I went to a "Japanese culture" convention in London a few years back. The hall was filled with teenagers dressed as anime/manga characters and middle aged women dressed as "Hello Kitty".
I got the Underground (London equivalent of the Subway) home from the conference centre along with hundreds of other visitors from the event. There was a notice in the train warning of severe penalties for anyone carrying a knife on the Underground, and looking round, about one in five of the passengers was carrying a Samurai sword!
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