Find Akihabara’s trading card shops on a map

Akihabara’s card shops feel noticeably different depending on how far you are from the station. The stretch just outside the Electric Town Exit of JR Akihabara Station has the highest concentration of shops, so you can cover several in a short visit. Head north along Chuo-dori toward Suehirocho and the crowds thin out, which suits browsing singles at an unhurried pace. Radio Kaikan stacks several shops in one building, so it works regardless of the weather.

The map can sort shops by distance from your current location, so you can work outward from wherever you happen to be standing. Each area has its own guide with a suggested walking route.

What a shop carries varies enormously. Some stock a little of everything; others live on the depth and turnover of one title. If you already know what you are after, filtering by game is the fastest way in.

Each game page lists the Akihabara shops carrying that title, with opening hours and Google ratings. If you want to visit several in one day, the route planner will order them for you.

On a first visit, the sheer number of shops is itself the problem. Which area to start from, what to cut if you only have half a day, what the terms on the shelf labels actually mean — the guides cover the things that change how you walk the area.

Every guide is written in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean.