Interest
Lucky Star Town to Host 2nd Otaku Matchmaking Event
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Washimiya, the Kuki City neighborhood that is home to the "Lucky Star shrine," has announced that it will host a second "Ota-Konkatsu" matchmaking event for otaku on July 17. The local chamber of commerce and industry's youth division is again producing the "Ota-Konkatsu Washimiya Gakuen-Hen ~Shumi Bakari no Kimi-tachi e~" event.
The first event, held last November, picked 20 men and 20 women from a lottery of the 386 men and 115 women who applied to attend the event. Out of the 20 couples paired at the event, seven became actual couples. For this year's event, men must pay a 5,000-yen (about US$61) entry fee, and women must pay a 2,000-yen entry fee (about US$24). Men and women who apply must be between 20-40 years old, and must either be some kind of otaku, or be understanding and sympathetic to otaku. Like last year's event, a maximum of 40 participants will be randomly selected from the applicants.
Washimiya is the home of Washinomiya Shrine, which was used as the basis for a location in Kyoto Animation's 2007 television adaptation of Kagami Yoshimizu's manga Lucky Star. It has since become a popular destination for anime fans, who make "pilgrimages" to the shrine. The concept for the dating event originated in 2009, when many visiting fans who filled out surveys said that they were interested in marriage.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
Image © Kagami Yoshimizu/Lucky ☆ Paradise
