Tokyo · Akihabara and Kanda

Radio Kaikan and Akihabara Electric Town: figures, manga and gachapon

Radio Kaikan opened in 1950 as a two-floor wooden building facing Akihabara Station. In 1962 an 8-floor building was added, which according to the company was the first tall building in the district. In 1976 NEC opened Bit-INN on floor 7, a center for its microcomputers, and in 2001 a sign was placed there reading 'birthplace of the personal computer'. The old building closed on 4 August 2011, and the current building opened on 20 July 2014.

In 1998 K-Books, Kaiyodo and Volks moved in, and according to the building this is what began turning Akihabara into a city of figures. Today there are 10 floors and a basement, and most shops sell figures, cards or dolls.

According to the floor guide: K-Books on floor 3, AmiAmi on floor 4, Rashinban, Uchusen and Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby on floor 5, Yellow Submarine on floor 6, Azone, Jungle and DOLK on floor 7, Volks on floor 8, and on floor 9 three card shops, including Card Labo and Big Magic. Floors 1 and 2 are mostly cards, with a FamilyMart and a gift shop, and floor 10 is an event space. There are also two electrical and audio shops: Tomoca Denki on floor 2 and Wakamatsu on floor 5.

Good to know

If you are after one kind of item, go straight to its floor: figures on 3 to 5, dolls on 7 and 8, cards on 6 and 9.
These are separate shops, and you pay at each one's own register.

What is nearby

Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Radio Kaikan and Akihabara Electric Town: figures, manga and gachapon.

Here
Radio Kaikan and Akihabara Electric Town: figures, manga and gachapon
1 min
Ginza Lion Akihabara Radio Kaikan Food
A branch of the chain in the Radio Kaikan basement, open for hours after the shops upstairs close. Not kosher.
Monday to Friday 12:00-22:30, Saturday 11:30-22:30, Sunday and holidays 11:30-21:30Maps Source
1 min
G-Store Akiba Shopping
A floor of character clothes, goods and cosplay costumes, in the Onoden Building. The shop closes for two stocktaking days a year.
10:00-20:00Maps Source
~2 min
COSPA Official Store Akihabara Shopping
The official store of Cospa, a long-standing maker of official anime clothing: T-shirts, hoodies and bags from hundreds of series, from subt
Maps
~3 min
Akihabara Electric Town Street
The electronics and anime district: Radio Kaikan (10 floors, most of them figures and cards), Animate, Mandarake for secondhand, and gachapo
FreeMaps
~3 min
Komaki Shokudo Food
Buddhist shojin cuisine in Akihabara, in the CHABARA market under the tracks: no animal ingredient at all, no white sugar, and no garlic, on
¥2,200 · ≈ $14Maps
~3 min
mAAch ecute Kanda Manseibashi Shopping
Shops and cafes inside the brick arches of the railway, by Manseibashi Bridge. Closed on 9 November and 31 December 2026, and from 1 to 3 January 2027.
Stairs and platform: 11:00-22:00, Sundays and holidays until 20:30. Shops varyMaps Source
~4 min
Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Akiba Shopping
An electronics and appliance store on the east side of the station, with a restaurant floor on floor 8. Not kosher.
9:30-22:00. Floor 8: 11:00-23:00Maps Source
~5 min
Kanda Matsuya Food
A soba house founded in 1884, across the Kanda River. Not kosher.
Weekdays 11:00-20:30, Saturdays and holidays until 19:30, closed SundayMaps Source

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