Interest
Overnight Otaku Matchmaking Event Simulates School Trip
posted on by Ko Ransom
Washimiya, the Kuki City neighborhood that is home to the "Lucky Star shrine," will hold its ninth "Ota-Konkatsu" matchmaking event for otaku from September 15 to 16 in Fukushima Prefecture's Urabandai city. The event, titled "Ota-Konkatsu Rinkan Gakkou-Hen: Fukushima Fantasy" (Otaku Matchmaking School Trip Edition: Fukushima Fantasy), is being produced by the local chamber of commerce and industry's youth division.
Participation will cost 22,000 yen for men (about US$279) and 18,000 yen for women (about US$229). Applicants must be between the age of 20 and 40, and either be an otaku of some kind, have no aversion to otaku, or understand otaku. The event will include a bus ride to the event site, a gathering around a campfire, a folk dance, a pillow fight, and "confession time" in the bus Ride Back. A local movie theater will give a free couples seat ticket to any couples formed at the event. The neighborhood held its first matchmaking event in late 2010.
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.
