Today we have a gander at photos taken out n about Akihabara the other day. From reading the History of Akihabara, you know how the area became filled with electronic stores and moesome shops n restaurants.
Whenever there is a gathering of so much shops of the same genre, much competition occurs and on any consecutive visit, one will notice old stores being replaced with new ones.
On each and every visit to Akihabara, I discover new gems - and old gems being buried for good as they close down.
If you are looking for second hand electronics then Akiba has loads - some boxed and others just laid open on the table like this. Some places do trade ins too so if you got something you want to get rid of then bring it along - you may as well trade it in to get something cheaper.
Akihabara has a load of gadgets nearly (nearly) everything you can think of. Here we got some pens with built in camera's and devices to detect eavesdropping devices.
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Ikamusume Gacha. Shes such a cutie!
A load of Tohou games - how many of you are playing/have played?
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Bad Apple below - a must watch.
When walking about Akihabara, make sure you look upwards as most buildings have shops on each floor. Many gems hidden in there.
The eroge shops are filled with gorgeous 2D girlies.
Yaoi goodies on the 3rd floor here.
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Taiyo no Puromia delayed until May 2011.
A load of cuties in the Skyfish title Soukyuu no soleil.
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More cuties in Marguerite Sphere due out next month.
You may have noticed from these eroge trailers that most of them are just a bunch of illustrations spinning around and flying about with the occasional facial blinks and smiles. If you are have made similar videos in the form of MADs then I would be very interested in seeing some of your work - just paste links in the comments ^o^
The recently released Artemis Blue - you've guessed it - filled with cuties.
These eroge shops can be found marked in the map below.
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Load of cheap K-ON! stuff. Mio's oppai up for grabs for 980 yen each. Erm, I meant "Mio's Oppai Mousepad up for grabs."
The new word for "second hand PC's" is "Refreshed PC's."
Gundam Musou 3. I got Gundam Musou 1 which I only played a few rounds of. Slashing through the hordes of Zak started to make my brain go a wee bit numb ^^;
Wall O eroge. At a glace, which are starting to tickle your fancy?
The Don Quixote building where AKB48 made it big. The black building is Tsukumo which specialize in a load of PC parts and accessories.
You'll pretty much need to explore both sides of Chuo Doori - the main road that runs through Akihabara. Sofmap has a few stores in Akihabara which cover electronics, software and anime media depending on the store.
Lammtarra is an ecchi shop where you can find health related DVD's and games. Its disguised as an anime/idol DVD store on the outside so that you don't feel embarrassed by walking in.
Toranoana sells a load of 2D girlie mags/doujinshi and a load of health material. They've got figures too and doujin goods/music too.
The Taito Game station has a load of UFO Catcher goodies where you should be able to get your grubby mitts on the exclusive K-ON/Nanoha stuff.
Animate have a ton of anime merchandise and figures - a ton! You can see more inside the Animate store in the Christmas in Akihabara post.
All of these shops can be seen in this photo and can be found at the location below. I've also annotated the photo too - mouseover to see em.
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The yellow building is Orecon and sells PC parts.
The building on the corner to the left of the photo is Sofmap which sells a load of electronic stuff and figures too. Tis located at the main crossing in Akihabara.
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Gacha are dotted all over Akihabara - cant miss em.
Photo taken from the UDX Building. I was attending a trade event which was why I was up here but it looks like pretty much anybody can walk in and head up to the higher floors to take photos.
If you want to give it a whirl then I suggest that you walk in to the conference area and then head to the elevators. Ensure that you look like you know where you are going - as opposed to looking like you are lost with shifty eyes and sweaty armpits. If anybody asks what you are doing there then just say you are there to meet Mr Tanaka on the 23rd floor. Although I'm not sure if they do have a 23rd floor though ^^;
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Snapped from one of the pedestrian bridges. Over to the left of the photo you can see Yodobashi Akiba and in the middle of the photo you can see the Gundam Cafe where Gundam waitresses will serve you.
Heading back to Akihabara station which has been completely renewed. The glass building on the right of the photo has restaurants on each floor. Not expensive either.
This is the Chuo exit.
And this is the Denkigai or "Electric Town" exit. Huge Vanguard poster up there.
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Still at the Denkigai exit looking the other way. Usually see maids out n about around here but none today.
When you get off at Akihabara station, get out of the Denkigai exit and walk towards the main Chuo Dori road - this is the view that you will see.
The building on the left with the yellow sign is the Radio Kaikan which you should most certainly stop off at.
The Radio Kaikan is filled with a load of small shops which you will probably need a few hours to get through. They got dakimakuras, moesome bedsheets, merchandise, figures, dolls, doujinshi, books, cds, gadgets and more.
The Volks store is on one of the upper floors at the Radio Kaikan. This place has the potential to take out your wallet in a single shot as they from time to time have Dolfie Dreams for sale - not all the time though due to their popularity.
And this is what you will see as you hit Chuo Dori. Most of what you want is towards the right of this photo.
For folks who have been to Akihabara, what is your typical route like and what stores do you check out? If there was only one place in Akihabara that you would recommend where would it be?
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Gamers is another dangerous place. Don't forget to set some money aside for food before you forget and end up spending all your money. Nothing worse than buying a load of figures, mags, trading cards, gundams and eroge and then dying of hunger - only to have others take stuff away from your dead body before them wiping poo from their shoe in your face.
The place on the corner with the "24" is Fujisoba - I guess it can be called Japanese fast food. What you get is traditional food like Soba or Udon and very competitive prices - something like 400 yen for a bowl of soba and toppings.
Game maker Renga-Sha shows off a cutie from one of their game titles.
Just tagged a load of Akihabara related posts which include more coverage of shops and wot not in the Akihabara area below.
Akihabara is just one of the recommended places to visit in Japan with more below.
And this was taken during the early years when I first started to visit Japan - this particular photo snapped in 1995. More photos of Akihabara through the times since 1925 in the History of Akihabara post.
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