The sights
Akihabara Electric Town
The area outside the station’s Electric Town exit, where the district began: Radio Kaikan’s ten floors of hobby shops, tiny stalls under the tracks selling cables, components and tools, and big electronics retailers with tax-free counters.
ℹ️ Shops open about 10:00–20:00. Free. Allow 1 hour.
Chuo-dori anime, game & arcade shops
The main avenue is lined with multi-storey stores for figures, manga, trading cards and games, alongside arcades stacked with crane machines and rhythm games. Retro specialists in the side streets sell consoles and cartridges from the 1980s onwards.
ℹ️ Most stores open 11:00–20:00 or 21:00. Chuo-dori is closed to traffic on Sunday afternoons. Allow 1.5–2 hours.
Akihabara after dark
When the signs light up, the stretch between the station and Suehirocho is one of Tokyo’s great neon streetscapes. Arcades stay open late even after most shops have closed.
ℹ️ Best from dusk to about 21:00. Free. Allow 30 minutes.
Kanda Myojin
A shrine with nearly 1,300 years of history, moved to this hilltop in the early Edo period and protector of the surrounding merchant districts. Today its vermilion halls draw both businesspeople and anime fans, and it sells charms for the safety of electronic devices.
ℹ️ Grounds open at all hours; free. Seven minutes’ walk uphill from Akihabara Station. Allow 30 minutes.
Maid cafés
Cafés where staff in maid costume serve decorated food and perform short songs — a piece of role-play that began here in the early 2000s. Reputable ones are family-friendly and post their prices.
ℹ️ Expect a cover charge per hour plus an order of food or drink. Do not photograph staff unless you buy a photo. Choose a café yourself rather than following a street tout.
Jimbocho book town & Kanda backstreets
A 15–20 minute walk west: about 130 secondhand and antiquarian bookshops along Yasukuni-dori, with prints and old maps among the finds, and a cluster of famous curry restaurants. On the way, the red-brick mAAch ecute arcade occupies an old railway viaduct by the river.
ℹ️ Bookshops open roughly 10:30–18:30; many close on Sundays. Free to browse. Allow 1.5 hours.
