And yet, Akihabara was packed on Valentine’s Day, as otaku lined up to receive special Valentine’s cards and chocolate from their favorite anime girls. Valentine’s Day isn’t an official holiday in Japan, so for schools and businesses, February 14 was treated like any other Thursday.
A handful of retailers were passing out anime girl cards and chocolates, and for the most popular, lines estimated at roughly 500 people long formed even before the distribution began.
Nevertheless, hundreds of otaku cleared out a block of time in their morning schedule to visit Akihabara.
It’s not like they could just swing by and quickly grab their Valentine’s Day goodies, either.