Souvenir Shops in Akihabara

Akihabara is one of the most famous tourist spots in Japan that visitors from overseas cannot miss. Akihabara, commonly known as “Akiba” is not far away from JPC’s office (20 minutes from the door of the office by train) and people who visit our office drop in to Akiba after meeting us.

The other day, one of my Japanese friends came to Tokyo. He was going to Akiba and asked me to tell him what would be the best souvenir. Thinking about it, I only knew Akiba as a town famous for its electronics quarter and maid cafes. However, something for a souvenir? I could not think of anything.

So I searched on the internet and found some shops which sell figurines, T-shirts, cartoon character goods, canned Oden, etc., a bit of nerdy stuff.

Among them were, maybe mirroring the present society, things like biscuits in the shape of Japan’s politicians such as Prime Minister Mr Aso and US President Barrack Obama.
http://www.omiyage-daito.com/online.html

Also suitable for the town, when you step in, a girl dressed in a maid costume comes and says “Welcome home my lord” and offers some maid biscuits to you; seems fun!
http://www.maidclub.net/products/list.php?category_id=13

These things might be fun but they are not something especially from the area and I am not sure people would appreciate them as souvenirs.

Well, most readers of this mail magazine are not Japanese, so I checked souvenirs for them. But you may not have the same culture as Japan and may not buy presents for family and friends. I could not find many souvenirs designed for foreigners in Akiba. Although there are plans such as “Harakiri Manju”, (inside comes out if you eat it) and “Ninja Biscuit” (shaped like throwing stars), no one could see a high demand for these, so none of these went on the market.

According to JPC’s non- Japanese staff, people do not normally buy biscuits as a present, but they buy practical electrical appliances such as computers and digital cameras. If you go into the narrow lanes in Akiba, Pakistani and Chinese shop owners are selling used computers and digital cameras; you will see people from overseas checking them. I guess, Akiba is still the world number one electronics quarter for visitors from foreign countries.


★ Japanese used car stock : http://jpctrade.com/stock/index.html
★ JPCTRADE Home page : http://jpctrade.com/
★ JPCTRADE Blog : http://jpctrade.blogspot.com/

(Editor)
JPC TRADE CO.,LTD.
3B YS-Building, 1-2-2 Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA)
TEL : +81-3-5245-7731
FAX : +81-3-3643-4955