If you were ever wondering who keeps the streets of Akihabara clean and tidy – its these three men who are out in cosplay outfits.

Image Credit: AP via JapanToday

Back in Aug 2010, Japan experienced a very hot summer and adult goods store M’s Tower in Akihabara help people battle the heat with their special “chilled pantsu“. If you had been following the news recently, you would know that many countries including Japan are now facing a chilly extended winter. So once again the store has decided to released their latest innovation – warm pantsu to help the ronery otakus battle the chill.

In case you get the wrong idea that the warm pantsu comes straight off the kawaii sales assistant then you might be disappointed because these warm pantsu are being kept warm in the same heater that is used to keep food warm in convenience stores. The sales assistant, however, does help to serve you those warm pantsu that retail 800yen just like anyone would serve you a steam bun. Of course, you can choose your favorite colored shimapan from: Blue Stripes, Pink Stripes and Green Stripes.

Source: AkibaBlog

I’m quite at a loss for words as to anyone who would buy such things. But I would like to find out what one actually does with the warm pantsu – Wear it over your head while you walk home under the snow?

Radio Kaikan has announced that the “mysterious satellite” that crashed onto its roof last Oct as part of the promotional collaboration with Steins;Gate will be returning to the building for an exhibition.

The “satellite” will be open every day during regular business hours (from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) on the first floor of the Radio Kaikan’s second building.

Source: 萌えオタニュース速報

If you are travelling to Akihabara in Tokyo, you will never be able to miss this gigantic promotional poster featuring pop idol group AKB48 that hangs above a concourse at Akihabara Station.

Steins;Gate fans who visited Akihabara might be pleasantly surprised to find that a stallite has indeed crashed onto the rooftop of Radio Kaikan building.

Of course this wasn’t an incident resulting from the “Choice of Steins;Gate” but a special collaboration event between Steins;Gate and Radio Kaikan that is taking place this weekend.

Image Credit: ﾂﾙﾐﾛﾎﾞTwitpic via オタク.com

Of course, one might wonder if this is actually the works of “the Organisation” to show us that time travel does exist. El Psy Congroo ^^

It has been more than 3 years since the Deadly Stabbing In Akihabara on 8 Jun 2008 and Akihabara has managed to recover back to the bustling pedestrian zone for otakus. But I’m sure many of us would still remember the shock when we first heard about what happened on the news.

Events of that tragic day will soon be featured in an upcoming movie “River” which is being written and produced by Hiroki Ryuuichi  (廣木 隆一), one of Japan’s most prolific movie director. The movie will follow a young women as she recounts how she lost her beloved boyfriend during the attack but manages to return to Akihabara. She then finds strength to carry on her life through the various interactions with the people in Akihabara.

The movie will debut at the 12th Tokyo Filmex as one of its special presentations, and is scheduled to premier in Japanese theatre in Mar 2012.

Source: Sponichi via はちま起稿 and Mainichi

For those that were unfamiliar with the event of that day:

Tomohiro Kato, 28, ran down five pedestrians, of whom three were killed and two were injured, with a truck in a vehicle-free pedestrian zone in Akihabara on June 8, 2008, and fatally stabbed four passersby with a dagger after getting out of the vehicle. The rampage ended with seven people killed and ten others injured. He was put on trial and sentenced to death earlier this March.

Sony’s PS Vita is set to launch on 17 Dec 2011 in Japan and retailers are starting to take orders today.

This is the scene outside Yodobashi-Akiba where over 1,200 gamers have lined up outside by 7am this morning. According to staff, customers have started queuing as early as 10pm last evening.

While it is possible to place your preorders online, many sites were filled with preorders and stopped taking anymore within 20 minutes.

Source: Nikkei News

So how many of you had already placed your preorder for the first batch? I’d probably wait until one of the gaming companies release a limited edition bundle before I pick up the PS Vita.

Today was the official opening of the brand new AKB48 Cafe & Shop in Akihabara.  It was a grand event covered by various Japanese press media because the event was attended by several media senbatsu members from AKB48, including Sae Miyazawa 宮澤佐江, Itano Tomomi 板野友美, Minami Takahashi 高橋みなみ, Shinoda Mariko 篠田麻里子, Watanabe Mayu 渡辺麻友 and Yokayama Yui 横山由依.

Following the immense rising popularity of AKB48 in Japan and recent success of the AKB48 concept cafe and shop in Singapore, they have decided to revive the AKB48 cafe in Akihabara. In fact, they have decided to open the cafe next to the popular Gundam Cafe and Bar.

The outlet aims to be a shop that fulfils your visual, auditory and gustatory senses by including a theatre area, café area, private function room, and shopping section. The theatre area will screen recent stage performances while serving buffet lunches, while the cafe area is quite normal serving an entrée with drink. The café also offer yummy snacks for takeaway such as muffins, cookies and doughnuts.

During the interview, the media were eager to find out whether there will be member appearance or any opportunities to taste a dished cooked by your favorite AKB48 member, and Yui shared that it could be a “luxurious surprise” for fans in the future.

A small area of the cafe is sectioned off and converted into a private function area that accommodates 16 people comfortably and it can be rented for private gatherings and celebrations activities. Feels like a cosy area that is a great place to hold a child’s birthday party as well. If you look carefully you can see the kawaii drawings scribbled onto the wall by the visiting senbatsu members today.

To make sure you don’t go home empty-handed, the management has decided to include a shop area that sells exclusive goods similar to the concept store that was recently opened in Harujuku.

Image and News Source: natlie, modelpress, ASCII

Definitely worth a visit if you are making a trip to Akihabara but based on the official website, reservations is required for the cafe. Here’s a video I found on youtube that takes a look at the crowd outside and also brings you into the shop and cafe for a quick sneak peek:

Apparently customers pay 500 yen for a chance to fish out their favorite capsule shimapan (striped pantsu) by using a special hook. Losta different color to choose from and there is even a special lacy one hidden amongst the midst of those float capsule balls.

Source: AkibaBlog

Soon they probably will be putting these capsule pantsu into Gashapon vending machine O_O

Source: Bark.jp

Mami looks so kawaii in that meido outfit <3 Too bad the rest were not wearing meido outfit as well.