Akihabara

After spending most of our morning and early afternoon at Sensoji Temple and the Skytree, we hopped back on the metro. This time we had our sights set on Akihabara, Tokyo’s electric and anime district.

I’d visited this area before, back when I toured Japan with some of my classmates in high school. It was impressive then, and it was impressive now. The streets are lined with technicolor buildings, many of which are filled with electronics shops selling computers, cameras, phones, TVs, etc.

In the last decade, Akihabara has also become the nucleus of Tokyo’s “otaku,” or anime culture. If you’re at all into manga, Akihabara is the place to be.

Akihabara is also known for its “Maid Cafes,” where servers literally dress as maids. We didn’t go inside one, but I kind of wish we did — if only cause the food on the menus was so adorably kawaii.

In addition to the electronics stores and anime shops, there are tons of spots with “gacha gacha” dispensers selling tiny toys and figurines.

And then, of course, there’s all the game stops. Goodbye time, goodbye money, hello Pikachu plushes!

We were so exhausted by the time we made our loop through Akihabara, so we didn’t stay longer than an hour or so. Next time we’ll be sure to stop in at a maid cafe, hopefully at night when all the buildings are lit in gorgeous neon.

xx,

K