Have you ever thought of a haven for gadgets, games and anime? Wonder no more because such a place exists. Conveniently nestled in the heart of Tokyo, Akihabara or Akiba as it is often called, is the place to be if you happen to be a techie, a gamer, a toy maniac or an anime fan. In short, it is the place for different otakus to meet and catch up. One can easily gain access to Akihabara as its station runs along the JR Yamanote, Keihin-Tohoku, and Chuo train lines. Also, Akihabara is just walking distance of the Ochanomizu and Ueno areas.

One of the main reasons for coming to Akiba is to shop for gadgets. Akiba does not disappoint, it’s not called Electric Town for nothing. In here you can find every gadget conceivable, both new and second hand, from PC parts to household appliances. As long as it exists, chances are there’s one for sale somewhere in Akiba and most of the time they are very reasonably priced.

Just walk along Chuo-dori and you are sure to see the numerous stores selling different gadgets. Along the many side streets of Chuo-dori are smaller streets with more electronics stores, though I highly advise those who don’t speak Japanese not to stray too far from the main street. Just remember that even though the prices are lower at these side street stores, chances are, the sellers do not speak English. Stick to larger shops like Ishimaru or Akky. A thing to look out for are used electronics stores, which sell used mp3 players, PDAs, laptops and other gadgets at very low prices. Take note that these appliances usually need a step-down transformer for use outside of Japan.

On Sunday afternoons, Chuo-dori (the Akiba main street) is closed off to traffic and the whole street becomes a flea market of sorts, with many street vendors hawking their wares on the side streets. There are also street performers, cosplayers, maid karaoke and local bands that play different types of music in Akiba on an excellent Sunday. The whole main street is transformed. A Sunday in the main street of Akiba is a great spot to take photographs, or just watch the various types of people as they come and go.

A popular attraction in Akihabara are maid cafes, which involves pretty girls dressed up in maid outfits (or in the case of butler cafes, pretty boys dressed in butler outfits) to wait on you and serve you drinks. One would usually see these maids handing out flyers or on some Sundays, doing karaoke along Chuo-dori. A difference of these maid cafes from other cafes is that the maids treat the customers as masters or mistresses rather than just customers. When a customer enters the cafe, the staff usually utter humble greetings like “Welcome home, Master”. In some maid cafes, a customer can usually ask their favored maid/maids to play games with them or take their pictures. In some maid cafes, the maids even have special performances on a little stage.

These are just some of the reasons to go to Akihabara because there are plenty more to explore. We’ll cover everyone’s favorite next time, anime and games. So come in and stay a while. Okaerinasaimase, goshujin-sama.

Posted in Japan, Things to do

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 11:57 am and is filed under Japan, Things to do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.