Akihabara, Tokyo Live Cam

A crossing on Chuo-dori lies under this webcam in Akihabara, the electronics quarter of central Tokyo, Japan. Cars wait at the lights below the lens, and the shopfronts along the avenue stay lit well into the night.

Akihabara grew after the war as a market for radio parts and components, and the side lanes still carry shops selling connectors and chips by the drawer. The main street has since gone over to manga, anime, games and hobby goods, stacked floor by floor in the buildings on either side.

On Sunday afternoons Chuo-dori is closed to traffic and the roadway fills with people on foot. Late at night the same frame is almost empty apart from taxis.