, you will probably die from humidity multiple times that day.

Out on the waterfront near where the buses stop to go back to Tokyo Station is where the Itasha (anime cars) were parked during C79/80, and while there may not be many touhou ones left it's definitely worth a quick visit.

[RuneDevros]

There's this place in the back street of Akihabara (1-2 blocks away from the main road in the opposite direction of the train station) which I can only describe as 50% electronics parts and 50% Touhou. I can't for the love of me remember what that place was called but it was pretty cool.

[Spotty Len]

I remember this place with lots of Touhou and Niconico stuff, in the basement of one of the Akibaoo, not far away from the Kotobukiya and Tales of shop. I think it is behind the main Sega arcade.

I think that shop was at the next-to-top floor actually.

Is that the one with a lots of card sleeves in the entrance? I remember they host Hisoutensoku tournaments every now and then.

[Ruka]

I remember this place with lots of Touhou and Niconico stuff, in the basement of one of the Akibaoo, not far away from the Kotobukiya and Tales of shop. I think it is behind the main Sega arcade.

There's this place in the back street of Akihabara (1-2 blocks away from the main road in the opposite direction of the train station) which I can only describe as 50% electronics parts and 50% Touhou. I can't for the love of me remember what that place was called but it was pretty cool.

Is the Touhou cafe still open? It was well off the main path (out past Showa-dori I think) but I haven't been there since C79 so it may have changed theme or closed.

Bring towels and headbands if you sweat a lot, you will probably die from humidity multiple times that day.

Out on the waterfront near where the buses stop to go back to Tokyo Station is where the Itasha (anime cars) were parked during C79/80, and while there may not be many touhou ones left it's definitely worth a quick visit.

I am interested in the location of these places. Google maps if possible. I want to thoroughly explore Akiba next time around.

Is that the one with a lots of card sleeves in the entrance? I remember they host Hisoutensoku tournaments every now and then.

I remember them selling all the Touhou Windows games. In every other shop it's marked up. In that shop, it was the price they were selling for at the time they were release or so it seemed like. They did have a variety of other things such as keychains and wall scrolls.

[pineyappled]

+1 for Radio Kaikan. Check out the Volks and A zone stores!

[Moogs Parfait]

If you're like me and my friends, plan time to visit the post office and mail your loot back home.

[SeijaK14]

Thank you all for the replies!