Akihabara is famous the world over as Japan’s capitol of anime and electronics. But is the popular tourist destination and local hangout losing its edge? There are indications that, as tourism booms and Japan’s otaku (geek) culture shifts and changes, the area is losing its allure.
The birth of Akihabara
Originally home to Tokyo’s “Electric Town” (電気街; denkigai), Akihabara – known affecitionately as Akiba – has long had a reputation as the center for electronics in Japan. The area sprung up in 1890 thanks to the foundation of Akihabara Station, from which it earns its name. At one point in the early 80s, 10% of Japan’s electronics demand was said to be satisfied by shops in Akihabara.
As times changed, it became known in the 80s and 90s as the go-to place for personal computing, computer parts, and eventually game consoles. This shift attracted people (geeks – and, as a geek myself, I use that term lovingly) who were also into anime, manga, and figure collecting.
In the early 2000s, the area changed again thanks to the bursting of the Dot-Com bubble. The bust took out a lot of electronics stores in the area. That paved the way for more stores centered on geek culture – anime and manga shops, figure stores, maid cafes, etc. – to take their place, further transforming the character of Akiba. As a result, the area slowly morphed into the center of otaku culture it is today.
How long has Akiba been declining?
Despite remaining a staple for geeks the world over, Akihabara’s taken numerous hits over the years. The largest was in June 2008, when Kato Tomohiro murdered seven strangers in a random dagger attack.
The area’s reputation for safety took a hit. For three years, from 2008 to 2011, Akiba canceled its regularly scheduled pedestrian zones, where it would close off roads to vehicular traffic for a limited time. Even after re-opening pedestrian zones, the area banned most street performances.
Lately, however, more people on Japanese social media are commenting on how Akihabara has changed – and not for the better. Some attribute the shift to the rise of smartphone games and social media platform gaming. That’s cut into the market for Bishojo games, or games centered on interacting with attractive girls. That, in turn, means less big release events for packaged software that attract hordes of visitors.
Another factor is the flight of some big-name stores within the otaku community. Tora no Ana, a store focused on fan-made manga and zines (同人誌; doujinshi), left its high-profile location in 2022. Tora no Ana — whose name is an aphorism meaning a place of extremely intense training — still operates in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro, which is growing in reputation as an otaku haven. (Animate, a large geek retailer, opened a new flagship store near Ikebukuro Station recently.)
It wasn’t the only symbolic store to close in the past few years either. Niku no Mansei, Yellow Submarine Scale Shop, and the Gundam Cafe all closed between 2022 and 2023.
On top of this, some blame Japan Railways for changing the feel of the neighborhood. They say that the development of a large, uniform-looking station area took away a lot of the area’s charm.
Goodbye, maid cafes?
Then there’s the kyaku-hiki (客引き) problem. Some stores in areas such as Akihabara, Kabukicho, and Roppongi are notorious for hiring people to hail down individual customers – in some cases, obstructing their path or even physically pulling them into a store.
The practice is illegal – stores can call out or hand pamphlets to numerous customers but can’t target individuals. But that doesn’t stop shops – especially those that love charging hidden “service fees” – from taking the risk.
The problem has grown worse as maid cafes dwindle and various other concept cafes take their place. One person says the atmosphere in Akiba in parts has “become even weirder than Kabukicho” as a result.
The bothersome practice is causing some otaku to give up on Akiba altogether and seek greener pastures – of which there are plenty. Man fans are more interested these days in visiting “holy sites” (聖地, seichi), the real-world locations in which a story is based. Various locations around the country are trying to take advantage of Japan’s tourism boom by catering to otaku – such as Shizuoka Prefecture’s Numazu (Love Live! Sunshine!!), Enoshima (Slam Dunk), and Shirakawago (Higurashi).
None of this is to say that Akihabara is “dying.” The area has already changed several times over the multiple decades of its existence. With the boom of e-commerce, online gaming, holy grounds across Japan, and a burgeoning idol culture spread out across Japan, it’s changing again as it loses its status as an otaku go-to spot.
The question is: What will it change into next?
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Sources
アニメファンやオタクが集まる街「秋葉原」はなぜ聖地になったのか？Bishamon Group
秋葉原アーカイブス. Akihabara Denkigai Shinkoukai
秋葉原通り魔事件. Mainichi Shimbun
秋葉原「オタク離れ」が起きている？ 「アキバ文化」象徴する店が消え街の姿が変わった. JCast News
【ルポ秋葉原】なぜオタクがいなくなっている？ アニメ・漫画の聖地で起きている変化. Real Sound
