I spent a majority of my day Sunday exploring the side
streets of Akihabara. While many tourists most likely walk along the main
thoroughfare and browse the shops nearest Akihabara Station, I knew that the
entire area was worth some detailed viewing.
That’s not to say the main drag is not a good indication of
what’s found in the alleys and narrow paths between the buildings. The
entrances to several pachinko and other amusement centers can be found, as well
as a few large electronics stores. Walking from Akihabara Station to Suehirocho
Station along the busy sidewalks allows the brief visitor time to see several
anime shops and even the Japanese version of an adult novelty shop. There are a
few restaurants and many of the most popular shops will be found there. The
best bargains of all the large appliance stores seemed to be at SofMap, though
I didn’t price many things and I know some of the stores excelled in their
selection and/or prices of certain items. One of the “Duty Free” locations across
the main street from the station had the best prices on pants presses, with one
model being only about 5000 yen (the equivalent of $50USD).
But walking on the back streets of Akihabara allows you to
see the area as the Japanese do. This is where many of the maids stand,
enticing passersby to visit their maid café. One wanted to lead me there to
ensure I made it; I had to tell her (thanks to my translating app) that I would
visit later. I will go into maid cafes later, so please don’t think I’m dodging
the subject – it’s just something I want to put together in a full post.
I found many electronics, anime, and toy stores in the
alleys, many of which had some specialty. Some stores had really low prices on
computer equipment, while others focused on home gadgets. Some anime stores had
figurines, while others were exclusively bookstores. Japanese toys are more
than just amusements for children, as several stores had capsule machines
carrying figurines of popular comic characters, scantily-clad women, or even
different types of trucks. A few had stickers or trading cards. Collectible
Card Gaming seems to be quite popular in the area as well, as a couple stores
had large inventories of cards for role-playing games.
While Akihabara definitely caters to the “geeks” of Japan,
it’s an amazing place to wander around and there are several stores hidden in
the alleys and up the stairs of the buildings. I am not finished exploring
Akihabara by any means, and I will be looking deeper into several of the places
I talked about above. If you’re interested in anything specific about Akihabara, please leave a comment below so I can be
sure to address it sooner! And don’t worry; the maid café experience will come
soon.
Akihabara's widely much known for being a town for Japanese geeks ("otakus"), though they do have some interesting things like ramen in a can (complete with noodles). Akihabara's also home to AKB48 (one of the biggest idol groups in Japan), and chances are you'll see them around one day (AKB stands for AkiHaBara).
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