The end of an era for Akihabara ? That’s what Patrick Macias is writing about this month in the Japan Times online.

Akihabara has apparently become too famous for it’s own sake : it is now alienating the very otaku that made it what it is. The big money is here : corporations are reshaping the neighborhood, massive uniformisation is underway and akiba is progressively loosing what made it unique. Otaku never intended to be part of the mainstream, they just wanted a place of their own, and if Macias is right on this, it won’t be long before they have to look elsewhere for it.