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Things to Do in Akihabara: A Guide for Anime, Retro Game, and Gachapon Fans

Published September 16, 2026 · Wayfinder

Akihabara looks like chaos from the station exit. It isn't. The district is a fairly compact grid, and the good stuff is concentrated in a few buildings that reward going floor by floor. This guide covers the essential stops for anime, figure, and retro game fans, with enough practical detail that you won't spend your afternoon in the wrong shops.

Radio Kaikan: start here

Directly across from the Electric Town exit, Radio Kaikan is a ten-floor building of hobby shops. The name comes from its 1950s origins as a radio-parts market; today it's figures, model kits, trading cards, and doujinshi. Each floor has several small tenants, and the best way to do it is top-down: take the elevator to the 10th floor and walk down.

• Figures: Multiple shops on the middle floors, including secondhand dealers where a discontinued figure can be a fraction of its resale price online. Check the box condition labels.
• Trading cards: Single-card shops with prices on the wall. Even if you don't collect, the sight of a ¥200,000 card in a glass case is worth a look.
• Model kits: Gundam and mecha kits, with a good selection of older, harder-to-find boxes.

Allow 60 to 90 minutes. It gets crowded on weekend afternoons; weekday mornings right at opening (most shops open 10:00 or 11:00) are calm.

Super Potato: retro games

A few blocks north, up a narrow staircase, Super Potato occupies three floors of a small building. It's the most famous retro game shop in Tokyo and deserves the reputation. Famicom, Super Famicom, Game Boy, Mega Drive, PC Engine, Neo Geo: loose cartridges in labeled bins, boxed sets on the walls, consoles refurbished and priced.

The floor itself is part of the experience. Old game music plays from a speaker somewhere, the shelves are packed so tight the aisles are one person wide, and the whole place smells faintly of old cardboard and plastic. On the top floor there's a small retro arcade with cabinets you can actually play for ¥100 a credit.

Prices for popular titles have risen a lot in recent years. Common carts are still cheap; anything with cult status is not. Region-locking: Japanese cartridges won't run on most Western consoles without an adapter or a Japanese console.

Gachapon: capsule machines by the hundreds

Gachapon (capsule toy) machines are everywhere in Akihabara, but the specialist halls are where you find the full range in one place: hundreds of machines in rows, sorted by series, with the newest releases near the front. Prices run ¥200 to ¥500 per turn. Bring coins. Most machines only take ¥100 pieces, and a change machine is usually near the entrance.

The appeal isn't just the prize. It's the mechanism: the weight of the coins dropping, the stiff turn of the crank, and the clatter of the capsule coming down the chute. Five minutes in front of these machines and you'll understand why adults line up for them.

Other stops worth the time

• Mandarake Complex: Eight floors of secondhand manga, figures, doujinshi, and cels. A more curated feel than Radio Kaikan.
• Multi-floor arcades: Rhythm games on the ground floor, crane games above, fighting games at the top. Watch the locals on the rhythm machines; their hand speed is genuinely startling.
• Themed cafes: Fine if you're curious, but book ahead. Walk-ins often mean an hour's wait.

Timing and practical notes

• Best time: Weekday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sundays the main street becomes a pedestrian zone from 1:00 p.m., which is pleasant for walking but the shops are packed.
• Tax-free: Many shops offer tax-free purchases over ¥5,000 with a passport.
• Payment: Larger shops take cards; small secondhand stalls and gachapon halls are coin and cash.
• Luggage: Aisles are narrow everywhere. Use a station locker.

If you want the walk laid out

Akihabara is the kind of place where you can lose two hours in the first building and never reach the rest.