If you’re interested in anime, then i’m sure Akihabara will be top on your list of places to visit in Tokyo! There are tons of anime shops, maid cafes and arcades which can be enjoyed by everyone! But did you know, Akihabara is also the place where Tons of animes have been set?! Anime such as Steins:Gate and Love Live were both set in Akihabara resulting in many of the scenes being set in REAL LIFE locations! These are very popular for Japanese people to go and cosplay at and recreate scenes, but they are not as well known to tourists! So if you’re interested in checking out some places in Akihabara that have featured in anime, check out this following list:

1. Kanda Shrine (Love Live)

Kanda Shrine has featured in the anime ‘Love Live’ countless times throughout the episodes! In fact, even just a few episodes in you’re guaranteed to have seen the shrine multiple times! This is due to the majority of this anime being set in Akihabara and guess what shrine is closest to Akihabara?…thats right! Kanda Shrine!

Kanda shrine is a beautiful shrine with amazing architecture to be admired! On top of this, you can now leave behind special Love Live Ema with your wishes written on. And even buy special Love Live mamori to bring you good luck!

Kanda Shrine is a shinto shrine that has been established for 1,270 years giving it plenty of history. It’s amazing to see the traditional aspects of Japan merge with the Modern aspects and work together. Both shinto shrines and anime are unique to Japan, and it’s amazing to see two completely different parts of Japanese culture coming together and forming this.

More Information on Kanda Shrine:

Address

2-16-2, Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0021

Access

Take the JR Chuo Line to Ochanomizu Station.

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2. Radio Kaikan (Steins Gate)

Radio Kaikan is located just outside of Akihabara station and it has all sorts of shops inside of it, mostly selling otaku goods! The building featured in Steins:Gate multiple times and was actually the building that the time machine crashed into in season one! Unfortunately there’s no time machine there in real life though!

The building itself was recently rebuilt in 2014 due to the old one being demolished in 2011. The previous building was built in 1962 and was the first high rise building in Akihabara! So the building has a lot of history and is very much worth the visit, especially if you’re a Steins:Gate fan.

More Information on Radio Kaikan:

Address

1 Chome-15-16 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0021

Access

Take the JR Chuo-Sobu line to Akihabara Station.

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3. Cafe Mai:Lish (Steins Gate)

Carrying on with the theme of Steins:Gate, the next real life anime place in Akihabara is Cafe Mai:Lish! Although the name is different, it’s obvious from these two pictures that this is the cafe that the one from the anime Steins Gate is based off of! In the anime this is the cafe that Mayuri and Faris Nyan Nyan work at. It is constantly featured in the anime throughout the episodes and Itaru (Daru) can often be seen hanging out there.

The real life cafe, Cafe Mai:Lish has fully embraced being featured in the anime and regularly have mades dress up as Faris Nyan Nyan. On top of this they have even revamped there menu involving much more steins gate themed items.

The cafe also has a usual menu with tons more items on all which are decorated extremely cute! The cafe is often visited by foreigners so don’t worry about English! All the maids will do the best they can to speak to you in English.

More Information on Mai:Lish

Address

101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Sotokanda, 3 Chome−6−2

Access

Take the Chuo-Sobu Line to Akihabara Station.

Hours

11:00AM – 22:00PM

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4. Takemura Cafe ( Love Live)

As you can see from the photos above, The two cafes look extremely similar, and that’s because they’re meant to be! The cafe featured in the anime, that is actually Honoka’s home and titled ‘Homura’, was based off of this one that is located in Kanda Tokyo called Takemura cafe! It is a traditional Japanese sweet cafe selling green tea, dango, mochi and much more! This building was built in 1930 and is a great place to visit as you can experience true Japanese culture rather than staying in your comfort zone and going to Starbucks in Japan! On top of that you’re also visiting somewhere that was featured in Love Live! and you can take a picture with it! This is one of my favorite Love Live locations in Tokyo.

More Information

Address

 1 Chome-19 Kanda Sudacho, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0041

Access

Take the Chuo-Sobu Line to Akihabara Station.

Hours

11:00AM – 20:00PM weekdays. Closed on weekends.

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5. Cure Maid Cafe (Love Live!)

Cure Maid Cafe is a fairly popular Maid Cafe that has featured in many anime over the years. The latest anime being Love Live!. This is where Kotori worked part time as a maid. As you can see from the two images above, the anime has done an extremely good job of portraying the cafe and it looks almost identical!

The cafe has tons of food on offer from Curry, to pasta and tons of tasty deserts! Many of which are under 1000yen meaning that this is a great place to go for people who want to experience a Japanese maid cafe but are on a budget.

More Information

Address

101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Sotokanda, 3 Chome−15−5

Access

Take the JR Chuo-Sobu Line to Akihabara Station

Hours

11:00AM – 20:00PM. Closed Tuesdays.

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Otaku in Tokyo is a travel website dedicated to helping your trip to Japan with tips and information on where to visit. With particular focus on real life anime locations, pop culture and Tokyo’s hidden gems!
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