This article is based on visits made on Sunday, 30 March 2014, and Sunday-Tuesday, 13-15 November 2016.
Previously on Sekai Ichi,
I checked into my hotel in Akihabara. With multiple train and subway lines serving the area, and the hotel itself situated above the train station of the same name, this proved to be a convenient base for all my excursions in and around Tokyo. But Akihabara (秋葉原, lit. 'autumn leaf field'), or "Akiba" for short, is a destination in its own right, so allow me to take you on a virtual tour of this neighbourhood
First, some orientation. The major train station in the area is the cross-shaped Akihabara Station, which serves the Yamanote loop line to the north and south, the Chuo-Sobu line to the east and west, among other lines. To the west of the station, the Chuo-dori (中央通り,
Chūō Dōri, lit. 'central road') road also runs north-to-south. Most of the major businesses in Akiba are situated along Chuo-dori. On Sundays from 1:00 to 6:00 PM, a section of Chuo-dori is closed to automotive traffic.
I might as well briefly go over some history while I'm at it. As a centre of business, Akiba's character has shifted multiple times over its history. When Akihabara Station opened in 1890, many produce markets sprang up around it. This entrepreneurial spirit led to various specialisations: electronics and radio parts in the mid-20th century, personal computers in the 1980s, and anime-related, or
otaku (オタク), merchandise in the 2000s. Akiba is also the birthplace of maid cafes, restaurants where waitresses cosplay as French-style maids.
I would later try out a maid cafe elsewhere in Tokyo, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Many of Akiba's major locations stand to the west of the station, so start your journey by taking the Electric Town Exit on its west side. Turn to the right (north) from this exit, and you will find yourself on the UDX Plaza. It is spanned by a pedestrian bridge leading toward the UDX Building on the north end of the square. The UDX Building hosts numerous businesses, including a tourist information centre and the Tokyo Anime Center, a small but free space which hosts exhibits on recent shows and a shop selling various character goods. The AKB48 and Gundam Cafes,
one of which I have visited, are also situated along the square.
Conversely, turn left (south) from the Electric Town Exit, and you will find yourself in concrete canyons like these. Due to the dearth of floor space, many shops are spread out among multiple floors, connected by stairs, elevators, and/or escalators. The Yamada Denki store, the building on the left with its recessed glass tunnels, is such an example of this practise. The important thing to be aware of in these multi-storeyed stores is that there are checkout counters on each floor, and you must pay for goods picked up on that floor before moving to a different one.
You may also have noticed a big block of scaffolding in the above picture. That would be Radio Kaikan (ラジオ会館,
Rajio Kaikan), a megastore which was undergoing renovation during my 2014 visit. The original 8-storey building, hosting many electronic-part stores, was the first skyscraper in Akihabara when it opened in 1962. However, concerns about its structural safety led to it being torn down in 2011 and replaced with a new building, which finally opened on 20 July 2014, just too late for me to catch it at the time.
This is what the old Radio Kaikan looked like...
...And this is what it looks like post-reconstruction. It now stands 10 floors and 46.5 metres (152.5 feet) above ground. The shops in its new incarnation are more otaku-focused, but its iconic neon signboard and rainbow window-banners were faithfully re-created.
Chuo-dori is the main thouroughfare around which Akiba is centred. One brand you'll see a lot of along Chuo-dori is the electronics retailer Sofmap (ソフマップ,
Sofumappu), which has nine branches of varying specialties in Akiba alone. Many stores in the area, including Sofmap, will offer sales-tax rebates for shoppers coming in from overseas. Just make sure what you're buying is compatible with the electricity and region-control systems of your home country! International products may also be available.
A walk down Chuo-dori represents many of the goods and services that Akihabara has to offer. In this road alone, there are stores selling personal computers, computer components, cell phones, cameras, video games, anime DVDs and Blu-rays, manga books, cosplay outfits, and other anime merchandise, as well as video arcades, maid cafes, and other restaurants. Akiba is also a hub for selling
dojinshi (同人誌,
Dōjinshi, lit. 'same-person document'), fan-made comics and software; the two towers of Comic Toranoana (コミックとらのあな,
Komikku Toranoana), seen above, are a popular place to buy them. Although, some of... well, okay, most of the stuff is more adult-oriented, so you should stay away from certain floors, or even entire stores, if you're under 18.
Situated a block down Chuo-dori, Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ,
Don Kihōte) is a branch of a department store chain. They have stores in all but two of Japan's prefectures (sorry, Tokushima and Kochi), plus Singapore, Hawaii, and California. On its upper floors, this particular location also hosts a maid cafe (on the 5th floor), an arcade (6th-7th floors), and a theatre (8th floor) where the pop-idol band
AKB48 play frequent shows. As their name may suggest, AKB48 is made up of a rotating cast of over 48 members, only 6-8 of whom sing on any given song. They formed in 2005 and have maintained strong popularity to this very day. (I certainly didn't expect them to outlast One Direction, I'll tell you that!) Their fame is such that they have inspired various copycat bands elsewhere in Japan and other Asian countries.
Just because Chuo-dori has the most traffic passing through, that doesn't mean there aren't more places to explore. The blocks to the west of Chuo-dori are more tightly packed, but offer many pleasant surprises. For example,
Super Potato is situated among these western blocks. Conversely, for those needing a break from all this technology and fandom,
Kanda Shrine is just a few minutes further to the west.
Also located west of Chuo-dori, the big black building is the Akihabara branch of Mandarake (まんだらけ), the self-described "largest manga and anime shop in the world". Superlative or not, Mandarake specialises in second-hand goods. They may not always be cheap, but are of generally good quality. If you want to see what I mean, my article on the used video game store Super Potato (linked above) should give you an idea. And if you need more Mandarake, they have many other outlets in Japan, most of them across town in
Nakano.
There's even more to see if we turn back and head south and east, under the train tracks. You'll see more small electronics stores,
izakaya pubs, and pachinko/slot parlours down this way. You know, there's something charming about seeing old-style neon signs like these.
Cross on over to the east side of the station, and you will find yourself at the Akihabara branch of the Yodobashi Camera (ヨドバシカメラ,
Yodobashi Kamera) department store. In addition to the usual array of electronic products, this 9-story building includes a restaurant floor near the top, which is common practise for department stores in Japan, and a driving range for golfers on the top floor, which is... not so common.
Finally, taking it all back to UDX Plaza. This was the scene from my other trip, when the sun finally peeked its way out, and all the people along with it. Little did I know that this was during japan's spring school holidays, so crowds like this would set the tone for much of that trip. Fortunately, this was less so when I came back a couple of years later in November, which we will continue on with next time!
Access: The Akihabara district is best accessed by, naturally, Akihabara Station (JR Yamanote
(JY), Keihin-Tohoku
(JK), Chuo-Sobu
(JB), Tokyo Metro Hibiya
(H), and Tsukuba Express
(TX) lines). Alternatively, Suehirocho (Tokyo Metro Ginza
(G) line) and Iwamotocho (Toei Shinjuku
(S) line) stations are 5 minutes away on foot.
From Tokyo Station, take the Yamanote or Keihin-Tohoku line to Akihabara (JY03/JK28, 4 minutes, ¥160). From Shinjuku Station, take the Chuo-Sobu (Local) line (JB19, 20 minutes, ¥170); if you want to save a few minutes, take the Chuo (Rapid) line instead to Ochanomizu (JC03, 10 minutes, ¥170), then transfer to a local train to Akihabara (2 minutes).
Akihabara Radio Kaikan
Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM; hours may vary by store. No regular closing days.
Address: 1-15-16 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0032
Directions: From Akihabara Station, turn left out of the Electric Town Exit ticket gates, and then turn right. Radio Kaikan will be on the left side, before you reach Chuo-dori.
Website:
(Japanese)
Don Quijote Akihabara
Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 AM the next morning. No regular closing days.
Address: 4-3-3 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0021
Directions: From Akihabara Station, turn right out of the Electric Town Exit ticket gates, then left, and then right onto Chuo-dori. Don Quijote will be two blocks down on the right side.
Website:
(English) (Japanese)
Mandarake Complex
Hours: Open from 12:00 AM to 8:00 PM. No regular closing days.
Address: 3-11-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0021
Directions: From Akihabara Station, turn right out of the Electric Town Exit ticket gates, then left. Cross Chuo-dori and turn right. At the next traffic light, cross the road, turn left, then take the next right. Mandarake will be on the right at the next intersection.
Website:
(English/Japanese)
Yodobashi Multimedia Akiba
Hours: Open from 9:30 AM to 10:00 PM. No regular closing days.
Address: 1-1 Kanda Hanaoka-chō, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0028
Directions: From Akihabara Station, turn right out of the Central Exit ticket gates. Yodobashi Camera will be on the right side of the plaza immediately outside of the exit.
Website:
(Japanese)
