TOKYO (AFP) - A virtual version of Tokyo will open its doors on Friday, giving people -- or at least their alter egos in the fictional world of Second Life -- a chance to explore its pop culture from their computers.
For the opening day, Virtual Tokyo will offer a cyber athletics competition, one day before the real-life world athletics championships get underway in Japan's second metropolis Osaka.
Dentsu Inc., Japan's leading advertisement company, built the website and hopes to recoup its investment through the eventual participation of companies in the virtual world.
"Virtual Tokyo is not simply an imitation of real Tokyo. It is aimed at expressing Tokyo's energy and pop culture in Second Life," a Dentsu statement said Thursday.
Second Life is a commercial online virtual world in which people -- and animals -- are represented by animated avatars and can do everything from social activities to shopping.
Second Life has pulled in more than 8.8 million users since it was set up in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Labs. The site is inspired by the cyberpunk literary movement, which is in turn influenced by Japan.
Virtual Tokyo will have a stadium and a ski jump in its central zone, surrounded by space for shops and offices, it said.
"We also have an idea of setting up a pop culture museum, because in real Tokyo there is no single place that shows a variety of Japanese pop culture at one time," said Tetsuya Mizoguchi, the producer of Virtual Tokyo and the chief creative officer of Q Entertainment Inc.
The virtual athletics competition, operated with private broadcaster Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., will include 100m-sprint, shot putt and marathon events. The virtual stadium will also show footage from the real championships in Osaka.
Second Life and other virtual worlds are drawing a growing number of shops and companies that use them as a marketing vehicle, and professionals such as architects. Some countries, like Sweden and Maldives, have even set up virtual embassies.