On September 23rd they opened up a special gallery event to commemorate the first release 15 years ago. At Akihabara’s Anime Center it shows various writers’ and illustrators’ limited works and photographs. The exposition will be going on until mid october but on the 5th there will be a big event as part of the Akihabara autumn festival. During this event held at the UDX 2nd building one can meet and receive autographs or signings from writers and illustrators during event hours.

For more information on this event please head over to Akiba Today.

The album “squarewave surfers ~ memory of 8bit”is a compilation of “chiptune” artists from around the world – including U.S., Britain, Sweden and Japan that center their music production on using 8 bit chip based machines like NES,MSX,Commodore or the ever popular Game Boy.

Attendants, who are free to bring their own headphones, will plug themselves into a Belkin audiohub which is connected to an iPod and can so enjoy the music in a group atmosphere.

The event will take place on the 14th this months from 14.00 at Ishimaru Soft 2 and the next one at 16.00 inside Hobby Hall. On the 15th it will take place from 15.00 at Rental Showcase Astop.

News Via: Akiba Today

For more information regarding this exhibit please visit Akibanana.

For gunpla builders not living in Japan, you need not worry as this contest is also being held at other locations, the contest will also be held in Hong Kong or Taiwan. For those who are intending to join these competitions, feel free to email me your pictures of the event or your model. I will gladly display them on a post here.

In a press release today, Japanese newspaper and media outlet Akiba Keizai Shimbun announced the launch of their new English news portal AKIBA Today. Their goal is,

reporting in a cross media fashion about the latest events, goods and trends of anime, game and manga culture in Tokyo’s “electric town” Akihabara. We deliver business news aimed at otaku or fans of japanese pop culture as well as corporations.

Well, I personally will be looking into this site every now and then to check up for cool and new info. Hopefully I speak for all us Non-Japanese reading Otakus out there when i say “I hope more Japanese Sites/Companies follows suit.”

Akihabara is all about shopping and living in the moment. Akihabara is perhaps the worlds greatest temple of “Arcade Gaming,” though granted that throughout Japan (Tokyo especially) there are loads of arcades, nothing can compare to that of Akiba. The huge towers of Sega, Taito cannot be missed when in the streets but there are also places like “Hey Arcade” which has floors upon floors of arcade gaming, ranging from classic shooting games to fighting (Like Tekken).

Now if gaming isn’t your thing, there is something unique to Japan which Akihabara is sprawling with, that is the “Maid Cafe” whether you have the fetish for cute outfits or a dream of having a cute maid, maid cafes are the place for you. Even if you have none of those desires, the maid cafe still provides a unique experience that everyone should try at least once. In these cafes the maids greet you as you enter and treat you as if you were the master of the house. There are fun games you can play, and some maid cafes even have events such as the maids singing karaoke.

As I mentioned; Akihabara is mainly a shopping district. Sprawling from every direction from the main street are even more smaller streets, within each street there are plenty of electronic stores. Every Sunday afternoon, the main street is closed off to vehicle traffic and the area becomes much similar to a flea market. People would set up stands on the street to sell of their goods. Surprisingly on Sundays during these times a lot more performances occur, therefore a Sunday afternoon is a great time to be in Akihabara.

If you are buying goods, on the main street are the larger (more corporate like) stores filled with goods that can make the little Otaku voice in you scream in happiness. Keep in mind though as you venture further from the main street into smaller more privately owned stores, you may find more unique items as well as cheaper prices (Be warned though, the further you venture the less foreign friendly it becomes, so make sure you know your Japanese or you might just be lost). Besides electronics, Akihabara also has a great number of specialty hobbyist stores, ranging from anime and manga to collectible toys to military and railway fandom.

It is needless to say that for any Otaku well anyone in general, Akihabara is a place that everyone should experience. Endless items can be found for all your niches, not to mention the interesting Maid Cafes to fulfill your desires of being a so called master. Don’t forget theres some good snacks you can find on the streets and stores and if you are going to spend a night or two in Akihabara, you may want to try out the capsule hotels that are nearby (Cheap and Interesting). See you in the Holy Land.