To launch the PlayStation 5, Sony is holding a projection mapping event at Kanda Shrine in Tokyo.
This makes perfect sense. Kanda Shrine is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, near Akihabara. Because of this, worshippers can get their electronics—or even IT companies—blessed at the 1,270-year-old shrine.
In fact, in 2009, after I kept losing and accidentally ruining mobile phones, I got my new phone blessed at this shrine. Shintoism holds that nearly every object, animate or inanimate, has a spirit, and thus, can be blessed. This is why priests at Kanda Shrine bless gadgets for the devices’ well being.
As I wrote in my Wired Magazine article, the shrine first started creating talismans to prevent system crashes when Microsoft XP went on sale in Japan. After that, there were requests for the shrine to bless everything from laptops to web portals.
Previously, Sony announced that it would not be doing any in-store launch events in Japan, making this outdoor one, perhaps, a safer alternative.
Below are photos and footage of the PlayStation 5 projection mapping event, which runs until midnight tonight in Japan.
All tweets and images used with permission.