Japan in Motion---Pro-web casting from across Japan.

Akihabara

Electric Town

Akihabara, world famous as one of the most concentrated shopping areas in the world for electronics goods of every possible type and description, has taken on a second role in the last 15 years as the center of Japan’s increasingly influential otaku, or geek culture. For both of these reasons, it can be a fascinating part of any trip to Tokyo, especially for travelers whose own interests include electronics or Japanese pop culture. First, the electronics. After the war, the area at the heart of modern Akihabara was a bustling black market. Students from nearby colleges, including Japan’s first electrical vocational school, swarmed the market buying vacuum tubes, wiring and other goods that they would transform into radios and other goods. Today, the best taste of the chaos of that early black market can be had in the warren of tiny shops located beneath the tracks of Akihabara station.

As the economy improved, the focus shifted away from raw components (though of course these were, and still are, available in abundance) to durable household goods such as rice cookers, refrigerators and televisions. The area became famous worldwide, and tax-free shops for foreigners began to appear, along with shops specializing in equipment that, while made in Japan, was modified to handle the electrical systems of other countries.In the 1990’s, huge electronics chain outlets started to drastically reduce Akihabara’s sales of durable goods. It would have been a disaster for the area, but fortunately the arrival of the electronics superstores coincided with the explosive rise of the personal computer. Increasingly, small shops found themselves better able to serve specialized customer needs for computer-related goods. This was especially true for the growing number of young men who were interested in building or modifying their own computers. Akihabara made a successful and largely seamless transition to a new focus on computer goods and videogames.

akihabara1

And this is where the geeks come into the story of Akihabara. As otaku poured into Akihabara to buy the latest games, or to pick up supplies to enhance or build their own computer systems, the neighborhood responded with a growing number of other businesses geared to the newcomers. Manga and anime shops, game stores, and costume cafes in which the waitresses dress as characters from Japanese comics have all boomed in Akihabara.

It’s an odd subculture in many ways, as can be seen in stores selling robot figurines for tens of thousands of yen, or life size pillows shaped like female anime characters. Many Japanese are uncomfortable with otaku culture, which is one reason Akihabara has increasingly taken on the feel of a geek ghetto, but there’s no doubt that anime and manga have been Japan’s most successful cultural export, with huge conventions of foreign otaku gathering across Europe and North America to celebrate the culture. And as young Japanese themselves become more interested, the popularity of Akihabara as a cultural center, rather than simply a specialty market, continues to explode.

●Yodobashi Camera,Akiba
>>Access
1-1 Hanaoka-cho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

5 minutes walk from JR Akihabara station

>>Open Hours
9:30 - 22:00

>>Holiday
None

●GEESTORE AKIBA
>>Access
MN Building 3-15-5 Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

7 minutes walk from JR Akihabara station

>>Open Hours
Weekday: 11:00 - 20:00
Sunday and National holidays: 11:00 - 19:00

>>Holiday
None

●Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby
>>Access
Radio Kaikan 4F, 1-15-16, Sotokanda, Tokyo

30 seconds walk from Denkigai Exit of JR Akihabara Station

>>Open Hours
11:00 - 20:00

>>Holiday
Wednesdays

>>Map
Akihabara area map>>Click here to view.
Central Tokyo & JR Yamanote line map>>Click here to view.

-Matt Mangham