The Akihabara Japan electronics store master list.

[onsokumaru]

Thank you very much, this is gold 
Now I have to manage to fund a trip to Japan 

[Howardlong]

I just had my second trip to Akihabara this year, and spent about three hours buying random sh!t that seemed like a good idea at the time. I find myself doing two rounds of the same shops. Not sure why, but that’s the way I roll.

I went to the new upstairs in Akizukidenshi, and it certainly is easy to miss unless you knew about this extra floor ahead of time… or were looking for a Maid Cafe.

This is where, among other things, the small but useful array of low end modern test equipment is stored that used to be downstairs. Rigol DHO800/900 scopes, Analog Discovery 2 and 3 and HackRF One are examples that caught my eye, although the wallet stayed shut at this outlet in the end.

A new one for me was the Akiba LED shop, although it’s been around for a while. Not normally my thing, but they ended up about Y10k better off after I bought some Neopixel arrays.

I spent a bit in Maritsa again mostly on breakout boards, but it was Sengoku’s ground floor that I ended up with my biggest spend, about Y21k mostly on M5Stack stuff.

Kids and candy stores.

[lokin4areason]

so glad that these little store or shop fronts are expanding their reach for sourcing avenue(s) of attracting new customer(s)

i cant wait to be there n chequing it out in person . . . . .

[Howardlong]

Be ready for pay in cash, or you'll have to hunt down an ATM. ***

There are plenty of ATMs about, it's just that cash is still king in a lot of Japan.

*** Edit: December 2024 - all but the one man band stores now seem to have contactless and chip+pin machines at their respective checkouts, accepting Visa, Mastercard and Amex.

[Zucca]

Anyone knows where to buy used/not working Roland music devices in JP?

[lokin4areason]

isnt it always 

thxs for the insight n advice

hope that they have plenty of currency exchange(s) around . . . .

[Darkover]

I remeber there was also some kind of electronic flea market on sunday once a month at akiba in the smaller streets. Is it still there or is it history?

Olaf

[Andy Chee]

Anyone knows where to buy used/not working Roland music devices in JP?

I'd investigate the thrift store chain Hard Off, although, the prices in Tokyo stores tend to be on the high-side.  If you're elsewhere around Japan, try and find a nearby Hard Off.

[Howardlong]

I'd investigate the thrift store chain Hard Off, although, the prices in Tokyo stores tend to be on the high-side.  If you're elsewhere around Japan, try and find a nearby Hard Off.

I remember watching that on Youtube a few months ago, I was thinking these would be out of town places, but it looks like there's two of them in Akihabara, so thanks for the tip.

I have another trip back to Tokyo this week, my third this year!

[Andy Chee]

I remember watching that on Youtube a few months ago, I was thinking these would be out of town places, but it looks like there's two of them in Akihabara, so thanks for the tip.

I have another trip back to Tokyo this week, my third this year!

The two Akihabara Hard Offs are pretty small, so if you can, get out of Tokyo. The Hard Off near Haneda airport is huge! (though a tad inconvenient to get to if you’re travelling by public transport).

Also next door to the Akihabara Hard Off is Suragaya, if you’re interested in digging through e-junk.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RuyhKCbLzZ8

[Howardlong]

After my trip this last week, I’m amending my advice regarding carrying cash. While some of the tiny one man bands will probably still be cash only, there are now card machines at the checkouts of all the places I made purchases. These machines support both contactless and chip+pin transactions on card including the usual Visa, Mastercard & Amex.

[Jackh]

I am going to Tokyo in a few weeks for the 1st time.
I am looking for a store that has things for my Cardputer S3A. Like a CC1101, NRF24, GPIO printed case. etc.
Could you suggest the best place in Akihabara to find this please?

[TERRA Operative]

If you are heading to Osaka, eleshop seems to have a good amount of stuff:

https://eleshop.jp/shop/c/c2284/



In Tokyo, both Sengoku and Akizukidenshi have some M5Stack stuff:

https://www.sengoku.co.jp/mod/sgk_cart/search.php?multi=m5stack

https://akizukidenshi.com/catalog/goods/search.aspx?search=x&keyword=m5stack&search=search

They are just near each other on the same street, so easy to visit both stores and compare.

[Xyphro]

Are there also hackerspaces or so where it is worthwhile and OK to popup as foreigner for some nice technical talks?

[TERRA Operative]

Not that I'm aware of, but I haven't looked so hard as I live a long way from anything like that, and my home lab is better set up than most hackerspaces anyway, besides machine tools.

[ilcaccillo]

Nichibei Shoji:
Full of random electronics surplus and junk, the occasional bit of old test gear and often a really good deal on whatever happens to be there at the time.
Don't bother going here though, it's my favourite junk store so I want all the goodies for myself.
https://goo.gl/maps/JQjj8H1krxJML5xz5
https://my-site-105174-102944.square.site/
https://twitter.com/superjunkNBS?
Closed!  :'( Is now yet another generic trading card store....

I was in Akihabara a few days ago and this info is not correct,
Nichibei Shoji which was previously located in the ground floor is now located in the 3rd floor of the same building,
so it still exists.

A lot of old stuff over there, junk and NOS components.
Nice to have a look around

you enter the building though this door:

[ilcaccillo]

Marutsu:
Parts and tools, they sell a lot of Digikey/RS/Adafruit/Sparkfun stuff too.
https://goo.gl/maps/tkaUkDP4EkPGciYv6
https://www.marutsu.co.jp/

Marutsu is a very nice store,
it's really nicely organized and has a lot of interesting and good quality products,
it's a worth a visit for sure.

[TERRA Operative]

Nichibei Shoji:
Full of random electronics surplus and junk, the occasional bit of old test gear and often a really good deal on whatever happens to be there at the time.
Don't bother going here though, it's my favourite junk store so I want all the goodies for myself.
https://goo.gl/maps/JQjj8H1krxJML5xz5
https://my-site-105174-102944.square.site/
https://twitter.com/superjunkNBS?
Closed!  :'( Is now yet another generic trading card store....

I was in Akihabara a few days ago and this info is not correct,
Nichibei Shoji which was previously located in the ground floor is now located in the 3rd floor of the same building,
so it still exists.

A lot of old stuff over there, junk and NOS components.
Nice to have a look around

Ah, they reopened! Thanks for the heads-up! I've edited the first post.
When I went past the last couple times they weren't open yet and looked like they were gone for good.

[boilerbots]

Finally found Nichibei Shoji but just a heads up this shop is very very small. However I stumbled upon another few places thanks to the terrible Apple Maps directions in Japan.

Like this place full of test equipment

[TERRA Operative]

Where is that place? Their website doesn't list any locations in Akihabara.

[damien]

Thanks for the list, there's a few places I didn't know!

FYI "Classic Components" appears to be closed, CFR their website and google streetview https://maps.app.goo.gl/Pj7CseYmUbsdKumv6

Loved your comment about 計測器ランド: same reaction when I saw the prices and same experience with the HP Ojisan 
Note that they do have a rack of "junk" outside the shop that is worth looking at: those are bargain-priced but of course NFG. I haven't seen anything interesting there in a while though.

Cheers!

[damien]

Just wondering.... do locals go to real shops or buy online from Rakuten or Monotaro or other???

Yodobashi Camera is not a camera store and worth a look in Japan. Bic Camera has more locations and higher prices - also not a camera store.

Monotaro is good for hardware. Navigating takes some learning but well worth it. Rakuten is cheaper but Monotaro.sg has free shipping over SG200. Anislo (Japan Post) is not shipping ex Japan due to covid.

Adding https://axel.as-1.co.jp/ , they sometimes have esoteric things not found elsewhere (e.g. replacement lithium for 53310A)

[TERRA Operative]

I bought my 3458A from Keisokuki a few months back, and the experience was as usual. Young guy grunted once and didn't even look up from his computer, old-ish guy was helpful and did the sale, the oldest HP guy was like a friendly grandpa and was really happy to have a chat.


I've bought from Axel, but they don't have a physical shop front that can be visited in Akihabara from what I can see (They're based in Osaka), so I left it off the list (same with Monotaro and Misumi Vona).

[RBBVNL9]

I visited Akihabara last week, and for those interested, how it looks (especially Toyo Keisokuki Co, which has a crazy amount of pre-owned T&M gear in stock), I posted a short YouTube video on it:



And indeed, Classic Components has completely disappeared from earth Their (translated) website is a bit vague on whether it closed or not, and I missed the post of Damien above, which could have saved me the walk.

[tominjapan]

I've lived in Japan for 20years. Akihabara is one place that continues to change constantly! It is very different than when I first visited it!