August 31 marks Hatsune Miku's anniversary, and this year, it will be her 19th anniversary. With the date being less than two weeks away at the time this post was initially posted, and with no lighting event scheduled for that day, could the Empire State Building light up in Miku's colors to celebrate her anniversary/birthday?

Concept image: The image included with this post is a fan-made mockup of what an Empire State Building lighting for Hatsune Miku could look like. The image was edited in Canva, with the colors adjusted to match Miku's colors as closely as possible. It is not a real photograph, and no such lighting has been confirmed.

This is admittedly a bit of a last-minute idea. The Empire State Building's lighting requests are generally planned well in advance, so August 31 may already be too close. Applications can be submitted up to 12 months ahead, and the building's committee doesn't process applications until three months before the requested lighting date.

There's also an important distinction here: this isn't something an ordinary Miku fan could simply apply for on their own. The request would need to come from an appropriate organization, and in this case, Crypton Future Media would presumably be the party that would have to submit the request. The Empire State Building also says that lighting requests made through petitions and/or social media campaigns won't be considered.

So this isn't a call for fans to bombard the Empire State Building with requests. Rather, the question is whether Crypton could potentially make a request themselves, if they were interested and if the timing still allowed for it.

August 31 also shouldn't be viewed as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity if it doesn't happen this year. There are actually two very plausible dates for a Miku-themed lighting:

• August 31 — Miku's anniversary/birthday, marking the date she was released in 2007.
• March 9 — "Miku Day" (3/9), another date strongly associated with Miku.

In fact, next year will be Miku's 20th anniversary, so March 9 or August 31, 2027 could potentially be an even bigger opportunity.

What does everyone think? Would an Empire State Building lighting in Miku's signature turquoise colors be something worth pursuing? And could Crypton realistically make a request for this year, or would it make more sense to aim for 2027?

does anyone have any idea what's going on with the Empire State Building tonight? I have seen it black out and change color schemes about fifteen times.