Asking the People of Akihabara: Part 1 - Mr. Akihabara, Sasakichi

It started this month.Ask the people of Akihabara. "
The project involves interviewing people who are active in or work in Akihabara, and sharing their heart-warming love for Akihabara.
Another aim is to have those interviewed introduce their friends to help keep the Akihabara community going.

For this first installment, we spoke with Mr. Sasakichi, also known as Mr. Akihabara, and would like to share his passionate thoughts with you.

A raid on Mr. Akihabara's office. A secret base filled with boys' dreams

For this interview, we visited Mr. Sasakichi's office.
Mr. Sasakichi's office is located a few minutes from Akihabara Station, a little off the main street.

This office is a secret base filled with boys' dreams, which you wouldn't know from looking at it from the outside.
When you open the door and step inside, you'll be greeted by a steep staircase! At first glance, it reminded me of the stairs at my grandmother's house.

I go up the stairs and enter the office. Wow...
It's a dream space...a boy's dream space is spreading out before you!



This place was filled with the romance of the secret base I had dreamed of for so many years.

What exactly is Mr. Akihabara doing?

What kind of activities has Mr. Sasakichi, who calls himself Mr. Akihabara, been involved in? We would like to peel back the veil of mystery one by one.

Q
What kind of activities does Mr. Akihabara do in Akihabara?

A
I mainly work in the media industry in Akihabara, and have been doing so for over 10 years.
He first started his career in independent media, appearing on the Akihabara information program "A! To Odoroku Broadcasting Station" every week until 2012, and also worked as the famous store manager at Sanko Rare Mono Shop from 2007 to 2016.
As I juggled two jobs, working as an information dissemination media outlet in Akihabara and as the manager of Sanko Rare Mono Shop, the proportion of my media work increased, and before I knew it, media dissemination in Akihabara had become my main job, and that's where I am today (laughs).

In the past, most media outlets didn't allow people to show their faces, so it was unusual for people to show their faces openly and disseminate information.
As a result, I received a lot of complaints and a lot of things were written on message boards and such.
However, I thought that if I kept doing it, people would understand, so I continued my activities after that.
Even some pretty serious media people kept telling me things like, "How much can you tell me about Akihabara?"
I used to work in a store, so I understand how they feel, and I just kept working hard, thinking, "I have no choice but to keep going steadily."

Q
Where do Mr. Akihabara Sasakichi's roots lie?

A
I've been going to Akihabara almost every week since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I never thought I'd end up working in the media there.
Akihabara has always been my favorite city, and I've always wanted to do something in it.

Since I was about three years old, I loved the Transportation Museum located at Manseibashi Bridge in Akihabara and used to go there often.
My parents would come with me almost every week to buy games and home appliances, and when I was in elementary school I would check out the new games in magazines like Famitsu and come to buy them with my friends.
I had a rich friend, so I followed him around.
I actually bought all the new releases. I was so rich I was amazed.
I think it's past the statute of limitations now, so I'll just say it, but I went out to buy some adult games (lol).

Mr. Akihabara and Cosplay Culture

Q
Sasakichi is hosting a cosplay event.
Is that also one of your activities to spread the culture of Akihabara?

A
I agree.
I used to work as a cosplayer, but I felt that the cosplay culture was gradually fading away from Akihabara.
Of course, there are cosplay shops in Akihabara, but the number of cosplay shops has been increasing dramatically in Ikebukuro.
Ikebukuro Halloween and Shibuya Halloween have started, and Governor Yuriko Koike even came, so it was a lot of fun.
The ward is promoting it heavily and creating a lot of excitement, so why can't we do it in Akihabara?
Cosplay culture is one of the major otaku cultures in Akihabara.
I didn't want it to disappear from Akihabara, and it was sad that there were no cosplay events in Akihabara, so I wondered if there was something I could do, and so I started an event called "AkiCos" with my friends from Akihabara.

We decided to continue this event, and have been holding it every month since its 7th anniversary recently.

*For details about Akikos'Kensetsu Fair Hokuriku,'check!

This Akikos is also one of our weapons, and when we go to the countryside for local revitalization events, we can bring this Akikos to a special stage.
Since it is a cosplay performance in Akihabara, it has become one opportunity to "bring Akihabara to the countryside."
As of now, three local outdoor events have been decided for this year.

Mr. Akihabara's future plans

Q
Mr. Sasakichi has been involved in a variety of activities.
Do you have any ideas about what you want to do in the future?

A
I want to create a circle in Akihabara again.
For a while, we held social gatherings in Akihabara, but we haven't been able to hold any for the past few years.
We have established our company and held a large party on May 2nd, so we are thinking about how we can create a circle in Akihabara from scratch again.
I don't know how far I can make a circle...

There are quite a few places that want to join hands with the people at Akihabara shops.
Don't you feel warm and fuzzy when you see people on Twitter replying to each other?
As an otaku, I feel happy when I see things like that.
I hope this becomes more widespread.
I think that by creating a network of Akihabara shops, we can finally do something interesting that is unique to Akihabara.
I thought it would be great if I could become a hub that creates a circle in Akihabara...

The second project I'm thinking of doing is apparel in Akihabara.
When you actually look around, there are no "Akihabara" souvenirs.
There are things like maid cookies and canned oden, but if you ask people what souvenirs or goods come to mind when they think of Akihabara, I don't think they'll be able to think of anything.
So I wondered if I could do something with apparel...

For example, I would like to have corporate logo patches and stickers made for my store in Akihabara...I make hoodies and other things for my brand, so if I could match them, I would like to be able to stick them on clothes like TIGER & BUNNY.
I thought it would be nice to be able to walk around with the logos of my favorite stores stuck on it, like "Onoden!" or "Sambo!" (laughs).
I think people overseas would also like to have souvenirs like that.
By using this logo, people can see, "Oh, that person likes that store" or "He recommends that store," so I hope that people will express more of their favorite Akihabara.

Mr. Akihabara Sasakichi's message to those who love Akihabara and Akiba content

I know there are still many people who can't come to Akihabara because of COVID, but please log in to Akihabara.
I would love for you to see Akihabara as it is today.

After the third interview with the people of Akihabara

Akihabara is home to many people with passionate thoughts.
Each person, regardless of age or gender, has their own image of Akihabara that they think is "this!" and they have a strong will that is similar to a particular preference.
We've had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Akihabara Sasakichi this time. What did you think?
We will continue to introduce people and shops that are actively working in Akihabara, so please check out Akihabara Base Camp.