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Beginning of Akihabara
Akibahara was originally burned down in a fire in 1869. Sometime later, a typo was made when naming the area and Akibahara turned into Akihabara. Akihabara is located on the Kanda River and connected to the Tokyo Bay, which made this area a prime trading zone internationally. It was connected to Ueno and Tokyo for the general public via the Tohoku Main Line.
(Image:http://tokyoscum.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-akihabara-part-1_24.html) -
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Introduction
In order to understand how Akihabara became how it is today, it is important to know what had taken place in the Akihabara before it became known as an Electric Town. This timeline gives a brief introduction begnning at what occurred after the fire that burned down the town. It goes through and mentions the major turning points that occurred In Akihabara and ends with how Akihabara is today -
From Vegetables to Vacuum Tubes
The the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the counrty became more interested in wireless communication for military rather than the wholesale fruits. The the 40's, electronic parts began to take over the fruit stands and pushed them out of business.
(Image: http://tokyoscum.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-akihabara-part-1_24.html) -
Electric Railways
Electric railways were part of cutting edge technology as they had connected from major to minor stations. The Train men eventually were disregarded. But in 1936, the Tokyo Transport Museum had opened up. With trains being at such a high point during this era, it overshadowed the computer nerd who would soon take over a couple of years later.
(Image: http://tokyoscum.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-akihabara-part-1_24.html) -
The Radio Center
The Radio Center was an electronic superstore built in 1950. It was one of the main landmarks that made Akihabara gain the nickname as the "Electric Town". The store got its start at the end of WWII as the post war electronic market boomed.It was a super store that housed tens to hundreds of smaller electronic stores.
(Image:http://www.radiocenter.jp/story/index.htm) -
No More Stalls
In 1949, after a full transformation from selling from stalls to having buildings full of stores, the electronic retailers took Akihabara by storm. Through the 60's, radios, washing machines, and fridges became the three must-haves of all home electronics. Radio Kaikan was built and became the first high rise building in Akihabara.
(Image:http://tokyoscum.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-akihabara-part-1_24.html) -
PC Revolution
As Japan had encountered lack of fuel due to dual oil shocks in the 70's, Akihabara's electronic market was affected, but it was only a minor interference. To take advantage of this moment, DIY computers and My-Com used this to get their foot in the door. NEC Bit Inn opened in Radio Kaikan in 1976 and it became the front runner for the PC Revolution.
(Image: http://tokyoscum.blogspot.com/2011/11/history-of-akihabara-part-1_24.html) -
From Families to Nerds
As new games emerged, a new style of lo-fi anime are brought in a new type of nerd into Akihabara. The demographics was shifting from a family friendly shopping area to a place full of young males with an interest in PC's. The rise of popularity of PC's eventually pushed out electric shops out of Radio Kaikan. With the midnight release of Windows 95, it was the end of the household electronics era of Akihabara.
(Image: http://www.dannychoo.com/en/post/25744/History+of+Akihabara.html) -
Beginning of the Otaku Holy Land
Following the introduction of video games, anime and manga began to flow into Akihabara. In 1994, a Sofmap employee had opened up a used book store in a small apartment called Tora no Ana. After being turned into an official store in 1996, this ended up being the one store that would casue a complete change in cityscape in Akihabara.
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Revival of Anime
The revival of anime came strong with the releases of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sakura Taisen, and Sailor Moon from 1995. This created a high demand of character products. Tora no Ana became a store within an apartment to a nationwide chain that is in charge of twin seven story tall buildings within the heart of Akihabara.
(Image:http://www.kawaiiotaku.com/strolling-around-akihabara/) -
Current Day Akihabara
Akihabara is now an area that has shops ranging from computer parts to anime and character goods to cafes that are geared for the anime fans.Sadly, some shops that gave Akihabara its nickname of being an "Electric Town" like Radio Center are now closed. Radio Center closed in 2013 afeter being in service for 64 years. Akihabara now gathers many foreigners who want to visit the anime center of the world.
Image:http://muza-chan.net/japan/index.php/blog/akihabara
