While the tourism industry has certainly changed the place, Akihabara nevertheless continues to live up to its reputation as a place for anime culture to flourish and thrive. Add these shops to your must see list next time you are in Tokyo.
An obvious choice, Tokyo Anime Center was established for the sole purpose of bringing anime and its fans together. It is mainly used as a venue for anime related events, but their permanent shop also carries a selection of goods from the more popular series.
Animate is a popular one stop shop for anime and manga fanatics. They have floors stocking music, books, merchandise, DVDs and more. Be warned that Animate mainly carries whatever is fresh and popular, and isn’t known for carrying goods from classic series.
Radio Kaikan is nine floors of individual vendors and shops, all carrying goods relating to gaming, electronics, manga, anime and more. This includes collectable figurines, a popular souvenir for visitors to Tokyo’s Electric Town.
Akihabara’s Gachapon Kaikan is quite possibly the largest concentration of gachapon, the plastic bubble and toy vending machines, in Tokyo. If you’re running low on cash but don’t want to leave empty handed, Gachapon Kaikan will be happy to help you out.
Liberty specializes in collectible figures, and this location (#8) carries their biggest selection of gaming and anime models. If you’re looking to swell your collection of anime related merchandise besides Blu-rays and DVDs, this is the place you should head to.
Akihabara’s enormous Mandarake building is sure to have what you need. With floors dedicated to everything a digital otaku could want, from games and anime to manga and doujinshi, Mandarake is one of the pillars of otaku culture in Akihabara.
Another multi-level shopping complex, Akihabara Cultures Zone is one of the district’s newer additions. It’s filled with small shops selling everything from anime figurines to card games. One of Animate’s smaller locations, carrying the latest anime goods, occupies the first floor.
