Akihabara (秋葉原). Tech-mecca. Place of longing for whole generations of video gamers, tech nerds, manga and anime fans alike. Birthplace of the the famous otaku (おたく) syndrome. There are many ways to describe Akihabara, but whatever you say or write about it, words can't really do the place justice. You simply have to experience it.Akihabara, or Akiba (アキバ), for short, is an area in Tokyo, about 5 minutes to the north east from Tokyo station, that is famous for its abundance of small and large shops selling electronic and computer goods. It's a vast area of department stores, video game arcades and manga cafés centered around "Akihabara Electric Town" (秋葉原電気街), and also a number one destination for most foreign tourists visiting Tokyo, many of which leave with the latest Nintendo or Sony console tucked under their arm.
Before you book a flight to Tokyo and dive into the tech jungle, though, check out AKB360, a product by Japanese web development company DON Inc. (ディー・オー・エヌ) released early this year. AKB360 lets you explore Akihabara pretty much in the same way as Google Streetview, with one important difference: in AKB360 you can actually walk into buildings as if you were really there.This gives you a chance to witness a rather special Japanese social phenomenon you might otherwise not come across: maid cafés, cafés where you are served by waitresses dressed in maid costumes. To give you an idea of what these places look like, or to check out a place before going there in person, head over to AKB360, pull up the map on the right and move your little cursor to a one of the little blue or green "M" characters.
Funny concept, and a very cool website indeed.
More screenshots: pic 3, pic 4, pic 5
Originally reported on Asiajin http://asiajin.com/blog/2011/02/07/akb360-experience-the-town-on-your-desktop-anywhere/
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