Evolving Into a Place for the World’s Most Exciting High-Tech Goods

The first Akiba Robotic Sports Meet was held in 2006, and has been going strong since—the three-day event attracts about 20,000 fans.
Come cheer on your favorite robotic soccer team and gladiators. You might even be able to take the controls for a hands-on experience.

Akihabara is poised for another rebirth, ready to become Techno/Pop City.

Pop culture evolves on its own, and we cannot mold it to suit our fancy. Technology is different: the Industry-Academia Collaboration Initiative (IACI) wants to help mold Akihabara into a global center for tomorrow’s technology.

When you hear “the technology of tomorrow” you might think of robots—not industrial robots making things in a factory but personal robots walking on two feet in the home. Japan’s industrial robots use the world’s most advanced technology, and its personal robots are first in the world, too. Personal robots? They were born in Akihabara.

Personal robots are still only at the hobby stage. At one time computers were basically hobby items, but today it would be hard to do without them. The same might end up being true for robots. Before that day comes, the IACI wants the world to know that Akihabara means robots, and robots mean Akihabara.

That is why the IACI has organized robot festivals and robotic sports events in Akihabara over the last few years. It keeps promoting Akihabara as a place where high-tech rules, where people have an opportunity to join the world of advanced technology. The IACI wants people from around the world to come to Akihabara to experience the global cutting edge in technology and pop culture.