Tokyo, September 13, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) and Akihabara Area Tourism Organization Ltd. (Akihabara Area Tourism Organization) are pleased to announce the commencement of collaborative activities with MyAnimeList Co., Ltd., (MyAnimeList) the Tokyo-based operator of the world’s biggest anime manga community and database site MyAnimeList. MyAnimeList boasts more than 18 million active users with 270 million page views, both, on a monthly basis, from users in 200 countries around the world. 

Our three companies will promote Akihabara as a regional co-creation-type XR town, attracting anime fans around the world to Virtual Akihabara. We aim to attract anime fans from around the world, and create a Metaverse where they can interact. 

Collaboration

Until recently, Tokyo’s Akihabara area was extremely popular with international visitors, but such tourism demand has declined since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and anime fans from around the world are still unable to visit Akihabara to enjoy anime, games, and related goods. In this latest development, and as the first step in our collaborative efforts, our three companies have put in place a number of facilities to help global anime fans enjoy activities and contents in a virtual space. We have cooperated with an online school cultural festival site, known as the MAL Bunkasai, to introduce Virtual Akihabara to MyAnimeList users, and help them enjoy contents, such as customized capsule toys and activities, in a virtual space. 

We will create a venue so that anime fans from all over the world can visit Akihabara, a famous site of anime in Japan, and interact while playing their favorite anime and games.

MAL Bunkasai – Online Event

 Dates and times:  From 03:00 EST, September 17 to 03:00 EST, September 18, 2022
 URL:  https://mxj.myanimelist.net/bunkasai2022/

Images of MAL Bunkasai

Displays in English as user interface go global!

Going Forward

Looking ahead, our three companies will combine our solutions services to spread awareness of Virtual Akihabara globally, while aiming to create a venue where anime fans from all around the world can gather and interact. We will also work with various Intellectual Property (IP) holders and local business operators in Japan to develop businesses not only for Japanese anime fans but for anime fans around the world.

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