Anime and manga in Japan

Anime and manga are perhaps Japan's biggest pop cultural exports to the world. Anime refers to Japan's hand-drawn and computer animation industry while manga refers to Japanese comics and graphic novels. Anime and manga are popular around the world, and are a major drawcard for many travellers visiting Japan.

Akihabara (Photo: ElHeineken, CC BY 4.0)

Understand

Terminology

While many Japanese terms have been adopted by anime and manga fans in the English-speaking world, their original meaning in Japanese is often different from the meanings that were adopted in English.

In Japanese, the words anime (アニメ) and manga (Kanji: 漫画; Hiragana: まんが; Katakana: マンガ) are generic terms for all animated works and comics respectively. However, when used in English, they are used to refer specifically to works produced for the Japanese market. Also, in Japanese, the term otaku (オタク) is a derogatory term referring to someone who is obsessed with something to the point of eschewing social interaction, even though English speakers usually use it as a neutral term to refer to fans of anime and manga.

Also, keep in mind that while English speakers use ecchi (エッチ) to refer to things that are sexually suggestive but not explicit, in Japanese the term refers to things that are explicitly sexual in nature. For instance, the verb form エッチする (ecchi suru) means "to have sex".

Destinations

• Mitaka. Home to the famed museum showcasing the work of Studio Ghibli.
• Odaiba. Has a huge store containing Gundam merchandise. In front of the store is a life-sized statue of the unicorn Gundam robot.
• Tokyo/Shibuya has shops that specialize in anime and manga.
• Tokyo/Nakano. Upper floors of Nakano Broadway building are packed with anime/manga related shops.

See

Museum

Mitaka no mori gibli museum (Photo: 福原邦展, CC BY 3.0)

Go Nagai wonderland museum (Photo: Indiana jo, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tōhoku

• Yokote Masuda Manga Museum (横手市増田まんが美術館).
• Ishinomori manga-kan (石ノ森萬画館).

Kanto

• Mitaka no mori gibli museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館).
• Kawasaki-shi Fujiko-F-Fujio museum (川崎市藤子・F・不二雄ミュージアム).
• Toshima-ku tokiwa-sou manga museum (豊島区立トキワ荘マンガミュージアム).
• Tōei animation museum (東映アニメーションミュージアム).

Chubu

• Niigata-shi manga house (新潟市マンガの家).
• Niigata-shi manga anime information centre (新潟市マンガ・アニメ情報館).
• Himi-shi shiokaze gallery Fujiko Fujio (A) art collection (氷見市潮風ギャラリー 藤子不二雄(A)アートコレクション).
• Go Nagai wonderland museum (永井豪記念館). The building was destroyed by fire after the Noto Peninsula earthquake Jan 2024. Most things survived the fire in a fire-proof storing room.

Kinki

• The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum (宝塚市立手塚治虫記念館).
• Kyōto international manga museum (京都国際マンガミュージアム).

Chūgoku

• Aoyama Goushō furusato kan (青山剛昌ふるさと館).
• Yumiko Igarashi museum (いがらしゆみこ美術館).
• Takahashi-shi kibikawakami fureai manga museum (高梁市 吉備川上ふれあい漫画美術館).

Shikoku

• Kami-shi Yanase Takashi memorial house Anpanman museum & Poem and Marchen gallery (香美市立やなせたかし記念館 アンパンマンミュージアム＆詩とメルヘン絵本館). Museum for the manga artist of Anpanman fame. "Poem and Marchen" was a magazine he served as the editor in chief.

Kyūshū

• Kitakyūshū-shi manga museum (北九州市漫画ミュージアム).

Figure museum

• Enkei gekijo Kurayoshi figure museum (円形劇場 くらよしフィギュアミュージアム).
• Kaiyōdō figure museum kurokabe ryūyū-kan (海洋堂フィギュアミュージアム黒壁 龍遊館).
• Kaiyōdō shimanto museum (海洋堂 シマント ミュージアム ビレッジ).
• Bankyō figure museum (万協フィギュア博物館).

Other

• Tokyo Skytree Town Campus, 8F solamachi, Tokyo Skytree Town 1-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, ☏ +81 3-6658-5888. 10:30-18:00. Future experience space of Chiba Institute of Technology. The full-scale MACROSS Frontier "Valkyrie VF-25F" is on display. Free.

Anime pilgrimages

Dōgo onsen (Photo: daipresents, CC BY 3.0)

Anime pilgrimages (聖地巡礼, seichi junrei) are trips to locations that became the models for manga and anime. Some smaller cities consider anime pilgrimages as an effective way to boost tourism.

anitabi may be helpful.

A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun

とある魔術の禁書目録/とある科学の超電磁砲, written by Kazuma Kamachi

• Tachikawa. The city is the model of the Toaru series' main stage, Academy City, with elements from the monorail to parks being used in the anime. Though, apart from enjoying the similarity of street sceneries, Tachikawa is generally a satellite city of Tokyo.
• Papal Palace, Avignon (Palais des Papes), Place du palais des papes. The palace where the Popes of Avignon ruled during a period when the Papacy was divided, with a Pope in Rome and another in Avignon. The Papal Palace is a key location during the Document of Constantine Arc of A Certain Magical Index III.

Attack on Titan

進撃の巨人, written by Hajime Isayama.

• Attack on Titan in HITA -Attack on Hita-, Hita City, Oita, ☏ +81 973-27-5041. The creator of Attack on Titan: A project in Hita City, Oita Prefecture, the birthplace of Hajime Isayama.
• Oyama Dam (大山ダム), 2008-1 Nishioyama, Oyama Town, Hita City, Oita, ☏ +81 973-52-2445. Statues of Eren, Mikasa and Armin are set up in front of the dam wall, reminiscent of the world of the work.

Girls und Panzer

ガールズ&パンツァー, directed by Tsutomu Mizushima.

• Ōarai, Ibaraki (大洗町). The town where the anime is set. A classic example of a town boosting thanks to anime pilgrimage.

Gundam (Universal Century)

機動戦士ガンダム, directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

• Sydney. The Australian city known for being the first ever victim of colony drop. Other targets include Mid-Western America, Dublin and Lhasa.

Laid-Back Camp

ゆるキャン△, written by Afro. Read camping if you are considering camping during the visit.

• Minobu (身延町). The town of where the anime is set.
• Mount Fuji (富士山). The mountain where Nadeshiko longed for. You may long for them as well.

Love Live!

The Love Live! (ラブライブ!) franchise is a large multimedia project. Lots of places are shown in anime.

• Kanda Shrine (神田明神). A shrine where the main heroines of Love Live! School Idol Project train, and Nozomi Tojo serves as a maiden there. Takemura, the place that inspires Honoka Housaka's house, is another place to go.
• Numazu, Shizuoka (沼津市). The main setting city of the anime Love Live! Sunshine!!

Spirited Away

千と千尋の神隠し, directed by Hayao Miyazaki

• Dōgo onsen (道後温泉), 5-6 Dogoyunomachi, Matsuyama City, Ehime.
• Kanagu-ya (金具屋), 2202 Hirao, Yamanouchi Town, Shimotakai District, Nagano.

Touhou Project

東方Project, created by Jun'ya Ota/ZUN.

Despite neither an anime nor a manga but rather a bullet-hell video game, the game has widespread influence among Japanese pop culture through doujin works, and there is a few animated works and countless doujin comics about the series.

• Hakuba (白馬村). The birthplace of Jun'ya Ota/ZUN, also a famed skiing resort in Japan.
• Joumine Shrine (Motomiya) (城嶺神社 元宮), 17566 Kamishiro, Hakuba, Kitaazumi District, Nagano. A small Shinto shrine in Hakuba believed to be the real-life facade of the fictional Hakurei Shrine in Gensyoko. Note that the shrine is quite unnoticed and remote even on a local standard, and locals may not even know the shrine's existence, so you may need some time to find it.
• Suwa-taisha (諏訪大社). A group of Shinto shrines in Nagano, which is the real-life basis of the Moriya Shrine in the series.
• Moriya Shrine (洩矢神社). A Shinto shrine in Okaya, Nagano, which is the real-life basis of the Moriya Shrine (same pronunciation with different kanji) in the series. It is bigger than Joumine Shrine, and the shrine administration have publicly embraced Touhou fans visiting there. You should find plenty of placards with Suwako (or other Moriya-shrine related character) fan drawings left at there.
• Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum (小泉八雲記念館 Koizumi Yakumo Kinenkan), 322 Okudani-chō Matsue city, Shimane, ☏ +81 852 21-2147. Apr-Sep 08:30-18:30, Oct-Mar 08:30-17:00. A museum dedicated to the Irish-Greek writer Lafcadio Hearn who subsequently migrated to Japan and changed his name into Koizumi Yakumo (小泉八雲). Zun admitted that he is related to Yukari Yakumo and Maribel Hearn in the series, and subsequently fueled the fanon that the two character are the same. Adults ¥300, children ¥150, 50% discount for foreigners.

Your Name

君の名は, directed by Makoto Shinkai.

• Tateishi kōen (立石公園), 10399 Kamisuwa, Ōuji, Suwa City, Nagano.
• Keta-wakamiya jinja (気多若宮神社), 1297 Kamikita, Furukawa town, Hida City, Gifu.

Yuki Yuna is a Hero

結城友奈は勇者である, directed by Seiji Kishi.

• Kanonji (観音寺市). The city is the basis of the fictional city of Sanshu in the series, which in reality, is a small city in Kagawa Prefecture.
• Seto Ōhashi Commemorative Park (瀬戸大橋記念公園). A park in Sakaide, Kagawa that offers good view to the Great Seto Bridge. The park was the headquarters of Taisha in the series, and the bridge was destroyed and left intact for some 300 years since humanity retreated to Shikoku. No admission fee.
• Marugame Castle (丸亀城). A traditional Japanese castle in Marugame, which witnessed the grueling fights of the original heroes in the series' prequel, Nogi Wakaba is a Hero.

Do

• Universal Studios Japan, 2-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka. Events with the theme of anime and manga are frequently held.
• Ai chikyu haku memorial park (愛・地球博記念公園), 1533-1 Ibaragabasama-otsu, Nagakute City, Aichi. The houses of Satsuki and Mei appearing in My Neighbor Totoro are reproduced in the park. Now Ghibli Park with the theme of Ghibli works locates in the memorial park site; Phase I part opened in 2022, Phase II part in 2023 and the final Phase III part in March 2024.
• Fuji-Q Highland (富士急ハイランド), 5-6-1 Shinnishihara, Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi. There are areas and attractions themed by Naruto and Boruto's Konoha village. Also, Laid-Back Camp (Yurukyan) goods are sold here.
• Tove Jansson Akebono Children's Forest Park (トーベ・ヤンソンあけぼの子どもの森公園), 1-893 Azu, Hanno City, Saitama. A park that reproduces the Moominvalley of Moomin, which was originally contributed by Tove Marika Jansson in Finland and animated in Japan.
• Nijigen no mori (ニジゲンノモリ ("two dimensional forest")), 2425-2 Kusumoto, Awaji City, Hyogo. There are areas and attractions themed by Naruto and Boruto.

Cosplay

Cosplay (コスプレ, Cosupure) is a hobby and a form of performance that you can enjoy by changing into anime or manga costumes. There are also shops where you can change into an anime or manga costume and shoot.

If you are interested in cosplay, pay attention to acosta!, one of the largest cosplay events. Don't worry, there are multiple venues in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea throughout the year.

• Cospatio (コスパティオ), 1-2-7, Soto-kanda, Chiyoda, Tokyo (exit the Electric Town South Exit and walk west; it's on the other side of the big street). This store sells cosplay clothing and items. You can find most things needed for cosplay here.

Buy

Manga and anime goods (Photo: Ronny Siegel, CC BY 4.0)

Tokyo

• Akihabara (秋葉原) is the center of Japanese manga and anime culture. There are various shops from major shops to maniac shops.
• Ikebukuro (池袋) is there are women's comics and anime character goods stores.
• Nakano (中野) is full of anime figure shops.

Osaka

• Nipponbashi (日本橋) is the center of Kansai manga and anime culture.

Eat

There are restaurants with the theme of anime and manga. Please note that there are many stores for a limited time.

• Pokémon Center TOKYO DX ＆ Pokémon Cafe, 2-11-2 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo.
• Otaru caffe × Hello Kitty, 1-2-32 Irifune, Otaru-shi, Hokkaido.

Respect

This might be too much for merely a frame of a show ( Slam Dunk , for those who don't know) (Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0)

Many destinations - particularly schools and residential areas in real life - are private property and off-limits to the public. Visiting them can be seen as an intrusion, which can be a nuisance at best, and a criminal offence at worst. Please be considerate of the neighbours when visiting.

Even in public places that can be legally approached, excessive photography and other anime pilgrimage-related activities might disturb locals. This is especially true in Japan, where people are expected to avoid causing trouble to others.

Attitudes among the anime may vary. While some local governments fully support tourists who visit there for the anime as part of tourism promotion, others may be totally unfamiliar with it.

Lolicon and Shotacon, genres that depict fictional minor bodies in suggestive or even erotic ways, are common in the Japanese anime and manga market. Japanese fandom generally tolerates these genres and opposes seeing them as child pornography. If you cannot stand them, leave the booth silently. In addition, Lolicon and Shotacon anime and manga may violate local child pornography laws, depending on where you live. Do not take them to your country if you are unsure. Some people have been arrested, even imprisoned, for possessing them.

Copyright status

Under Japanese copyright law, works of fiction enter the public domain 70 years after the author's death, or 50 years after publication if the work is created by an organization, which is the case for most anime works funded and produced by production committees (製作委員会). As a result, most modern anime are proprietary. Businesses (including guided tours and merchandisers) might need a license to make a profit from those franchises. While some franchises are more liberal towards fan works, you should still follow the guidelines given by the original creators and Japanese copyright law.

While widely circulated in neighbouring countries, unauthorized fansub is illegal in Japan, even if fansub participants have no intention to make money. While some anime producers condone such acts to raise popularity, Japanese police frequently take action to clamp down on unauthorized fansubs. Claiming fair use is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, as the right to translate and redistribute is not included in the right of fair use.

Doujinshi fan fiction and cosplay are more complicated cases, even grey zones - while many of them are fine, others may face legal troubles. Even anime fandoms cannot tell the best practices. The best advice for now is to check each franchise's attitude toward derivative works.

Do not take any counterfeit products (those infringing copyright, design, or trademark rights) to Japan. They are banned by IPR border enforcement under the Japanese Customs.

See also

• Pokémon Tour of Japan
• Scott Pilgrim locations

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