On Walkabout In: Tokyo’s Akihabara District

Basic Information

• What: Akihabara District
• Where: Tokyo, Japan
• More Info: Akihabara official webpage

Narrative

One of the first things that comes to mind when people think of modern Japan is electronics, video games, and manga.  Considering how all three of these products are so popular Tokyo actually has an entire neighborhood dedicated to the sale of electronics, video games, and manga.  The neighborhood is called the Akihabara Electric Town:

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Being a fan of all three products I made sure to make a stop in Akihabara when visiting Tokyo.  As soon as I got off the train I found myself surrounded with huge signs promoting all the various electronics and game manufacturers in Japan:

I even went by a multi-story building that was dedicated to everything Sega:

Literally the entire building was filled with arcade games made by Sega.  This place is basically Nirvana for people who love Sega games.  Stores promoting various game manufacturers in Japan could be found all over Akihabara and what amazed me the most was how packed they were with customers.  The Japanese definitely love their arcade games.

Besides the arcade games DVD’s in particular manga DVDs could be seen for sale all over the place:

Speaking of manga there was literally multi-story buildings filled with manga just like there was multi-story buildings filled with video games:

You can even buy very provocatively dressed dolls of famous manga characters at various shops throughout Akihabara which is popular hobby with some manga fans:

If all of this does give people their manga fix there are people dressed as manga characters as well as performances going on all around Akihabara promoting various manga characters:

Conclusion

Akihabara is definitely not for everyone and even though I am a fan of electronics, games, and manga the scale of Akihabara is just incredible.  I just found it amazing how many true fans of these hobbies there are in Japan because the place was absolutely packed.  However, the prices I saw here I thought were actually a bit expensive compared to the Yongsan Electronics Market in Seoul, South Korea.  So I actually didn’t even buy anything when I visited because I knew I could find the same thing in Korea for a cheaper price.  For people looking for a must have game or manga this is the place to find it because they have absolutely everything here and then some.