Steins;Gate: Okabe's Akihabara

Akihabara Station is the work's front door. Steins;Gate is set in the district in the summer of 2010, and the game's own station is the JR Electric Town exit. The station opened in November 1890 as a freight terminal on the line from Ueno, and passenger service followed in 1925. The electronics district runs north and west of the concourse.

Visitor guidance: A working interchange; leave by the Electric Town exit for Radio Kaikan and the back streets.

On 28 July 2010 Okabe and Mayuri come here for a conference. Inside the hall Okabe meets Kurisu, later finds her lying in a pool of blood, and sends the message that starts the story; when he looks up, a satellite-like time machine is embedded in the roof. The capsule toy the pair turn on the way in is another early clue. The 1962 building was demolished in 2011. The present Radio Kaikan, ten floors above ground, opened on 20 July 2014 and still hosts official Steins;Gate collaborations.

Visitor guidance: The present building is open daily; the Steins;Gate tie-ins are temporary, so check the building's site before travelling.

Okabe's Future Gadget Laboratory sits above the Braun Tube Workshop, the television repair shop run by his landlord, Mr. Braun. The game calls the building the Ohiyama Building; its real counterpart is the Kohiyama Building at 3-6-11 Sotokanda. Braun owns the building, lets the lab have cheap rent and even hands over an old television as a moving-in gift. Suzuha works part-time for him. This is where the PhoneWave is built, and where the lab members gather between trips through Akihabara.

Location precision: The game's Ohiyama Building is identified with the real Kohiyama Building at 3-6-11 Sotokanda; the pin marks that address.

Mayuri works part-time at the cat-eared maid café MayQueen+Nyan² under the name Mayushii NyanNyan, and Faris is its most popular waitress. Daru, a devoted Faris fan, visits so often that the café's position helped persuade him to join the lab. The game's café is modelled on Cafe Mai:lish, on the second floor of FH Kyowa Square at 3-6-2 Sotokanda, about eight minutes from Akihabara Station. It still operates as a maid café with costume events.

Location precision: The game names MayQueen+Nyan²; Cafe Mai:lish is the documented model, so the pin marks the café rather than an in-game address.

Visitor guidance: A working maid café on the second floor; reservations and event days vary, so check before going.

Ruka is the only child of the priest of Yanabayashi Shrine in Akihabara; the game's shrine is modelled on Yanagimori Shrine and Akiba Shrine. Yanagimori was founded in 1458, when Ota Dokan planted willows and invited the Fushimi Inari kami to guard Edo Castle's northeast, and it moved to Kanda-Sudacho in 1659. Its Fortune shrine is known as Otanuki-sama, a tanuki associated with good fortune, success and gambling luck. Thirteen power stones in the grounds are a Chiyoda folk cultural property.

Location precision: The game's Yanabayashi Shrine is a composite model; the pin marks Yanagimori Shrine, one of the two documented models.

Visitor guidance: A small working shrine five minutes from Akihabara Station; the grounds are open, and the tanuki statues are the landmark.

Okabe and Mayuri eat at a back-alley gyudon shop: the game uses the real Sanbo, while the anime renames it Sanpo but keeps the location, the name on the sign and even the ban on mobile phones. Okabe and Mayuri are regulars, and the yellow "gyudon specialist" sign sits one street west of Chuo-dori. Sanbo keeps a short menu of beef bowls, beef plates, miso soup and eggs. Its rules are strict: no headphones, no questions, phones off.

Visitor guidance: A small working shop; buy a ticket from the machine, keep conversation quiet and switch off your phone.