Anime attractions in Japan

Konata

So - lucky me! - I'm planning a trip to Japan this Summer. Gonna spend somewhere from 2-3 weeks in mainly Tokyo, Kyoto and the surrounding areas.

I'm wondering if anyone who has been to Japan, or happens to be informed of the area, know of any places I could visit which would be of particular interest? Basically, I mean anime/manga based/influenced attractions/places/whatever?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

thefinalstage

Konata wrote: »

So - lucky me! - I'm planning a trip to Japan this Summer. Gonna spend somewhere from 2-3 weeks in mainly Tokyo, Kyoto and the surrounding areas.

I'm wondering if anyone who has been to Japan, or happens to be informed of the area, know of any places I could visit which would be of particular interest? Basically, I mean anime/manga based/influenced attractions/places/whatever?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hey,

I seem to remember the suggestion (by me :P) of an A & M trip to Japan and you saying you could not go....

I am offended! Now, where did I put my dueling glove....

cherryghost

Well first off theres the Ghibli Museum. Go there for sure.

Akihabara on a Saturday is scattered with some street cosplayers and such, and all the shops are anime themed (most of them anyway). You might spend more than a day there, theres scattered lanes down the main street that won't help but wander up and see whats around.

The Suginami Anime Musuem has a great library and history of anime from the humble beginnings right up to todays shows.

PopJapanTravel to specialist Anime tours, but their tours vary from month to month, so check their site for whats on during your stay

There's a Bandai Museum dedicated to mostly the Gundam show. Never was a fan of Mecha but I loved this.

There's a Manga museum in Kyoto if you're going out that way. I suggest you check it out, its got English translations there too.


Odaiba Island has a Sega Amusement park (Joypolis) with anime and games involved of course.

Washinomiya Shrine is the shrine made famous by Lucky Star. Its usually busy so go early is my advice.

There's a Namco musuem too, mostly dedicated to video games with Anime references of course.

Hecate

Anime & Manga shops:

Mandarake - Big anime & manga store - http://www.mandarake.co.jp/en/shop/
Kinokuniya Shoten - Huge bookshop (it's actually an international chain), they stock some English-language manga. Branches in Shibuya and Shinjuku.

Museums:

Ghibli Museum - As others have mentioned.
Tezuka Museum - Covers everything about the legendary Osamu Tezuka - http://tezukaosamu.net/en/museum/

Random Attractions:
Harajuku on Sundays. All the goth lolitas and cosplayers set up shop on the bridge just up from the train station.

The life-sized Gundam in Odaiba.

Varik

This is not an attraction but get the Japan Rail Pass, only us gaijin can get it and you can use any JR train at any time as much as you want but be careful as you can't buy them in Japan and will have to get them before leaving.

I got a week one before and the train from Osaka to Tokyo by itself would have nearly cost as much, you do have to use the man ticket booths but they're everywhere and it's to make sure that no Japanese are using these tickets.

Varik

A large amount of anime/manga are set with the background fully recreated of real places, have a look around Ikebukuro for example if you like Durarara.

All the normal stuff like fuji or Hiroshima which is not far from Osaka and won't cost any extra if you get the JR pass is still a good excursion.

ztoical

If your looking to buy manga look for any decent sized Book Off, they do second hand manga for roughly 1 euro.

Someone mentioned the International Manga Museum in Kyoto which is a must, really lovely buidling [use to be an old school house], couple of quid in and you can sit and read through the three floors of comics on display. Plus they have several different sized exhibition spaces so there's always something interesting on. The have Artists in Residents [my friend Tusyoshi is currently one] who have little stations around the main floor at various times doing illustrations and a monthly cosplay event [can't remeber if it's the first or last sunday of the month]

Kyoto itself is a wonderful city, I perfered it alot more to Tokyo. Really nice place to just walk around, loads of temples that are open to the public [walked in on a full shinto wedding at one which was just amazing].

Do you know what your plans are accomadation wise? I can rec an amazing place in Kyoto that is a proper Japanese Guest House but has youth hostel prices and is walking distance from the main train station. Kyoto is a very popular tourist spot and can be hard to find accomadation at certain times of the year.

Konata

Thanks for all the advice guys.

ztoical: I'm just looking for accom at the minute so I'd be very interested in that guest house. Can you send me on the details please?

Monkeyto

1) Washinomiya Shrine in Saitama takes about 1.5 hours to get to from Asakusa in Eastern Tokyo, but is close to the station and quite a nice place. Go there during the week, its really peaceful.

2) Nakano Broadway is a shopping mall outside of Nakano station about 20 mins from Shibuya. Really nice shopping mall from the first floor up here you can buy Figurines, Manga, Soundtracks and Idol goods 2nd hand and in some cases, cheap!

3) Akihabara...duh People will tell you it's a tourist trap. The reality is, if you really know Akiba, you'll find that everything is catered for the regular goers, which is why you will enojy it Do go to a maid cafe, it is a very Japanese experience, in an otaku sort of way . In Osaka, there is a place similar called Den Den Town...personally I wasn't a fan.

4) Ikebukuro has a particular street named maiden road which specialises in Girl based manga fans. Plenty of boys love on offer, if you are into it of course.

5) Ghibli Meuseum, Mitaka - On the same line as Nakano Broadway. It's an experience any Ghibli fan should experience once in their lives. The cat bus is only for kids though! You have been warned

If you want a more detailed explanation of each, feel free to send me a message. I go to Japan quite often as my better half is a native, so I know TYO like the back of my hand at this point

shuyin1

Tokyo’s Odaiba Shiokaze park with the giant gundam

freemmorpg

take some photos and upload here. We are looking forward to your early return.

Cravez

shuyin1 wrote: »

Tokyo’s Odaiba Shiokaze park with the giant gundam

Thats gone now

Nothing much really add what others have said, pretty much Cherryghost summed up what I would have thought on posting . Definitely agreed with the Ghibli Museum

Id recommend Ks House hostels for alternate accomodation for some areas. They operate in a good few places throughout the country. Cheap, Clean & Cheerful accomodation

Hecate

One other thing to bear in mind is that a lot of the attractions and museums are closed at seemingly random times during the week, so it's always best to check the website of the place in question beforehand.

Varik

Hecate wrote: »

One other thing to bear in mind is that a lot of the attractions and museums are closed at seemingly random times during the week, so it's always best to check the website of the place in question beforehand.

Also if you get stuck and need to ask for directions, i found generally that people will have better reading ability than spoken if they have any English.

Also if someone does try to speak English to you ask "did you spend time abroad", you get a very happy response.

lastly