Interest
Morning Musume, Steins;Gate Producers Open Akiba Idol Cafe
posted on by Egan Loo
Tsunku, the famed producer of Hello! Project's idol group Morning Musume and a chart-topping musician in his own right, will open the Akihabara Backstage Pass "idol training café" in Tokyo's otaku shopping district of Akihabara in late November. The café will be less than three minutes away (by walking) from AKB48 Theater, the home of the rival idol group AKB48.
Tsunku will produce the "idols of the new generation" at the café. Joining him in the venture is Chiyomaru Shikura, the head of the studio 5pb. and the producer of such popular Akihabara- and otaku-themed game/anime titles as Steins;Gate. Shikura already opened a high-concept cafe called The Afilia Magic Senior High School with a similar premise of singing employees.
Under the premise of the project, the café employees will be females who aspire to be idols and singers, and the café will serve as their training ground. The customers will be the "producers" in a "new 'real idol-training simulation' experience that's not a game."
The official website of the cafe will open at the end of October.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
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