Akiba opens shop in Bruul on Wednesday: “Japanese pop culture is coming to Mechelen” (Mechelen)

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Manager Karsten Fouquaet and store employee Wouter Van Rymenant are looking forward to the opening of the store. — © Joren De Weerdt

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Mechelen –

Lovers of Japanese pop culture can also visit Mechelen from this week. Akiba will open in de Bruul on Wednesday 19 January. You will find Japanese sweets, collectible figures and everything related to manga and anime, among other things. The Mechelen location is already the fourth in Flanders.

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Stijn Van de Sande

Yesterday at 14:30—

As a game journalist, Karsten Fouquaet (41) from Puurs-Sint-Amands came into contact with Japanese culture and the experience of anime and manga. Those are Japanese animation series and comics. “I started to delve into it and became even more fascinated with Japanese pop culture when I visited the country myself. When I was back in Belgium, I wanted to do something with it. That’s how I came up with the idea to open a store that brings together everything from geek culture.”

It started with a small shop in Antwerp station. Later, branches followed in Sint-Niklaas and Leuven. And on Wednesday Akiba will also open a Mechelen branch in the building of a former telephone shop in the Bruul. “It’s going fast, but we owe that to the growing interest in Japanese culture,” it sounds. “Thanks to the internet, children and young people come into contact with it much faster.”

A selection from Akiba's offer in Mechelen. — A selection from Akiba’s offer in Mechelen. — © Joren De Weerdt

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At Akiba you can find collectible figures of characters from well-known Japanese animation series or comics. You will also find plush toys and other gadgets. Fouquaet also specialized in Japanese sweets and energy drinks. “In Japan there are completely different variants on the market than here. We also know KitKat or Pringles in Belgium, but the Japanese flavors are hard to find here. For example, we also have cereal with Pokémon on it. You can’t buy that in a regular supermarket.”

Also from America

In addition, Akiba also offers American candy and other delicacies. “The American products are already easier to buy, the import of the Japanese products is more difficult,” says Fouquaet. “Fortunately, we have good contacts in Japan and I can count on a strong team that runs the stores. This way I can work behind the scenes looking for new products on the Japanese market and importing them to Belgium.”

A collectible figure of a character from a Japanese animated series. — © Joren De Weerdt

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Akiba, a reference to the well-known Japanese ‘geek district’ Akihabara in Tokyo, is there for everyone interested in Japanese anime and manga culture, according to the manager. “The candy and some products mainly attract children, while students are more interested in the collectible figures or plush toys. They are also more often involved in cosplay, dressing up as their favorite character. But we also have many customers of my generation. Those people grew up with the first Japanese video games.”