Guide · Akihabara

Part of: Things to Do in Akihabara: Local Guide's List

Akihabara Arcades: Which One to Walk Into, What Is on Each Floor, and How Paying Actually Works

Akihabara has six big arcades within a few minutes of the Electric Town Exit: GiGO Buildings 2, 3 and 5, Taito Station, Hey, and Silk Hat, the nine-floor arcade that opened in November 2025 where GiGO Building 1 used to be. Entry is free everywhere; you pay per play with coins, and at most of them with a transport IC card or a QR app too. Crane games are on the lower floors, rhythm games at the top. I run private anime tours here most weeks and end most of them in one of these buildings.

Arcades are the part of Akihabara that works at any hour and in any weather, and they are the one place where you are allowed to be loud. They also changed more in the last two years than most guidebooks noticed, so the list below is checked against each operator's own store page.

Which arcade in Akihabara should you go to first?

For a first visit, Taito Station or GiGO Building 3. Both are on or next to Chuo-dori, both have crane games at the bottom and rhythm and video games further up, and you can see the whole range of a Japanese arcade in one building. If you only want crane games, GiGO Building 2 is nothing else.

Here is the short version I give guests on my Akihabara anime tour when they ask where to go after we finish:

• Want the full arcade in one building? Taito Station Akihabara: photo-sticker booths in the basement, three floors of crane games, video and racing games and Taiko no Tatsujin on the fourth, rhythm games on the fifth.
• Want the newest, biggest one? Silk Hat Akihabara, nine floors from B1 to 8F, opened 22 November 2025.
• Want only crane games? GiGO Building 2.
• Here for fighting, shooting or card-reader games? Hey, run by Taito, four floors of video, card and music games.

The district is small enough that you do not have to choose. All six are within a few minutes' walk of each other.

What is on each floor of the big Akihabara arcades?

The rule of thumb holds in every building: prizes downstairs, skill games upstairs. Crane games take the ground floor and the floors just above it, because that is what pulls people in from the street. Video games, card-reader games and rhythm games sit higher up, where the regulars play.

Floor plans move when new machines arrive, so treat the floor numbers as a map of where things usually are, not a promise. The store pages linked under Sources list what is installed this week.

How do you pay in a Japanese arcade?

Mostly with ¥100 coins. Every arcade has change machines that turn notes into coins. Many machines also take a transport IC card such as Suica, and the big chains accept QR payments too. GiGO's three Akihabara buildings list transport IC cards, PayPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay among their payment options.

Three details that save time:

• Notes do not go into the games. Find the change machine (両替機, ryōgae-ki) first.
• GiGO Buildings 3 and 5 have foreign-currency exchange machines that turn foreign notes into yen. Coins cannot be exchanged.
• A tapped IC card works on the machines that show the IC logo. If you have not set one up yet, the Welcome Suica guide and Suica on iPhone cover both.

Are crane games in Akihabara rigged?

They are skill games with a price attached, not lotteries, and staff will help. GiGO's own guide for visitors says that if you cannot get a prize, tell a staff member and they may adjust its position. Asking is normal. Most regulars do it.

This is the honest section. Crane games are designed so that the prize usually takes several tries, and the cost of those tries adds up faster than people expect. My rule for guests is simple: decide the budget before the first coin, and if the prize has not moved after the first few tries, ask staff before spending more. The prizes themselves are often the same figures and plush you can buy on the floors around the corner, and if you just want the figure, where to buy anime figures in Akihabara explains where prize figures are sold boxed and new.

Can you take photos and videos inside the arcades?

At GiGO, yes: the chain says photos and video are allowed inside, but asks you not to post anything that shows other customers. At other arcades, ask staff first. Photo-sticker booths are a separate thing, and some of them cannot be used by groups of men only.

The "other people" rule is the one that matters. A rhythm-game player at the top of the leaderboard is not part of the scenery, and filming them without asking is the arcade version of photographing a stranger on the street. Where the line is in the rest of the district is in photography etiquette in Japan.

Can kids go to Akihabara arcades?

Yes, in the daytime. In the evening there are age limits: GiGO's visitor guide says children under 16 may not enter from 18:00, though with a parent or guardian they may sometimes stay until 22:00, and staff may ask for ID. The details depend on the prefecture, so expect staff to enforce them.

In practice this means a family should do the arcade in the afternoon, between shops, rather than as the evening finale. Crane games and capsule-toy walls work for almost every age. The rest of a day out with children is in Akihabara with kids.

What are the unwritten rules in a Japanese arcade?

Take turns on anything that is not a crane game, do not hit the machines, and keep drinks and smoking to the places that allow them. GiGO's visitor guide says you may play a crane game back-to-back until you win, but other games may ask you to give up the seat after one play.

Rhythm and fighting games are where people notice. If someone is waiting behind you, finish your credit and step away. Medal games are their own world: medals cannot be cashed out or taken home. For the shops between the arcades, Akihabara etiquette covers the floor rules.

When should you go?

Any time the shops are closed or it is raining. The arcades open in the morning and run well into the late evening, after the anime shops have closed, which makes them the natural end of an Akihabara day. In my experience weekday afternoons are quiet and weekend evenings are when the regulars fill the upper floors.

If you are planning an evening, Akihabara at night puts the arcades in order with dinner and the lit-up street. For how long to give the whole district, see how long to spend in Akihabara.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an entry fee for Akihabara arcades? No. Walking in is free; you pay only for the games you play.

Did GiGO Akihabara Building 1 close? Yes. It closed on 31 August 2025 when the building lease ended, after 33 years under various Sega and GiGO names. A new nine-floor arcade, Silk Hat Akihabara, opened at the same address on 22 November 2025.

Can I pay with a credit card? Not usually at the machine itself. Bring coins or use a transport IC card or QR app where the machine accepts it. The change machines take notes, and GiGO Buildings 3 and 5 also have foreign-currency exchange machines.

Which Akihabara arcade has the most rhythm games? Silk Hat has two full floors of them, and Taito Station gives its whole top floor to them. GiGO Building 3 has rhythm games too.

Can I bring medals home from a medal game? No. Medals cannot be exchanged for cash or prizes, and they cannot leave the building. Unused medals can be deposited or returned.

End the day upstairs

Most of my tours finish in an arcade, because it is the one place in Akihabara that stays open after the floors close. If you would like the floors before it chosen around the anime you watch, Adventure in Akihabara with Anime is my private half-day walk, three to four hours, never shared with other guests. The price is on the tour page.

About the author. I am Yuuki, a Japanese teacher and Akihabara anime tour guide based in Tokyo. I run private anime tours here most weeks, rated 4.96★ on Airbnb across 171 reviews. I have watched over 1,500 anime series, and I have lost more ¥100 coins to crane games than I am going to admit on a public page.

See the Akihabara anime tour →

Sources: GENDA GiGO Entertainment, store pages for GiGO Akihabara Building 2, Building 3 and Building 5 (address, game types, payment options, foreign-currency exchange), and GiGO's guide to Japanese arcades for foreign visitors (free entry, coins and change machines, staff adjusting prizes, photo rules, under-16 entry, medal rules); TAITO, store pages for Taito Station Akihabara (floor guide) and Hey; Silk Hat Entertainment (formerly Matahari Entertainment), Silk Hat Akihabara grand opening (22 November 2025, B1–8F); AKIBA PC Hotline!, GiGO Akihabara Building 1 closes (1 September 2025) and Silk Hat Akihabara opens (floor-by-floor contents). All pages checked 4 October 2026. Opening hours are deliberately not given: check each store page on the day.