On the first few days of 2010, 450,000+ visitors visited the Washinomiya Shrine, Tokyo's oldest shrine and a backdrop to the series Lucky Star. Tons of Otaku have visited the Shrine since 2007 where anime characters Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi who work at the shrine as shrine maidens (Miko in Japanese).

Total visitor attendants has grown exponentially since 2007, going from 90,000 in '07, 300,000 in '08, 420,000 in '09 to 450,000 this year. Also, 2700 fans of the series bought Satte City's official certificate of registration for the family of Lucky Star's Komata Izumi. Kagami Yoshimizu, the creator of Lucky Star and native of Satte City, drew the illustration that's on the certificate of registration for the fictional Izumi family.

Yoshimizu made an appearance to the registration ceremony on Sunday, along with his mother, and accepted the original certificate of registration from Mayor Hideo Machida. Some first 53 fans were fortunate to have their certificate signed by Yoshimizu.

Yoshimizu lived in Satte until 2008, and the Chamber of Commerce renovated his former home after he moved out. It reopened in March which features a gallery and as a fictional home of the Izumi family.

Sources: Anime News Network, Mantan Web, My Town Saitama

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