[[Image:Akihabara_denkigai.jpg|right|thumb|Akihabara in 2007]]

{{nihongo|'''Akihabara'''|秋葉原}} ("Field of Autumn Leaves"), also known as {{nihongo|'''Akihabara Electric Town'''|秋葉原電気街|Akihabara Denki Gai}}, is a neighborhood in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]. It is located less than five minutes by rail from [[Tokyo Station]]. Its name is frequently shortened to ''Akiba'' in Japan. While there is an official locality named Akihabara nearby, part of [[Taitō, Tokyo|Taitō-ku]], the area known to most people as ''Akihabara'' (including the railway station of the [[Akihabara Station|same name]]) is actually Soto-Kanda, a part of [[Chiyoda, Tokyo|Chiyoda]]-ku.

Akihabara is best-known as one of the largest shopping areas on Earth for electronic, computer, [[anime]], and [[otaku]] goods, including new and used items. New items are mostly to be found on the main street, Chūōdōri, with many kinds of used items found in the back streets of Soto Kanda 3-[[Japanese addressing system|chōme]]. First-hand parts for PC-building are readily available from a variety of stores. Tools, electrical parts, wires, microsized cameras and similar items are found in the cramped passageways of Soto Kanda 1-chōme (near the station). Foreign tourists tend to visit the big name shops like Laox or other speciality shops near the station, though there is more variety and lower prices at locales a little further away. Akihabara gained some fame through being home to one of the first stores devoted to personal robots and robotics.

==Otaku culture==
[[Image:Akihabara Maids2.jpg|thumb|Maid in Akihabara]]
[[Otaku]] culture in Akihabara represents one aspect of the people who shop and 'hang out' there in the recent years. Some people there have unique lifestyles, centered on technological enterprises and an obsession for Anime/Manga, that have made them outsiders in other sections of Japanese society. These otaku are given the chance to gather here and to meet others who share their specific interests. Akihabara is currently seen as one of the shopping districts that represents a 'mecca' of sorts for otaku, as well as to the term [[Akiba-kei]], or Akiba-type.

Recently, with increased exposure of "otaku" culture in the Japanese media, new buildings, and the opening of another new railway line, Akihabara has seen a boom in popularity and is a popular destination for many young people interested in its unique atmosphere.

==Brief history==

[[Image:Akihabara_picture3.jpg|right|thumb|Between stores in Akihabara]]
[[Image:Akihabara 916.jpg|right|thumb| Akihabara [[Dell]] Shop]]

* The area was just out of Sujikai-gomon [[city gate]] (present [[Manseibashi|Mansei bridge]]) which was one of the city gates (Mitsuke) of old [[Edo]] (Tokyo). It was the gateway from inner Edo to northern and northwestern Japan and Kan’ei-ji temple in [[Ueno, Tokyo|Ueno]]. Many dealers, craftsmen and relatively lower class [[samurai]] lived there.
* '''1869''': A major blaze destroyed the area. It brought about the decision to clear the 30,000 square metres of land in order to keep future fires into inner Tokyo city.
* '''1870''': In this cleared land a small [[Shinto]] shrine once in old [[Edo Castle]] was built. The shrine’s name was {{lang|ja|鎮火社|Chinka-sha}}, which means "the extinguisher shrine").
* But many downtown Tokyo residents misunderstood the shrine. They thought that the deity Akiba or Akiha ({{lang|ja|秋葉}}) which was the most popular fire-controlling deity in central and eastern Japan must have been enshrined in it. They also called the cleared land "Akiba ga hara" or "Akibappara" which means "the deity Akiba’s square".
* '''1888''': The shrine moved to Matsugaya, near [[Asakusa]].
* '''1890''': Extension of the rail line (now the [[Tōhoku Main Line]]) from Ueno to Akihabara. At first there was no passenger service, for south of the station was the Akihabara cargo docks, where goods from all over the world would flow into Kanda by river and be hauled up the east bank of the canal to be ticketed at the central cargo transport window.
* From the [[Meiji period|Meiji]] to the [[Shōwa period|Shōwa]] period, as the electric railway improved transport to Akihabara and the surrounds, and especially due to the growth in dealerships, the district was designated as Seika Shijō ({{lang|ja|青果市場}}: vegetables and fruits market).
* '''1925''': Akihabara-Tokyo station connection opened as the Tohoku line extended to Tokyo.
* '''1930''': The temporary [[Manseibashi Subway Station]] opens; it is closed in November 1931.
* '''1932''': As the Green Line station opened with an interconnection, Akihabara became an important transfer point.
* '''1935''': Official establishment of Seika Shijō. (Kanda Seika Shijō).
* '''1936''': The site of [[Manseibashi Station#JNR Manseibashi Station|Manseibashi Station]] was closed (later the Transportation Museum—now closed). Railway mania had reached its zenith. The area became the number one place for electrical supplies.
*'''Circa 1945-1955''' After [[World War II]], a black market at Kanda developed around the first school of electrical manufacturing (now the [[Tokyo Technical College]]). Clustered around the [[Sōbu Main Line|Sobu underground line]], what began as a host of electrical stores selling [[vacuum tube]]s, radio goods and electrical items to the students, has today come to be known as Electric Town. Called "musen" or "wireless" shops, they were the first to begin selling radios. With the advent of wireless and radio goods, people came to be much more connected.
* '''1960s''': Thanks to advanced technology, the rival [[Den Den Town|Nipponbashi]] district of [[Osaka]] took its position as an equally prominent Electric Town, selling vast volumes of household [[consumer]] [[durable good]]s such as [[television]]s, [[refrigerator]]s and [[washing machine]]s.
* '''1980s''': Accompanying the spread of the [[personal computer]] in family homes ("Famikon"), local shops increasingly began to deal in [[computer game]]s, and major gaming chain stores appeared on the market.
* '''1989''': Kanda Seika Shijō moved to [[Ōta-ku]], south district of Tokyo.
* '''1990s''': With the Yamada and Kojima household chain stores appearing throughout the suburban outskirts of Tokyo, the sale of consumer durables at Akihabara was greatly reduced, however the sale of computer goods increased in equal measure.
* '''1994''': The PC boom and accompanying computer store growth began.
* It was also during the 1990s that the anime craze grew out of computer games, and the youth group known as otaku began to pour into Akihabara.
* '''Since 2000''', with name-brand computer sales in decline, anime shops have arisen in their place, selling to the otaku crowd.
* '''Since 2005''', major redevelopment and modernization of the station and surrounding area. Tsukuba Express, Tokyo's fastest private railway, opens in Akihabara.

==Access==
[[Akihabara Station]] is served by [[East Japan Railway Company|JR East]] ([[Yamanote Line]], [[Keihin-Tōhoku Line]] and [[Chūō-Sōbu Line]]), [[Tokyo Metro]] ([[Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line|Hibiya Line]]) and [[Tsukuba Express]].

[[Suehirochō Station (Tokyo)|Suehirochō Station]] on the [[Ginza Line]] subway and [[Iwamotochō Station]] on the [[Toei Shinjuku Line]] subway are also within walking distance from Akihabara.

==See also==
*[[Nipponbashi]], in Osaka

==External links==
{{commonscat|Akihabara}}

* [http://www.akiba.or.jp/ Akihabara Official website] {{ja icon}}
* [http://www.akiba.or.jp/english/ Akihabara Official website] {{en icon}}

;Articles:
* {{Wikitravelpar|Tokyo/Akihabara}}
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/AR2005060601767.html In Tokyo, a Ghetto of Geeks] from Washington Post
* [http://www.insomnia.ac/japan/top_10_akiba_stores_(new_games)/ Top 10 Akihabara game stores]
* [http://picturetokyo.com/en/city/akihabara.html Akihabara Guide @ Picturetokyo.com]Akihabara Information & Gallery
* [http://sightseeing.in-japan.jp/2007/06/akihabara_toyko.html Akihabara - Tokyo]

;Media:
* [http://www.thehiddentokyo.com/akihabara-00.html Photos of Tokyo and Akihabara]
* Map of Akihabara's anime and manga related stores: (North is to the right)
:[http://www.animeprime.com/misc/japan/akihabaramap1.jpg Akiba Walker] <small>SOUTH</small> {{ja icon}}
:[http://www.animeprime.com/misc/japan/akihabaramap2.jpg Akiba Walker] <small>NORTH</small> {{ja icon}}

{{Neighborhoods of Tokyo}}

[[Category:Neighborhoods of Tokyo]]
[[Category:Shopping districts and streets]]
[[Category:Otaku]]

{{coor title d|35.69844|N|139.77222|E|}}

[[ar:اكيهابارا]]
[[ca:Akihabara]]
[[de:Akihabara]]
[[es:Akihabara]]
[[fr:Akihabara]]
[[zh-classical:秋葉原]]
[[ko:아키하바라]]
[[id:Akihabara]]
[[it:Akihabara]]
[[nl:Akihabara]]
[[ja:秋葉原]]
[[pt:Akihabara]]
[[ru:Акихабара]]
[[sv:Akihabara]]
[[zh:秋葉原]]