Student Drops Out to Create Tourist Guide

Japan Times:

Jane Fong quit Sophia University in March last year, changed her student visa to a working visa and established GI Jane Inc., a comprehensive Akihabara information company, that July. She and seven others invested ¥7.7 million to open a small office in Japan’s biggest “electric town.”

The company creates Akihabara maps, posts news and shop reviews in English, Chinese and Japanese on its Web site, Akibanana, and organizes multilingual tours of the area. Revenue comes from ads on the maps and Web site and tour guide fees.

Fong’s business is well-suited to Akihabara. The town, also known for its so-called maid cafes and other subcultural phenomena, has become one of the must-see sites for tourists in Tokyo. Words like “anime” (animation) and “otaku” (obsessive geeks) have become widely known, at least among otaku around the world eager to make a pilgrimage to the “holy land” of geekdom.

Fong’s passion has proved infectious with the town’s business community. She requires her tour guides — Cherry Drop and several other multilingual youths, including a Japanese man and a Frenchwoman — to do the job in cosplay. She calls them “guidol,” a word combining guide and idol, in the hope of making them appear as idols in the eyes of customers.

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