Akihabara District

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Akihabara was once near a city gate of Edo and served as a passage between the city and northwestern Japan, making the region a home to many craftsmen and tradesmen, as well as some low-class samurai. One of Tokyo's frequent fires destroyed the area in 1869, and the people decided to replace the buildings with a shrine called Akiba Shrine (originally nicknamed after a fire-controlling deity), in an attempt to prevent the spread of future fires. The locals nicknamed the shrine Akiba after the deity that could control fire, and the area around it became known as Akibagahara, later Akihabara. The shrine was moved to the Taitō ward in 1888, before Akihabara Station was built in 1890 as a freight station. Since its opening in 1890, Akihabara Station became a major freight transit point, which allowed a vegetable and fruit market to spring up. In the 1920s, the station saw a large volume of passengers after opening for public transport. After World War II, the black market thrived in the absence of a strong government, allowing the district to grow as a market city. In the 1950s, this climate turned Akihabara into a market region specializing in electronic household appliances, such as washing machines, refrigerators, television sets, and stereos, earning Akihabara the nickname "Electric Town". As household electronics began to lose their futuristic appeal in the 1980s, the shops shifted their focus to home computers, bringing in a new type of consumer, computer nerds or otaku. The market latched onto this new customer base focused on anime, manga, and video games, growing to the point that the region is a center for otaku culture. Doujinshi culture saw major growth in Akihabara starting in the 1980s and later. On June 8 2008, a man drove a truck into crowds at the crossing of Kanda Myōjin-dōri and Chūō-dōri streets in Akihabara, killing three people and injuring two. He then stabbed at least twelve people using a dagger, killing four and injuring eight. After the attack the 35-year practice of closing Chūō-dōri avenue to vehicular traffic on Sundays and holiday afternoons was discontinued.

In Their Own Story

The streets of Akihabara are covered with anime and manga icons, and cosplayers line the sidewalks handing out advertisements, especially for maid cafés. Release events, special events, and conventions are common in Akihabara. Architects design the stores of Akihabara to be opaque and closed, to reflect the desire of many otaku to live in their anime worlds rather than display their interests. Akihabara's role as a free market has allowed a large amount of amateur work to find an audience. Doujinshi (amateur or fanmade manga) has been growing in Akihabara since the 1970s.

Reader's Guide

Akihabara is accessible by train, bus and car. The main area of Akihabara is located on a street just west of Akihabara Station. There is an administrative district called Akihabara north of Akihabara Electric Town surrounding Akihabara Neribei Park, which is part of Taitō ward. Akihabara Station serves the Keihin-Tohoku Line (JK-28), Yamanote Line (JY-03), Chūō-Sōbu Line (JB-19), Hibiya Line (H-16), and Tsukuba Express (TX01). Nearby stations include Iwamotocho Station (Toei Shinjuku Line S-08) and Suehirocho Station (Ginza Line G-14). The area is part of the Sotokanda and Kanda-Sakumachō districts of Chiyoda.

Did You Know?

• The name Akihabara is a shortening of Akibagahara, which comes from Akiba, named after a fire-controlling deity of a firefighting shrine built after a fire destroyed the area in 1869.
• Akihabara gained the nickname 'Electric Town' shortly after World War II for being a major shopping center for household electronic goods and the post-war black market.
• On June 8 2008, a man drove a truck into crowds at the crossing of Kanda Myōjin-dōri and Chūō-dōri streets in Akihabara, killing three people and injuring two, then stabbed at least twelve people, killing four and injuring eight.
• Doujinshi (amateur or fanmade manga) has been growing in Akihabara since the 1970s.
• After the 2008 attack, the 35-year practice of closing Chūō-dōri avenue to vehicular traffic on Sundays and holiday afternoons was discontinued.