The biggest mover and trailblazer in this era will be our Akiba-Kei sistas. She has unprecedented opportunity, scale, reach, and the whole world is hers. She is now adopted as part of the Afroasiatic movement and now has new levels for options to grow and thrive in the culture. 

With the movement, Akiba sistas fit the definition of the self-ecosystem concept and I have met many of these sistas since I started in Japan. In this article, we are going to discuss the new paradigm shift of the Akiba-Kei sistas and how it is all coming together for her. 

Akiba-Kei Sistas Are Not New

As long as I visited Japan, I met subcultures of sistas who created their unique identity in the Japan landscape. Let’s talk about those kinds of sistas. 

Akiba. These are sistas who are in the Akibahara area and into manga, anime, cosplay. You will see them discuss anime and manga series on YouTube with a passion. 

Harajuku. This is the fashion and style district and where fashion creators go and show off their creations. A lot of history of sistas who adopted their own lolita and idol style here. 

Kyoto. This is more of the traditional sistas who dressed as geishas and into traditional Japanese culture such as tea ceremonies. These are mostly high scaled sistas. 

Kawaii. The word translates into “cute” but is focused on a lifestyle around cute cakes, flower arrangement, table setting, and make everything cute. A lot of plushy animals, and making everything around them supercute. 

Japanophile. This is the sista that loves Japan and travels all around and discovers Japan and the sights and experiences. They love the people, the food, the culture and experience of Japan. 

Expats. These are professionals and others who decide to just live in Japan working a job or buy a home and settle in Japan. They are more grounded in the day-to-day affairs of Japan. Most of you saw the holiday video of me in Japan with all those sistas in Roppongi - that’s these expats. 

The beautiful thing you should have taken away from all these descriptions is that no other place in the world has this level of diverse sistas exploring her individuality and creativity, including the United States. 

One more thing - you will notice we are a Black global diaspora family in Japan - no other country has the level of Black family than Japan. You always see me hanging out with other Black people from all over the world.

Tangible Ecosystem and Subculture

What makes Akiba-Kei sistas stand out and awesome is that she is already built for the big picture - the self-ecosystem. Let’s get one thing clear - the Passport Bros has nothing on the Akiba-Kei systems because the Passport Bro does not have an ecosystem nor do they have a culture, just a bunch of dudes standing in Colombia looking at Venezuelan women walking by looking for a transaction. 

In Japan especially, she can get a job in JET, she can work for a music label like Sony Music, work in fashion, work in tech, work agricultural, work as a professor at an American university, import/export, and so on. She can start her own coffee shop or bakery as well. Akiba-Kei definitely got it. 

But the sistas have a precedent of the self-ecosystem and that is the self-branded sista. This is where a sista can create products and services around her brand and this started in Japan. This creates a next-level of entrepreneurship that sistas cannot envision in America. They are blocking a sista from her self-worth and blessings in America but she can go to Japan and start a clean sheet and like that said - she got a Black family in Japan. 

Why do you think I always let yall know when I’m in Japan and that I’m always at the Mos Cafe at Ginza Nine? I sit down with young sistas who show up while the rest of yall just reading and we talk, big brother to little sister. It’s the only place outside of Dubai where I only sit down for sessions like this. 

Japan has it all, the cafes to study for hours and hours, the busy and working ambiance, the chill scene and traveling locally and seeing new sights. It is a place ripe for entrepreneurial culture that sistas can thrive in without feeling pressured by the West and zone in with what she wants to do with herself. 

Developing the Ecosystem in America, Canada and UK

We see plenty of women that love Japanese anime and read manga and into Japanese culture and influence. But we see them feeling alienated and sometimes bullied because they chose to be different by choosing an identity the masses don’t agree with. 

After Ash, we are not playing games anymore and it’s time for upliftment and empowerment. We want to make sure Akiba sistas realize their power and potential and most important - their bigger Afroasiatic family that cares about them. 

We are going to take the following action starting now. 

Support the Resource Formation. We want a resource group, a solid physical-world one, not some Facebook group with weirdos but a safe space with resources for these sistas to assist them in the growth they are about to experience. 

Create the Papers. Akiba sistas should understand Japanese culture love to use Google Docs to make a point, and we will be publishing a series of documents from Google Docs papers for the Akiba sistas to understand Japan. We also want sistas to contribute papers from her own Google Doc as well. 

Create Safe Spaces. We want spaces similar to Harajuku for these sistas and we also want real men, real uncles there ready to handle things for our adopted nieces and daughters. It is likely we may want to explore Korean towns and sections for this space but we have to consider Korea/Japan geopolitics. 

Focus on Our First Trade Booth. I would like a booth for digital avatars at one of the expos to serve as a popup shop for local digital avatars run by the Akiba sistas to study the model and build upon it. We will help finance and contribute to this booth.

Please note as a brotha, I will not be starting anything - I will support the Akiba sistas to help themselves get things up and running for themselves, including financially - the Afroasiatic movement are not a bunch of broke ass, ineffectual clowns like these other characters. 

Akiba-Kei Already Won Before We Got Started

Akiba sistas already have the blueprint and infrastructure already established in Japan to model her story. She already has the entrepreneurial patterns and practices outlined throughout Dream and Hustle history. And she is the only one who has a real destination - Japan - that she can go immersed in her identity - no other group of sistas have that, none of them. 

Our goal here is to make sure she is protected and provided love as she grow and flourish and all of this starts right now.