Crashing Japan

Akihabara Shopping Guide

Akihabara Shopping Guide

Akihabara, or Akiba, as the locals call it, is nerd paradise. Nowhere else in the world can you find such gargantuan stores filled top to bottom with all the gadgetry, cables, anime, manga, and video games you could ever hope to buy.

For every item on your wish list, there're quite a few places you could go. When visiting Akiba, it's best to walk around, not just on the major roads, but also all the smaller roads and even the alleyways. There's a bazillion different stores, some of which are very focussed, others that are more generalized. Here's some of the staples::

Computers/cell phones/video games/gadgets/everything that uses some kind of AC or battery power

Yodobashi Akiba
This several story tall behemoth is home to one of the biggest electronics stores you'll ever lay eyes on. Inside this jungle is rows and rows of everything you could possibly want, be it computer-related, video-game related, or just about anything with a power button (and most things that don't). From washers and dryers to every kind of conversion cable ever manufactured, this place is has it all.

Sofmap
Computers? Bishoujo games? Used parts? Sofmap is the place to go. Located in the same Holy Grail of shops as Animate and Tora no Ana, this multi-level building is chock full o' shiny stuff.

Capsule Figures

Gachapon
Walls upon walls upon walls of capsule figures. Walls. Walls This place has figures ranging from Eva to weird San-X stuff to keychains with old naked men on them.

Cool t-shirts

Cospa
Go up one floor from the gachapon place, and you'll be at Cospa, where you can select from the newest body pillows and mountains of anime-related shirts. You can even find some cosplay outfits there, and plenty of accessories, like patches and necklaces.

Manga/Doujinshi

Tora no Ana
Recognizable by its cute mascot, this place has every manga title you're looking for. If it's doujinshi you want, you can browse over three floors full of this stuff.

Anime/Character Goods

Animate
Located next to Tora no Ana, this place has everything from DVDs to manga to every quirky character good you can imagine. The line for the elevator is usually pretty long, so get ready to jog up some long flights of stairs.

Gamers!
DVDs, bishoujo games, figures… Gamers!, notable for the Di Gi Charat images plastered all over its exterior walls, has enough merchandise to make an otaku happy for hours.

K Books
Great for CDs, DVDs, manga, toys, and model kits.

Kotobukiya
If you're a serious figure collector, make sure to check out Kotobukiya, which has a huge selection of all the newest stuff.

Super-Potato
Looking to buy an old 8-Bit game, or a cutting edge 16-bit gaming machine (sarcasm)? Super Potato has everything from Famicom Disk System, through R.O.B., the Nintendo Family Robot, to the Game Boy.