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All Japan Tokyo Akihabara Electric Town

Akihabara Electric Town

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.

Tokyo, Japan

Added By
Sebastián Wortys
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CAPTION
Personal gadgets for sale in Akihabara around 2008.   Butch
Shops right outside Akihabara Station.   Kichiverde
An electronics stall in Akihabara.   Benutzer:Ldeluow
Anime girls on an advertisement in Akihabara.   pittaya
Anime figures for sale in Akihabara.   Ronny Siegel
A sign advertises Dragon Ball Z hair wax to make your hair stand up like Goku’s.   Guilhelm Vellut
A band plays on the street in Akihabara.   *pb*
Akihabara Electric Town, anime  
Akihabara Electric Town, stall  
Akihabara City Scape   ceritawira / Atlas Obscura User
Akihabara   Jaszmina Szendrey / Atlas Obscura User
  AFJAGExplores / Atlas Obscura User
  Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
  Jason Rost / Atlas Obscura User
Akihabara Buildings   Scribbling Geek / Atlas Obscura User
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
Akihabara Crosswalk 02.28.2003   Raven Traveler / Atlas Obscura User
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
LABI Akihabara 10.10.2012   Raven Traveler / Atlas Obscura User
Akihabara 10.10.2012   Raven Traveler / Atlas Obscura User
T-shirts for sale on the street in Akihabara.   Steven-L-Johnson
Head to Super Potato for all your video game needs.   IQRemix
Akihabara less than 100 years ago.   秋葉原ラジオセンター
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About

Originally a gateway used mainly by merchants to enter into Tokyo proper, the neighborhood of Akihabara was born out of a devastating fire in 1869. After the disaster locals began reconstruction with a shrine to a fire protection deity, Akiba. As Tokyo expanded the neighborhood developed, and took the name of the shrine that protected it.

Following World War II, as Japan became more future-focused, Akihabara became known as the place to buy electronic goods of all kinds: radios, television sets, household appliances, many of them sold illegally. Tokyoites knew to head to "Akihabara Electric Town" for all the latest contraptions on the market.

Naturally, when home computers entered the global marketplace, Akihabara was the place to buy them. In the 1980s, paso-kons, personal computers, were a niche hobby. The evolution of the internet over the decades to come meant that otakus (the obsessive fans that have unified into a proud subculture) could create and share at an ever-increasing rate. The neighborhood's wares changed to suit this cultural explosion. Though Akihabara is still the place to go for computers, cell phones, cameras, video games, and other electronic goods, the visual landscape has been dominated by anime and manga aesthetic.

In recent years Akihabara Electric Town has only become more of a consumer's paradise. On Sundays the central Chuo-dori street is blocked off to vehicles. Shoppers flood the streets, crowding into big department stores like Mandarake and Don Quijote as well as tiny independent stalls. In particular, it has become a popular place for teenagers to congregate, especially those visiting from outside Tokyo. Cute, colorful wares are for sale, and cosplayers are everywhere. The popular girl band AKB48, which takes its name from the neighborhood, even runs a restaurant in Akihabara.

Akihabara isn't totally overrun by capitalism though: unsigned, independent artists find the neighborhood useful for hawking their CDs, comic books, and novels to eager buyers on the sidewalk.

Related Tags

World War Ii Electricity Cartoons Internet Computers Shops Culture Neon Signs Military

Know Before You Go

The address listed is for the Akihabara train station. The neighborhood extends between Kuramaebashi-dori Avenue and the Kanda River from north to south, and between Shohei-Bashi-dori Avenue and the Metropolitan Expressway from east to west.

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Community Contributors

Added By

Sebastian Wortys

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson, msr215, Jaszmina Szendrey, Raven Traveler...

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • msr215
  • Jaszmina Szendrey
  • Raven Traveler
  • ceritawira
  • Jason Rost
  • missingfilm
  • AFJAGExplores
  • Scribbling Geek

Published

April 5, 2017

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara
  • http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3003.html
  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gail-nakada/tokyo-akihabara-must-see-_b_3863989.html
  • https://www.2foodtrippers.com/akihabara-and-otaku-culture-colorful-and-crazy/
Akihabara Electric Town
1 Chome Sotokanda
Tokyo
Japan
35.698886, 139.769875
Get Directions

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