In Japan, during the first days of the year it is customary to pay a visit to the local shrine and pray for a good coming of events or even specific matters. Of course the area around Akihabara and it's famous Kanda Shrine is no exception, so these days are exceptionally busy.

During the huge Kanda Festival, visitors can enjoy local foods and the moving of the "Mikoshi", best discribed as portable shrines. This time however is more about actually partaking in the religious ceremony, praying, returning good luck charms or writing your special wish on little wood plates called "Ema". Since the area is so close to Otaku's holy land, the Emas hanging here often feature anime characters or are themed in a way that's a little different than usual, possibly only topped by Washinomiya Shrine and it's Lucky Star fans.
 

A huge line forms as people give their offerings followed by a short prayer

Omikuji are little paper rolls that contain a prediction of your fortune. If one receives an unlucky one it should be tied to a pole and be left at the shrine. The good ones should be kept and tied to the pole a few days later.
 

Also if no cute Miko-san is around selling them, at Kanda you could always get one from this dancing electronic friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of this year's Emas seem inspired by the financial crisis. The left one has the Moyashimon characters wishing for a good economy while on the right high sales for the soon to be released Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka DVD are demanded.

 

One if the deities enshrined at Kanda is Daikoku-sama, the popular kami of marriage

Always a good sign: Food staff eating their own cooking!

 

 

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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Kanda Shrine Homepage

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As of December, Quad Elements  is accepting reservations for the Evangelion Shingekijoban Original Design Watch “EVA-W01” (with a special gift for pre-order reservations).

The watch’s design is based on that of the EVA-01  that appears in the new movie, Evangelion Shingekijoban . The designer is Takeshi Wada, who has worked on brand watches like Wristomo and Spoon, and the maker is Seiko Instruments .

Those making reservations for pre-orders will receive a special present: a metal owner’s plate  on the back of the watch  bearing a Nerv mark and engraved with a serial number. Pre-orders can be made at Quad Element’s website, the Evangelion Store and elsewhere.

The item is priced as 23,800 yen. Regular sales are slated for mid-February of next year.

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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In mid-December, Music label Exit Tunes released “Exit Trance Presents Speed Anime Trance Complete Best – Best Dakara Hazukashikunai Mon! ” on CD.

The CD is a greatest hits collection of songs from the label’s Speed Anime Trance series that brings together thirty trance versions of anime songs like “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis ,” “Genesis of Aquarion ,” “When They Cry,”  and “Uninstall.” In collaboration with figure maker Atelier-Sai, 10,000 limited-edition pre-order albums including Duel Maid figures have also been prepared.

Talking with buyers at Akihabara CD shops, one of them commented, “This is the first CD I’ve found combining cool trance and anime songs. It’s extremely popular as a forerunner for the slew of trance cover CDs we’ve been seeing lately.”

The pre-order limited edition is priced at 3,000 yen, and the regular album is 2,800 yen.

(sample@youtube)

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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Cospa, a company that develops brands for character goods, began selling a Piccolo Costume Set in early December.

The costume was developed by Cospa’s party costume brand TranTrip. The set is based on Piccolo—a character from Dragon Ball Z—and includes his turban, cloak, inner clothes, tank top, pants , belt, and boot covers. The shoulder of the cloak and the way it spreads out around the neck recreates Piccolo’s characteristic style , and the tank top and pants have been custom-dyed in an original color. A cut-out Piccolo paper mask also comes with the set.

©バードスタジオ／集英社・東映アニメーション

The costume’s measurement’s are height 162 – 180 cm, chest 87 – 103 cm, waist 67 – 85 cm, and hips 92 – 104 cm. The price is set at 10,290 yen.

This article has been created in collaboration with
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Anime character Elizabeth from Gintama got a big response from Japanese fans when her USB memory stick was released, and now she’s taken the form of a PC mouse.

The Elizabeth mouse will appear in Shukan Shonen Jump, as well as Gintama works in production such as anime and DVDs. Since emphasis is being placed on Elizabeth being Kotaro Katsura’s cute, high-spec extraterrestrial pet,  the mouse comes in an appropriately bulbous shape. The print of the character is covered by a transparent shell to protect it from scratches and stains so that it can be used for a long time.

The mouse’s dimensions are 11.2 cm long, 6.2 cm wide and 3.2 cm tall, and it is priced at 3,990 yen. Shipping is set for February next year.

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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The second “itasha” (Japanese for a car decorated with anime, manga or game characters) RC car produced by Chara-con will go on sale in January next year.

The “Chara-con” concept behind the itasha RC cars comes from a combination of “characters” and “remote control cars.” The first versions  featured Macross Frontier  characters Ranka Lee and Sheryl Nome , and the designs—supervised by Macross Frontier supervising director  Shoji Kawamori–placed emphasis on putting the characters on the body, controller and decals.

©2007ビックウエスト/マクロスF製作委員会・MBS

This second series features the anime’s Clan Clang  appearing on exclusive decals for the RC Toyota Supra. Also included are special decals with symbols and icons that appear in the show.

©2007ビックウエスト/マクロスF製作委員会・MBS

Talking about the car, a Chara-con company spokesperson said, “The first series got a big response. We assumed they would mainly appeal to owners of actual itasha cars, but looking at the sales we had at the start, there was a response from other people, too.”

The car is 16 cm long and is priced at 4,500 yen.

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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As it was announced earlier at Figma staff Mikatan's blog all Figmas and Nendroids that have the golden christmas mark will include a limited edition christmas set to enhance your figure collection with that special santa spirit. 

 

© TYPE-MOON 

 

As expected the special offer is limited to Japan and only to selected figures. If you are looking to get one you should make sure you buy them a Good Smile Company's partner shops like Hobby Stock. 

 

This special treat will last until christmas and has been getting a good response so far. More info at the official site.

 

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Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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 Figma.jp

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These days cell phones, business card cases, hand mirrors and various other accessories decorated with rhinestones are a craze among Japanese women.

Joining them is a series of rhinestone USB memory sticks from Magnetic Laboratories  now on sale.

The devices are studded with rhinestones on a metallic body. “Perfect as Christmas presents,” the maker says their “stylish jewelry-like design” is targeted at women. The memory sticks also carry a security feature: simply go to the manufacturer’s website to download the free security software, and you can password protect the device.

An advertising spokesperson from the company said about the product, “A lot of women have shied away from the memory sticks that have been on the market until now because of their lifeless designs. We developed these sticks that we’re selling now after getting opinions from women.”

The stick’s dimensions are 13 mm wide, 7.5 mm thick and 33 mm long, and it weighs in at 3 grams. 2 and 4 GB types are available.

This article has been created in collaboration with
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“Moe SD” cards have gone on sale in Akihabara PC shops.

The cards have been made to add joy to the lives of PC users. Adorable (“moe”) characters printed on the packaging have been teamed up with 1GB Micro SD cards, and a special website has been launched to promote them.

The product characters—dubbed the “Three Conglomerate Daughters” (“Zaibatsu no Sannin Musume”)—have lost their parents as well as their fortune, stolen down to the last penny by some wicked people . The orphans were taken in by their uncle who runs SAC, a small parts store in Akihabara. In return for their uncle’s kindness, the story goes that the sisters began toiling in sales—something they were not accustomed to before. The three include Namika, who excels at selling using her faint voice; Minaha, good at hard sales; and Rinne, the eldest of the three and a master of “spiritual ” sales.

Regarding why the product features “moe” characters, a company advertising spokesperson said, “Our main customers are hardcore PC users, so when we thought about their lifestyles, we decided that this ‘moe’ design would please them.” On future product development, the spokesperson said, “We want to come up with products that will get PC users to say, ‘I want that!’”
 

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Capcom has put samples of a limited edition figure of Saber Lilly from the game Fate/Unlimited Codes on display in Akihabara game shops. The figure is produced by Figma  and comes included with the game.

©TYPE-MOON 2004-2008 ©EIGHTING 2008 ©cavia 2008©CAPCOM CO., LTD. 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Fate/Unlimited Codes, based on the Fate/Stay Night PC game released by Type-Moon in 2004 and the 2006 anime, is a PlayStation 2 version of the arcade game. In addition to marking a return to the hand-to-hand combat fighting of Fate/Stay Night, the game features a new Saber design by Takashi Takeuchi  and a “Suppose so-and-so was the main character...” type of what if story. Fate/Unlimited Codes is set for a December 18 release.

©TYPE-MOON 2004-2008 ©EIGHTING 2008 ©cavia 2008©CAPCOM CO., LTD. 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

As mentioned,  the Figma limited edition figure now on display and included with the game is Saber Lilly. Her hair is tied with a black ribbon, and she dons armor with her long white open back dress while wielding Excalibur in her hand. This “White Saber” is causing a lot of excitement in Japan.

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun
 

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CAPCOM

The Momoi Haruko Special Ver. 2 Hotshot Jr., a limited edition mini 4WD born from a collaboration with the “Songstress of Akiba,” was released by Tamiya in the end of November. The first model, the Thundershot Mk. II Momoi Haruko Special, spawned from an episode in Momoi Haruko’s book Akibaba Love concerning a mini 4WD and was released in August of this year.

As the first mini 4WD made by Momoi Haruko was the Racer Mini 4WD Hotshot Jr., the base model became the Mini 4WD Pro Hotshot Jr. The motif adopts an ultra-orange color like the glow sticks used by concertgoers, coordinated with special coloring on the body, chassis and tires. The marking stickers are printed with logos taken from Ms. Momoi’s song titles such as “Party!” and “Sunday early morning.”

The item sells for 1,365 yen in original packaging and comes with a postcard.
 

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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CPU Fortune-Telling, Overclock Version, was released on November 27.

The service is the latest version of CPU Fortune-Telling, which figures out the CPU that represents a person. After entering your name, your representative CPU and its qualities and character are divined. Forty-three CPUs appear in the fortune-telling results, from the 4004 Microprocessor (the world’s first CPU), to the familiar Pentium Processor, the Celeron Processor, the Core2 Duo Processor and the brand new Core i7 Processor.

 A web widget has also been released. It not only displays your result, but also allows other people to enter their names and have their fortunes revealed.

Regarding user response to the service, an advertising spokesperson from the company said, “We made efforts to get opinions from fortune-tellers, and people say ‘My fortune’s true!’ We also added CPU personality and traits in the fortune-telling results, like ‘a heat-producing CPU equals a hot-blooded man,’ so that PC enthusiasts would enjoy it, too.”

 This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun

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“Sleeping Together CD” (“Soine CD”) and “Alarm Clock CD” (“Mezamashi CD”) have been released.

The two discs feature well-known voice actresses reading lines that suit scenes for waking up and going to sleep, such as “I’ll sleep with you,” and “I can hear your heartbeat,” recorded on “Sleeping Together CD.”

On the other hand, “Alarm Clock CD” has “Rise and shine. It’s morning. If you don’t get up quick you’ll be late,” and “Did you sleep well? I saw your dreams.” It’s being released as a “morning call CD” set in hypothetical situations of waking up and going to sleep.

A product advertising spokesperson said the “Sleeping Together CD” is “perfect for someone that wants to sleep with a girl, hasn’t felt warm recently or wants to sleep with someone.” Regarding “Alarm Clock CD,” “We recommend this for people who find it hard to get up in the morning, or don’t really feel like going to school or work. You can use it like an alarm by setting the timer on your stereo.”

The CDs are priced at 1,500 yen each.

This article has been created in collaboration with
Akiba Keizai Shimbun 

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