chad davis's photography

Mulan Akihabara sells DVDs, games, and hobby goods along the Akihabara district's main shopping streets in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward. Akihabara Station, served by JR and Tokyo Metro lines, sits within walking distance and anchors the area's group of specialty retailers.

Akihabara grew up around the electronics stalls that filled the streets near Akihabara Station after World War II, when vendors sold radio parts and surplus goods to a city rebuilding from scratch. The neighborhood's name comes from Akiba, a fire-prevention shrine built here in the 1870s after a blaze leveled the area. By the 1980s and '90s, Akihabara had shifted from hardware to home computers and then to anime, manga, and gaming culture, earning the nickname Akihabara Electric Town. Chuo-dori, the main street running through the district, closes to vehicle traffic on weekend afternoons, turning the roadway over to pedestrians beneath its dense layer of neon signage. The elevated tracks crossing above the street carry JR Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku Line trains through Akihabara Station, one of the busiest stops on Tokyo's rail network.

Akihabara, in Tokyo's Chiyoda ward, grew out of a post-war black market for radio parts into the city's best-known electronics and otaku-culture district. The neighborhood takes its nickname, "Electric Town," from the cluster of appliance and component shops that opened along Chuo-dori and the surrounding side streets starting in the 1950s. GiGO, the arcade brand seen on storefronts here, was rebranded from Sega's own arcade chain after Sega sold its amusement-center business in 2022, though Sega retains a minority stake. Duty-free electronics retailers, discount DVD and used-goods shops, and multi-story game centers now share the same blocks, drawing both tourists and collectors to a district still built around vertical signage stacked several stories high.

The E231 series train pictured here runs on JR East's Sobu Line, which links central Tokyo to Chiba Prefecture. JR East introduced the E231 fleet in 2000 as a successor to the older 103 and 201 series trains, building it with a stainless-steel body and a wide-door layout meant to speed passenger boarding during rush hour. Destination and train-number displays like the "1930B" and "Chiba" readouts on this unit's front panel use LED technology that JR East rolled out fleet-wide in the early 2000s to replace analog signage. The Sobu Line's rapid and local services share track with the Chuo Line through central Tokyo, feeding into major hubs such as Shinjuku and Akihabara before continuing east toward Chiba.

Shinjuku's rail corridor runs just below Kabukicho, Tokyo's largest entertainment and nightlife district, packed with bars, theaters, and neon-clad storefronts advertising everything from pachinko parlors to karaoke lounges. The tracks belong to lines converging on Shinjuku Station, which handles more daily passengers than any other station in the world, according to Guinness World Records. Maintenance equipment and signal gantries along the right-of-way are routine fixtures of Japan's rail system, which prioritizes nightly track inspection and repair during the narrow hours when trains stop running.

This train is a JR East E233 series electric multiple unit, the standard commuter rolling stock introduced in 2006 across several Tokyo-area lines including the Chuo, Keihin-Tohoku, and Saikyo lines. Each set typically runs as a ten-car formation with a top speed of 120 km/h, built with a lightweight stainless-steel body and regenerative braking system. The dense overhead gantry structure supplies power through a 1,500-volt DC catenary, a standard configuration on JR East's electrified suburban network.

Shinjuku Station handles roughly 3.5 million passengers a day, the busiest transit hub on the planet. The station serves multiple operators, including JR East, Odakyu, Keio, and the Tokyo Metro and Toei subway systems, through a maze of more than 200 exits. Its curved platforms and tight track geometry, a legacy of the station's piecemeal expansion since it opened in 1885, are still in daily use today. Commuters bound for Tokyo's western suburbs pass through here on lines like the Chuo, Sobu, and Odakyu, making the evening rush one of the densest recurring crowd events anywhere in the city.

Odakyu HALC anchors this stretch of Shinjuku, its name taken from the Odakyu Electric Railway, which operates the adjacent Shinjuku Station terminal and a department store chain serving western Tokyo and the Odawara line. Shinjuku Station itself handles more daily passengers than any other station in the world, a distinction recognized by Guinness World Records, with multiple operators including JR East, Odakyu, and Keio converging on the complex. The green Lake ALSA sign advertises a consumer finance company, one of many such lenders that took root in Japan during the postwar credit boom. A fenced smoking area, common near Japanese train stations since indoor and street smoking restrictions tightened in the 2000s, occupies the foreground plaza, reflecting Tokyo's approach of concentrating smokers in designated outdoor enclosures rather than banning the habit outright.

This narrow counter belongs to a yatai-style izakaya, the kind of small stand-up or stool-seated bar common in Japan's older entertainment districts. Seating typically runs to a handful of stools along a single counter, with the cook working just an arm's length from customers. Hand-painted portraits and taped-up posters are common decor in these shops, often left by regulars or previous owners rather than the current staff. Menus are usually handwritten and posted on the wall or left on the counter, changing with what's available that day. Many of these bars operate only in the evening hours and seat no more than eight or ten people at a time.

Omoide Yokocho runs in a narrow strip near Shinjuku Station's west exit, its lanes barely wide enough for two people to pass. The name translates to "Memory Lane," though longtime regulars still call it by its older, cruder nickname referencing the black-market yakitori stalls that first opened here after World War II. Fewer than a hundred tiny bars and grills operate along these alleys today, most seating no more than six to eight customers at a counter. A fire in 1999 destroyed a section of the district, but owners rebuilt to the same footprint and scale rather than modernize. Paper lanterns marked with shop names hang low over the walkway, a fixture of the alley since its postwar start.

Yakitori vendors like this one grill skewered chicken over binchotan, a white charcoal prized in Japan for burning hot and clean with little smoke or odor. The charcoal is made from ubame oak, slow-fired in a kiln process that can take over a week to complete. Stalls of this kind are common fixtures in izakaya districts and covered arcades, where cooks work from narrow street-facing counters just large enough for a grill, a fan to manage the coals, and space for a handful of customers. The paper sign taped to the glass is a handwritten notice, a common substitute for printed menus at small, family-run operations.

Omoide Yokocho sits just west of Shinjuku Station, tucked beneath the rail tracks in a lattice of alleys barely wide enough for two people to pass. The lane took shape in the black-market years after World War II and later earned the nickname "Shomben Yokocho," or Piss Alley, for its rough-and-ready postwar reputation. A fire in 1999 destroyed much of the block, and the alley was rebuilt while keeping its original scale and layout. Today it holds roughly sixty tiny stalls, many seating fewer than ten people, serving yakitori, motsuyaki, and other grilled skewers to office workers and travelers alike. Ikkakuya, marked here by its paper lanterns, is one of the counter-style shops that keep the alley's postwar character intact.

Omoide Yokocho, tucked beside the train tracks near Shinjuku Station's west exit, is a narrow lane of tiny yakitori bars and noodle stalls that dates back to the black markets of the years right after World War II. The alley's nickname translates to "Memory Lane," though older residents still sometimes call it by its blunter, pre-cleanup name, referencing the smoke from charcoal grills that once hung over the passage. Most of the stalls here seat only a handful of customers at a counter, a layout carried over from the postwar era when space and materials were scarce. Paper lanterns marked with shop names and beer brands hang along the frontages, a tradition common to Japanese drinking alleys known as yokocho. The lane survived a serious fire in 1999 and later redevelopment pressure, and today it sits within walking distance of the Kabukicho entertainment district and the skyscrapers of West Shinjuku.

Omoide Yokocho, near Shinjuku Station's west exit, is a cluster of narrow alleys lined with tiny yakitori stalls and noodle counters, many with only a handful of seats. The name translates to "Memory Lane," though the district was long nicknamed Shonben Yokocho, or "Piss Alley," a reference to its postwar black-market origins. Most of the alley dates to the years right after World War II, when unlicensed food stalls sprang up around the station to serve workers and returning soldiers. A fire in 1999 destroyed part of the district, and later redevelopment pressure threatened the rest, but many of the original shopkeepers rebuilt on the same footprints. Paper lanterns strung along the passageways mark individual stalls, some family-run for three generations.

Omoide Yokocho, tucked beside the west exit of Shinjuku Station, is a narrow cluster of alleyways lined with tiny yakitori stalls and bars, most seating only a handful of customers at a time. The district took shape in the black-market years after World War II, when vendors sold food and drink from makeshift stands along the rail tracks, and it earned the nickname "Piss Alley" for its lack of plumbing in that era. A 1999 fire destroyed much of the area, but shop owners rebuilt it in the same cramped, low-slung style, and the alley remains one of the few surviving examples of old Shinjuku's postwar layout. Paper lanterns and hand-painted signs mark stalls specializing in skewered chicken, offal, and oden, many run by the same families for generations.

Omoide Yokocho sits just northwest of Shinjuku Station, tucked behind the tracks near the west exit. The nickname means "Memory Lane," though older Tokyoites still call it by its blunter postwar name, Shonben Yokocho. The alleys trace back to the black markets that sprang up here after 1945, when small stalls sold food and drink to laborers rebuilding the city. A fire in 1999 destroyed much of the district, and the current lanes were reconstructed to preserve the original scale and layout. Most of the stalls seat only a handful of customers and specialize in yakitori and kushiyaki, grilled skewers cooked over charcoal. Paper lanterns marked with shop names hang along the narrow walkways, a fixture of the district since its rebuilding.

Drawings of Liam Ramos, Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Adam Johnson seen in front of a South Minneapolis home in August 2026.