If this particular anime pilgrimage spot was on your bucket list, you won’t be able to cross it off anymore (well, at least in its original location).
One of the funnest parts of being an anime/manga fan in Japan is visiting places that appear in your favorite series. This extra appeal, for example, has turned an ordinary staircase in Tokyo, which was featured in Your Name, into a tourist spot visited by people from around the world.
One such pilgrimage spot for fans of K-On!, the musical manga and anime that took Japan by storm in the 2000s, will unfortunately be shutting down soon. The Akitaya Musical Instrument Shop located on Paseo Street in Fukushima City will be closing on March 31, 2019.
You may be thinking, “Wait, wasn’t that shop supposed to be somewhere in Kyoto?” since that’s what was said in the anime. However, when you look at a side-by-side comparison, it looks pretty obvious.
▼ Manga and anime artists have the power to fictionally transport stores to other cities, apparently.
【訂正】
— ふくしま街コス (@fukushimacos) March 25, 2019
けいおん！のプチ聖地「あきたや楽器店」さん。
3月末でパセオ通りから五月町の新店舗へ移転されるそうです。
新店舗オープンは5月、3月末までセール中とのこと。#ふくしま街コス #街コス pic.twitter.com/EVceNlaiDt
K-On! fans reacted with both surprise and disappointment, as it seems there are some that hadn’t yet been aware of the instrument shop’s real-world existence in Fukushima.
“I didn’t know there was a pilgrimage spot in Fukushima…”
“But where will elderly people buy their enka cassette tapes now?”
“I had no idea this place was in my hometown.”
“Aw, the Akitaya Musical Instrument shop is closing…I’ve been going there since I was young…it looks like a lot of people didn’t know about it as a pilgrimage spot.”
The good news, though, is that the store will be re-opening in a different location! It’s moving to another area of Fukushima called Satsuki-cho in May. Twitter user @fukushimacos originally tweeted that the shop was closing altogether, but that tweet has since been deleted and replaced with the happy news that the shop will just be switching venues.
With the revelation so many fans had of the shop’s existence in Fukushima, perhaps the new store will see many new fans!
Sources: Twitter/@fukushimacos, Otaku.com
Featured image: Twitter/@fukushimacos
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