Moeyo has brought us the good news that the weekly designated pedestrian zone of Akihabara - Hokosha Tengoku (歩行者天国) aka Hokuten (ホコ天), which ceased existing due to a mass killing back on 8th June 2008, is finally making an official return!
The re-opening of Hokosha Tengoku in Akihabara happened yesterday on 23rd January 2011. Other than people crossing the roads, it's been more than 2 years since I have seen so many people on the road itself in Akihabara.
A sign board emphasising no hawking, no performances, and no biking allowed inside the Hokosha Tengoku.
... Kamina, is that you?
Ranka Lee, Sheryl Nome, Kagamine twins and Zero cosplays spotted!
I do not recognise this cosplay orz
A patrol team walking down the road and keeps the place in order.
Road barricades to close off the road from traffic, showing the edge of the pedestrian zone
A man with a sign congratulating the return of Hokosha Tengoku
Flowers are laid near the area where the killings happened back in June 2008 and caused the Hokosha Tengoku to cease existing.
Even though that Aso Taro has been succeeded by 2 men already as the Prime Minister of Japan, the huge board for him is still there!
A mobile anti-crime CCTV van
Itashas are on display on the day too.
Coming towards the end of the Hokosha Tengoku, and normal traffic would soon resume on the main road of Akihabara.
While whatever I have blogged last year did not happen until now, it's nice to finally see the weekly Sunday pedestrian zone coming back to Akihabara. I can't really tell how big the event was compared to other days in the past, but with cosplayers, maids, itashas etc. coming back, maybe the good ol' days of Akihabara will come back one way or the other. Some shops took advantage of the re-opening of Hokosha Tengoku and carried out one-day-only promotions and sales to attract more people to come over. Security has been increased to prevent or at least to reduce the crimes occuring in the area. May we hope that this will last as it should have been in the past.
Images are from Moeyo
Ah, what a lively event!
ReplyDeleteThis is certainly welcome news coming from Japan after that absurd anime/manga law that passed recently.
Woah! people were stabbed? @.@ just read your last year's post. you were pretty lucky to have avoided that incident!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it's back. Interesting concept ^^
Cool, Akihabara looks like an awesome place to visit.
ReplyDelete@ Z:
ReplyDeleteThe news about a certain law getting passed in Tokyo last month was indeed a bit... Shocking, but I hope its consequence is not too damaging. Well we shall see about that.
It's indeed a nice change from the gloomy stuff we hear regarding the anime industry recently!
@ Zhe:
Yep, the news became international back then, and it was a headline on some newspapers and websites outside Japan too. It was quite a nasty surprise when I found out such event happened the day after I visited Akihabara back then.
Let's hope the new Hokoten will stay well and strong.
@ Tom:
Akihabara has been a place where many overseas anime fans or other hobby enthusiasts dream to go to, as it has been a "central" to many anime and hobby-related stuff in the recent decades. If you get to go to Tokyo one day do give Akihabara a visit!
I remember that Akihabara massacre, 7 death right,that murder also have weird motivation to did that since it's totally unrelated.
ReplyDeletedefinitely something worth celebrating here. I heard about the imminent reopening of the streets (was it from you?)
ReplyDeleteA little interesting to see that the patrols are out in full force though. It's a good idea though - who knows who might have it in for everyone to wreak havoc again like two years ago...
@ Aya:
ReplyDeleteYep that's right. The motivation behind the attack had nothing against the community itself, but something close to suicidal and other mental-related reasons IIRC.
@ radiant:
Imminent reopening of streets? Other than the misinformation I have blogged about last year I don't think I have talked about it again until now.
Hope the new patrols and other security measures will be effective while not damaging the community; they didn't deserve to suffer another tragedy like that of two years ago.
Its good to hear that they seem to finally have succeeded in overcoming the huge trauma from back then.It sure was horrible but closing it because of what happened was a bit of an overreaction imho.
ReplyDeleteHmmm I notice that many Cosplayers carry around trolleys...Does that mean they change clothes on location or is there another reason for this?
Maybe for a big haul?
@ Blowfish:
ReplyDeleteGovernments tend to overreact to big events to ensure no same thing to happen again in a short period of time (I think). Now that you said it Phillipines is still being blacklisted on Hong Kong's Outbound Travel Alert since the hostage crisis back in August.
I'd assume that the cosplayers bring their normal clothes with them in towable luggages, which would be easier to move around than hand-carried. It would also be handy to put big hauls in too if they are there to shop I suppose :o