If there's one giant showroom where you can find up-to-the-minute electronic goods, it would have to be Akihabara's "Electric Town." In this high-tech mecca of global renown, emerging technologies hit the shelves with dizzying speed and deafening hype. If a product can leave an impression here, it can succeed virtually anywhere.
"In a way, Akihabara has acted as the launchpad for many popular products," says Toshimichi Murakoshi, chief manager of Ishimaru Denki Co. "Manufacturers know that once an item is a hit in Akihabara, the wave will spread throughout Japan and even internationally."
Of those countless hit items, says Murakoshi, the Sony Walkman looms the largest.