Arcades
Several floors high.
Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan — CC BY 2.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0 · Stephen Kelly from San Francisco, CA, USA — CC BY 2.0 · Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan — CC BY 2.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bject — CC BY-SA 4.0
A district around Akihabara Station in Chiyoda, nicknamed «Electric Town» since shortly after the Second World War, when it became a big market for household electronics. Its name comes from Akiba, the fire-controlling deity of a shrine built after a fire destroyed the area in 1869. Today it is the centre of Japan's anime, manga and video-game culture: huge images of cartoon characters cover the shopfronts, and the streets are full of shops for games, figures, electronics, computers and parts, plus multi-storey arcades. You can find everything here, from cameras and the latest electronics to retro video games and little capsule-toy machines. The shopfronts light up loudly at night, and the district is at its best in the evening. Walking around is free, and the main street is closed to cars on some weekends, per visitor guides. Many stores offer tax-free shopping for tourists with a passport; compare prices between shops before buying.
Several floors high.
New and retro.
Loud shopfronts.
Around Akihabara Station, Chiyoda ward
Yes, many stores offer tax-free shopping for tourists with a passport; it pays to compare prices between shops first.
