Akihabara otaku guide: shops, by floor, tax-free & how to get there

Why Akihabara

Akihabara ("Akiba") is Tokyo's otaku capital — a few dense blocks where anime goods, figures, retro games, trading cards, gachapon, maid cafés and idol stages stack vertically into multi-floor buildings. You can spend a full day here without walking more than ten minutes in any direction.

Getting there

Take the JR Yamanote, Keihin-Tohoku or Sobu line to Akihabara Station and leave by the Electric Town (Denkigai) Exit — almost everything below is within a short walk. The Tokyo Metro Hibiya line (Akihabara) and Ginza line (Suehirocho, for the northern end) also work.

The landmark shops

• Akihabara Radio Kaikan — ten floors of figures, cards and goods right at the station; a one-stop tower.
• Mandarake Complex — eight themed floors of secondhand treasure; tax-free + overseas shipping.
• Super Potato — the famous retro-game store, with a 5F retro arcade.
• animate Akihabara & Kotobukiya — new character goods, plus VTuber official shops at Kotobukiya.
• Yodobashi Akiba — a giant electronics store with a big hobby floor, ideal as a first or last stop.

Cards, gachapon, maids & idols

Card players have Hareruya (Magic), Hareruya2 (Pokémon) and multi-game shops like BIG MAGIC and Card Rush — see our TCG tournament guide. For capsule toys, Gachapon Kaikan has ~500 machines (cash only). First maid café? Read the etiquette guide. To see idols, start with the Akihabara idol guide.

Practical tips

• Tax-free: major shops offer duty-free for foreign passports — carry your passport. See the tax-free guide.
• Cash: cards and IC are common, but some smaller shops and gachapon are cash-only. Carry yen.
• Hours: most shops open late morning (10:00–11:00) and close 20:00–22:00. Maid cafés and arcades run later.