The Kanda Festival, one of the three great festivals of Japan, will be held in May.

Prior to the festivities, the Otaku Mikoshi (meaning “Nerd Portable Shrine”) will be presented on April 26. The shrine will be built by volunteers from the Carry Akiba Group, who will “carry a portable shrine we built fully loaded with all the fun there is in Akihabara.” It will be equipped with a monitor and feature decorations on its exterior including figures, video games, model trains, CD-ROMs, two-legged robots, electrical parts, vacuum tubes and solar panels. The shrine is being built with support from businesses and shops in Akihabara, NPOs, the Electrical Town Organization and others.

Since a portable shrine is a vehicle for the gods to ride, at first glance the Otaku Mikoshi may seem like divine retribution, but Japanese religious beliefs embrace “multitudinous gods.” When you consider that gods may inhabit objects like figures and model trains, too, then you’ll realize that this sort of shrine is just right.
 

his article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

First Visit to Kanda Shrine (Akiba Today)