Akihabara
秋叶原
A mecca of anime, games and electronics culture, with anime goods buildings, a capsule toy hall, maid cafés and electronic parts shops, and the first stop on anime pilgrimages.
Akihabara evolved from a post-war electronics market into the centre of anime and otaku culture in Tokyo. Centred on the Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara Station, Chuo-dori is lined with dense rows of anime goods shops and electronics stores: Animate (anime merchandise), Radio Kaikan (figures and models), Mandarake (used manga and figures), Surugaya, Super Potato (retro games), Yodobashi Akiba (electronics), the Gachapon Kaikan (hundreds of capsule toy machines), and several maid cafés such as @home café, where admission plus a drink starts at around 2,000 yen. Akihabara is also the setting for works such as LoveLive! and Steins;Gate. Kanda Myojin shrine, a 10-minute walk away and known for its anime-themed amulets, is a standard stop on pilgrimages. On Sunday afternoons, Chuo-dori is closed to traffic as a pedestrian paradise. For electronics, the duty-free shops are convenient for Chinese visitors, but their prices are not necessarily lower than those of big electronics chains. Nearby, you can walk to the musical instrument street in Ochanomizu, the second-hand bookshop district in Jimbocho, and Ueno. Access: JR Yamanote, Keihin-Tohoku and Sobu lines, the Tsukuba Express, and the Hibiya Line at Akihabara Station. Allow half a day, as the atmosphere is best from afternoon into evening, when the lights come on. Note: many shops open at 10 or 11 am, and some prohibit photography. Maid cafés charge by time, so check the rules. Do not follow street touts into unfamiliar shops.
Opening hours
Shops about 10:00/11:00–20:00/21:00
Nearby sights
- Ameya-Yokochō (Ameyoko)
- Ueno Park
- Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building
- Tokyo National Museum
- Tokyo Imperial Palace & East Gardens
- Senso-ji Temple
- Ginza
- Yanaka Ginza