Danica Davidson
August 3, 2020 
The Sega Akihabara Building 2, located in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, has been a hot spot for tourists since it opened in 2003. Unfortunately, that will soon change, as the business will close at the end of the month.
SoraNews24 translated their announcement:
“Notice of closure
Thank you for your continued patronage. We are sorry to announce that this branch, Sega Akihabara Building 2, will be closing.
Our last day of operations will be Sunday, August 30.
The entire staff wishes to express, from the bottom of our hearts, our sincere gratitude at the loving support you have given our establishment for so many years.”
According to SoraNews24, it’s not clear why the arcade is closing. A reasonable guess would be that people were already preferring to game at home, and then COVID-19 hit. But without confirmation, this is only a theory. As a case in point, the major Warehouse Kawasaki arcade closed down last year, and it had nothing to do with COVID-19.
Besides the loss of an arcade, it’ll be a loss of a very visual fixture, as the Sega Akihabara Building 2 would drape enormous video game and anime imagery along its side. There are a lot of memories attached to this place.
Source: SoraNews24
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
