On your first visit to Akihabara, start by deciding what you want to enjoy. Do you want to play arcade games, browse figures and trading cards, or explore the streets? Your answer will help you choose where to spend your time.
I recommend visiting during the day. Look up the shops that interest you, check which floors they are on, and plan around their opening hours. Here are three mistakes to avoid when planning your first visit, along with practical ways to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Assuming a famous place will suit your interests
When choosing where to go, think about what you want to do there as well as how well known it is. Even a famous Akihabara building may offer little that interests you if its shops focus on things you do not enjoy.
Try Hey for traditional Japanese arcade culture
I recommend Hey for its many cabinets featuring classic shooting and fighting games. If you want to experience traditional Japanese arcade culture, it is a place to visit with that purpose in mind.
Hey also has claw machines. Taito’s official introduction lists both video games and claw machines, so you can sit down at an arcade cabinet as well as try to win a prize.
Michio’s Tip
Play at least once. If you are unsure, try a relatively newer game.
If you come to Hey, I hope you will do more than look at the cabinets: sit down and try a game. A shooting game, a fighting game—anything that catches your interest is fine.
For someone new to arcade games, I have one suggestion: among the classic games, start with a relatively newer title rather than a very early one. In my experience, some older games can be unforgiving. Your credit may be gone before you have had a chance to get used to the controls. I find that relatively newer games often give beginners more room to enjoy themselves.
This is a starting point, not a rule: newer does not always mean easier. I mean the age of the game itself, rather than how old the cabinet looks.
Choose Radio Kaikan if figures and trading cards interest you
If you enjoy figures, trading cards, and similar collectibles, Radio Kaikan is worth considering. I think having a variety of hobby shops in one building makes it a useful choice for visitors with limited time.
If those interests are not yours, I would give it a lower priority. Spend your time on what appeals to you—playing at Hey, for example, or walking around to see the streets and buildings.
Mistake 2: Looking only at street level
Once you have chosen a shop, check where it is inside the building. Radio Kaikan has shops on its upper floors as well as at street level. If you walk past after only looking at the entrance, you could miss the shop you came to find.
Save the shop name and floor together
The official floor directory lists the AmiAmi Akihabara Radio Kaikan Store on 4F, and VOLKS DOLL POINT Akihabara and VOLKS HOBBY SQUARE Akihabara on 8F. Save the shop name and floor as well as the building name so you can match them to the signs inside.
If you already have a shop in mind, go straight to its floor. For a first-time visitor who does not read Japanese, the names on the building’s directory may not be enough to explain what each shop offers. If you have not chosen a shop, here is how I suggest exploring.
If you have no particular shop in mind, start on 9F and work down
Michio’s Tip
Work your way down. You do not need to examine everything.
If you are interested in hobby shops but have no particular destination, I recommend going up to 9F first and working your way down. If a floor does not interest you, keep moving.
If you would like to spend time looking at doll displays, my recommendations are 7F and 8F. But if this is your first visit and you want to see the wider neighborhood, avoid spending too much time on a single floor. Leave yourself time to get outside and explore Akihabara’s streets.
The official floor listing includes Azone Label Shop Akihabara and DOLK on 7F, and VOLKS DOLL POINT Akihabara and VOLKS HOBBY SQUARE Akihabara on 8F. There are shops on 9F, while 10F is an event space. That is why I suggest starting a regular shop visit on 9F.
Mistake 3: Visiting only in the morning or at night
For a first visit, I recommend daytime
Arriving early does not mean the shops you want to visit will be open. For example, Mandarake Complex’s official website lists its hours as 12:00–20:00. If you want to visit this shop, a plan that has you leaving Akihabara before noon will not work.
Open shops are only part of the reason I recommend daytime. To me, the streets in the photos below capture what Akihabara feels like.
Michio’s Tip
Leave time to walk through Akihabara in daylight.
The Akihabara I want you to see is the neighborhood in daylight: buildings and signs overlapping, with people making their way through the streets. That scene is part of what I enjoy about visiting.
Try not to fill every moment with shopping or games. Look around as you walk from one place to the next. For a first visit, I recommend leaving time during the day for that, too.
The opening time on the photographed sign differs from the website by five minutes. Treat this as an example of a shop that opens around noon; if you want to arrive right at opening time, check with the shop. Opening hours vary across Akihabara.
On Sundays, aim for the pedestrian-only hours
If you visit on a Sunday, I recommend the hours when Chuo-dori is open to pedestrians. One of the attractions is being able to look along the street and take a souvenir photo from the roadway.
The official schedule is 13:00–17:00 from October through March and 13:00–18:00 from April through September. However, bad weather and other conditions can lead to cancellation. I would treat it as a bonus if it is happening, rather than build the whole visit around it.
Check the day’s notices on Akiba-i and follow the traffic controls on site. Use the roadway only within the area and hours opened to pedestrians, and keep the way clear when taking photos. If the pedestrian-only period is canceled, you can still visit your chosen shops and explore from the sidewalks.
Three things to decide before you go
Choose what interests you, check the shops and floors you want to visit, and plan a daytime visit around their opening hours. If Chuo-dori’s Sunday pedestrian-only hours go ahead, enjoy them as an extra part of your visit.
Last checked: October 15, 2026. This check covered Hey’s official game-category description, the shop floors listed above, Mandarake Complex’s published hours, and the regular pedestrian-only schedule and cancellation guidance. Photos show the scenes at the time they were taken.
