I am currently reading a book called Power+Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, and I have reached a section in it that goes on to talk about how Akihabara is the primary center of video game culture (which isn’t surprising, since it IS geek capital). As someone who has also been there, I have found myself being able to relate more to this chapter.

I never realized it up until now, but since my idea of home is electronics/video games, visiting Akihabara definitely allowed me to feel at home, like I was in my “zone”. Sounds a bit cheesy, but I had been feeling some anxiety when I had first arrived there, so visiting there definitely relieved that feeling (especially since many people on my trip were also into these types of things).

In this book, it goes to describe how central street in Akihabara, or “Chuo-dori”, is highly packed during the spring and summer time, and how people “… maneuver deftly, balancing huge shopping bags as they weave in and out, past fellow shoppers, past street-side vendors selling everything from takoyaki to cheap costume jewelery to pirated copies of Microsoft Windows. It is like Disneyland, but twice as crowded and twice as exciting.” It also mentions how “… for the last three decades the stores of Akihabara have been filled with every video game you could ever possibly imagine.” (pg. 184) I went there in the summer, so this chapter basically summarizes my experience there.

As of now, I plan to use this while describing my experience there in Japan, though I may switch what I use as a source from this chapter, depending on how it fits in m writing. Definitely plan to use this chapter, though.