Akihabara Electric Town – Tokyo Turned Up

Today we visited Akihabara Electric Town, known as Akiba by the locals. This is Tokyo’s hotspot for Otaku culture. Otaku culture is the vibrant world of passionate fandom rooted in Japanese pop media—think anime, manga, video games, cosplay, and beyond. It is a sensory overload of neon signs, multi-level stores, arcades, and themed shops. As we started walking through we felt what we expected to feel in the most populated city in the world – a little claustrophobic.

Vending Machine Wonderland

We heard a lot about the vending machines prior to coming to Japan. They are on almost every street corner in our neighborhood. However, they are only of the beverage variety. In Akiba there were vending machines with every toy you can imagine. The kids had fun picking one out!

Claw Machines Galore

There were levels and levels of grabber games! Similar to those we’ve tried in the states, it seems rare to win anything. We still had fun trying and looking at all the random things they had!

Geeking out on Gaming

Dave and Braxton enjoyed looking at all the gaming stuff while Alexis and I enjoyed the souvenir shops.

Braxton found a basement arcade game he wanted to play. Dave used Google translate to figure out a few things and then we all stood around patiently while he continued to win.

Skip the Crowds, Savor the Crepes

The multi-level stores were a cool experience, but extremely overwhelming. For a culture that values their personal space, they sure know how to pack a ton of stuff into one location. We didn’t spend much time in these stores.

We did however, stop at Smiley Crepes and enjoy these delicious treats Alexis had on her list of things to try. They did not disappoint!

Sidewalks Without Rules

We spent the rest of our time there walking around outside and taking in the scenery. This was not a place where we had to worry about which side of the street to walk on and if we were being too loud.

This was such a fun experience and something that is culturally unique to Japan. Although we all agreed that we don’t really understand this culture, it was entertaining nonetheless. We saw so many delicious places we wanted to eat, but after our crepes no one was hungry. We definitely plan to come back here again during our time in Tokyo.