Akihabara
秋葉原 | |
---|---|
Urban area | |
Nickname(s): Akihabara Electric Town, The Otaku Capital of the World, Anime City | |
Coordinates: 35°41′54″N 139°46′23″E / 35.69833°N 139.77306°E | |
Country | Japan |
City | Tokyo |
Ward | Chiyoda |
Akihabara (Japanese: 秋葉原) is a neighborhood in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan, generally considered to be the area surrounding Akihabara Station. Administratively, the area Akihabara is found in the Sotokanda (外神田) and Kanda-Sakumachō districts of Chiyoda.
The name Akihabara is a shortening of Akibagahara (秋葉ヶ原), which comes from Akiba (秋葉), named after a fire-controlling deity of a firefighting shrine built after the area was destroyed by a fire in 1869.[1] Akihabara gained the nickname Akihabara Electric Town (秋葉原電気街, Akihabara Denki Gai) shortly after World War II for being a major shopping center for household electronic goods and the post-war black market.[2][3]
Akihabara is considered by many to be the centre of Japanese otaku culture, and is a major shopping district for video games, anime, manga, electronics and computer-related goods. Icons from popular anime and manga are displayed prominently on the shops in the area, and numerous maid cafés and some arcades are found throughout the district.