So if you are staying at the youth hostel I recommended on my Japan tips page, you will want to get to Akihabara without too much hassle. Luckily there is a way, and you don't need to change trains.
Catch the Ginza line from Asakusa and get off of the 5th stop, Suehiro-chou. From there you can just walk over to the main area. Hassle free and cost efficient.
What to do in Akihabara
Akihabara for me is a strange place. I like it, but for some reason I can't feel confident in liking it. It almost feels... dirty to like it. I dunno, is it that you don't have to hide your inner geek anymore in an entire city? Is it that everyone around you are letting out their inner geek almost to the point they act like children? I dunno, it's just a strange gut feeling, maybe it's just me...
Anyway, this is the place where dreams are made of, or where dreams are made from, or where dreams were made into...
Basically you can probably find something that will tickle your fancy. This includes everybody, and I mean it when I say everybody. There's almost too much to say about this magical place. Any anime or manga or porn that you have ever liked, you most definitely will find memorabilia for it in Akihabara. So there's not much point in me telling you what you could do here, you can probably imagine that yourselves.
So what I am going to do instead, is tell you what I do in Akihabara.
I check out Yodobashi Camera, one of my favourite stops. I like to look at all the wonderful electrical gizmos they have around, lots of computer peripherals and accessories, camera stuff, washing machines, driers, dish washing machines, fans, light bulbs etc.
But there are two main reasons I step foot into this giant store, 1 - to sit in a massage chair for a little demo and 2 - to see the gatcha-gatcha section (it's huge).
For those who don't know what a gatcha-gatcha is, it's basically like a gumball machine, but with collectable toys. There are so many different toys to choose from in the Yodobashi building, it's exciting.
The great thing about Yodobashi being in Akihabara is that if you really want to finish the collection of a particular series of gatcha-gatcha toys and keep getting the same one, you can go and sell the ones you don't want at a second hand collector store down the road. They will pay generally half what you paid for the toy, but half the fun of gatcha-gatcha is twisting the knob anyway! So you get your money back.
What else I like to do is visit the game centres. Being an electric town and your hub for all things geeky you can expect the game centres to be up to date and functional. I like to take a look at what prizes are on offer in the UFO catcher machines (tips on UFO Catchers).
These game centres do have retro games on some of the floors, and if that's your fancy then go check them out.
Speaking of retro games, there was a store in Akihabara completely dedicated to second hand games. They were really stocked, almost all consoles you've ever heard of, they had games for. My friend and I were in there for quite some time.
Akihabara does have a lot more to offer than it first may seem. Everyone's heard of maid cafes, but if you waltz along the main street of Akihabara, you won't be able to find one. That's because all the maid cafes and all the niche stores are in the little side streets. You really have to explore the place in-depth to get a real feel for what Akihabara has to offer.
This brings me to the last place I like to go to. It's sort of secluded, but sort of in your face. I'm talking about the serious business looking building close to the JR Akihabara station on the opposite side to Yodobashi Camera. Akihabara is pretty busy with all the shoppers, otaku, maids and tourists, but if you step into the building and go up to the 5th or 6th floor (I don't remember the exact floor) you will think you're somewhere else.
That's probably because there are no stores to look at, but there is one small Starbucks with a few tables. It's really quiet and a really nice little getaway from the busy-ness of the streets down below. If you need a break, try going there, that's if Starbucks is still around...
So that's about all the ranting I want to do about Akihabara. If it was rather distasteful then you have my sincere apologies.
Any comments or questions please leave below :)
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