My iBook has a gaping hole in its keyboard now. The key m just broke out. When typing this letter I am now directly pressing the naked button underneath the missing key top. This probably makes both of us uncomfortable. So after checking with an authorized Apple repair shop (they charge a ridiculous 26.250 yen for replacing the keyboard) I went to Akihabara in the hopes of finding a used keyboard, or a single key top, or a cheap replica, or just the extremely fashionable cute round transparent plastic protective cover for the plug on the power adaptor that I predictably lost a few weeks after I bought the iBook. No luck, though.

While Akihabara Electric Town is supposed to be the mecca of high-tech hardware I have to say it does not hold much appeal to me anymore. They still have the traditional small shops that made the place famous, selling all sorts of electronics components from radio tubes to solar panels to capacitors to LEDs to standard integrated circuitry, but the area has been mostly taken over by the big chain stores, whose offers of consumer electronics do not differ at all from those of their outlets anywhere else in Tokyo. The third kind of shop is otaku-oriented: manga, computer games, collectibles, character goods, adult video. Except for shops and a few fast-food restaurants there is nothing else in Akihabara. And the not-so-unique shops do not even have especially long opening hours, so after 8pm Akihabara is a ghost town.

Of course, I could not find my key top or even a keyboard. I bought acryl glue in a hobby shop and glued the broken key back in, but the key keeps popping out. Next thing to try is eBay, or as they call it in Japan: Yahoo Auction. If that does not work out, I can mail-order the key from some shop in America.