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Manga characters Japan鈥檚 latest draw to attract tourists
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JAPAN is to compile a list of 88 “animation spots” to encourage tourism — using train stations, school campuses, rural shrines and other fairly everyday places where popular “manga” characters are depicted.
Such landmarks number in the tens of thousands, given the popularity and volume of “manga” comics in Japan. But the move is being billed as the official list for any fan’s animation “pilgrimage,” as the places are known as “seichi,” or “sacred spots.”
People around the world can vote on the landmarks through a website set up in several languages, including English and Chinese.
“Japanese pop culture has grown to rival American Hollywood,” Tsugihiko Kadokawa, chairman of Kadokawa Corp publisher and film studio, one of the officials behind the effort, said at a Tokyo news conference. “Animation can change the times.”
Under a “Cool Japan” initiative, the number of tourists from abroad reached 20 million last year — five years ahead of a goal set by the government, prompting officials to raise its 2020 target to 40 million.
Kadokawa and other officials behind the newly formed Japan Anime Tourism Association said they would complete a travel route of 88 animation spots by December, including the homes of manga artists and museums dedicated to their work. Votes from fans will be taken into consideration in compiling the list. “Vote for the special spot you want to share with everyone,” the site says.
One shoo-in for the list, according to organizers, is Washinomiya Jinja, a picturesque shrine in Saitama prefecture on the outskirts of Tokyo, a familiar scene in comics by Kagami Yoshimizu, which later became a TV animation series, “Lucky Star” or “Raki Suta.”
The shrine is not as grand or famous as others in the country, such as Meiji Shrine in central Tokyo, but it’s still the one to visit for those who love the manga series, which depicts friendship among schoolgirls, all illustrated with the huge eyes and colorful hair characteristic of manga.
Hopes are high
The shrine shows up in the opening sequence of the TV show, whose typical episode will feature a heated discussion on the correct way to eat a pastry.
Hopes are high at Washinomiya Jinja to be picked for. “I’m all for it,” said Teruko Masaki, owner of a restaurant near the shrine, which sells products with manga characters on the packaging.
The pieces of wood on which visitors write wishes, such as getting accepted at a college or having a healthy baby, are, at Washinomiya, covered with drawings of the “Lucky Star” girls.
Other possible animation spots include the Ghibli Studio of Hayao Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning animator who made “Spirited Away.”
The Japan Tourism Agency is studying not only the numbers of tourists coming to Japan, but the emotional driver behind their visits. The agency’s survey of French and Thai people found that both said they became interested in Japan through movies and other entertainment content.
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