Places in Japan where Anime was based on
Do you like Anime? or you never watched yet?
If you may know, most of Animes are based on light novels or Japanese comics.
Light novel so-called Ranobe is a type of novels. Usually in Japan when authors publish Ranobe and manage to sell some amount of books, they become Animated. Same story goes for Japanese comics.
Therefore I say Animes usually have well-formed stories and better than "some kind of movies"....Still not interested in?
Then let's have a look at this article!
To visit places where Anime was based is in Japanese called " Seichi Junrei". Seichi means sacred lands and Junrei means pilgrimages. It sounds a bit funny, doesn't it? So in this page, I will talk about "Pilgrimages of Sacred Anime lands".
Either you love the anime and decide to visit its actual city or you love the actual place and decide to watch the anime, my aim through this article will be accomplished :)
My Neighbor Totoro
This anime is from Studio Ghibli, Many people knows this movie regardless your interests in anime, itself. If you have ever watched this one, I am sure that you wished you could have been the actual place. The surprising fact is that this actual place exists in Tokyo area! It is an area named Sayama Kyuryo(狭山丘陵).
When you wanna be in nature and just walk and sit, this is the best place you can be :)
Location: Saitama prefecture, Tokorozawa city, 上山口
Transportation: 20min walking from Seibu Kyujo Mae train station(西武球場前駅)
Steins;Gate
Have you ever hoped that you could go back to the past and do something over? This anime is based on its unique logic of time travel. It is often mentioned that this is the best time travel anime all the time :)
So where is this anime happening? It is in Akihabara(秋葉原). If you are planning to travel Japan, I am sure Akihabara is already on your list. Akihabara is usually popular for anime goods. But if you look around well, this area is also popular for ...such as maid cafe, sex toy shop, Yaoi(Boys love), cheap electric applicants and etc. In order to understand modern unique Japanese culture, Akihabara is the best place!
Location: Tokyo, Taito district, Akihabara
Transportation: JR Akihabara train station, Denki Gai Exit is the closet you can exit
Tips: Ueno or Asakusa are walkable distance from Akihabara. Therefore I recommend you to combine them together in your Akihabara trip
Spirited Away
This Ghibli Anime, Spirited Away seems to be a most well-known Ghibli work all the time. You haven't watched? No way, you gotta watch it and visit its actual places.
There are 2 places in Japan. One is Ryokan Kanaguya(歴史の宿金具屋). Another one is Ryokan Sekizenkan(四万温泉積善館). They are both Ryokan, a Japanese traditional style of hotel. In those places, you can have real Onsen(Japanese hot spring) experiences!
Location:
Kanaguya - Nagano prefecture, Shimotakai-Gun, 山ノ内町平穏2202
Sekizenkan - Gunma prefecture, Wagatsuma-Gun, 中之条町 四万甲4236
Transportation:
Kanaguya - Train to Yudanaka station(湯田中駅) and 10min-bus to Shibu Onsen station(渋温泉), then 2min walk.
Sekizenkan - There are two ways to reach.
1.Train to Nakanojo station(中之条駅) and 40min-Bus to Shima Onsen(四万温泉)
2.Train to Jomo Kogen station(上毛高原駅) and 60min-Taxi to Shima Onsen(四万温泉)
Anohana
Its actual name is "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai". Yep, it is a long name indeed. Anyway This anime is about the re-unity of 6 high school kids after 1 of them, Menma dies. You feel like crying? This is my recommendation then :)This anime took place in Chichibu city(秩父市) in Saitama. There are actually many spots based on this anime in the city around Chichibu train station on Chichibu Main Line. This area is possible to have a day-trip from Tokyo.
Location: Saitama prefecture, Chichibu city
Transportation: Train to Chichibu Station(秩父駅) on Chichibu Main Line
Tips:
There are two Chichibu train station. One is on Chichibu Main Line. Another one is on Seibu Chichibu Line. Don't mix them up.
If you want real detailed map of every spots where anime was based, check this out(only in Japanese available).
Your Name
Yea, you may still remember. This movie was released in 2017 and put on cinemas around the world. It is a story of a boy and a girl living in different time axises. One day when they wake up, their souls has been replaced to each other, a boy's soul to a girl's body, a girl's soul to a boy's body :) The graphics of this movie is just marvelous!
So the boy, Taki lives near Yotsuya Station in Tokyo. I cut this section since surely you will visit Tokyo. On the other hand, the girl, Mitsuya lives in Hida city of Gifu prefecture. There you go, you wouldn't think about visiting here, right?(some would though :))
Gifu prefecture has indeed many interesting places to visit including Shirakawago(白川郷).
Location: Gifu prefecture, Hida city
Transportation: Hida Furukawa train station(飛騨古川駅) is the best spot to start this travel from.
When They Cry(Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni)
Why is this bloody pic here? Well this anime is based on this place. The right picture looks familiar? of course it is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites called Shirakawago(白川郷). They don't match, right? Shirakawago is well-known beautiful place due to its great nature and unique architectures, Gassho style houses preserved in their original form since around 1800.
On the other hand, this anime is well-known its unexpected stories and many bloody scenes. Due to its cruel and fan stories, it has many big fans along...if there is something you should know, this anime has several seasons and consists of 60 episodes(total about 1200min) :p
Location: Gifu prefecture, Shirakawago
Transportation: This page has great transportation info.
Princess Mononoke
The model of this anime is....Yakushima(屋久島), you knew it, right? :) Wherever you go in Yakushima, you can find traces of Mononoke. Yakushima is a great place for hiking or scuba diving lovers. Especially if you rent a car here, you can go everywhere, a far from the town and find your own private spots! Only a problem, it is not easy to get to Yakushima since it is a complete island. Geographically it seems that Yakushima belongs to Okinawa prefecture, right? Nah, it belongs to Kagoshima prefecture. So if you wanna reach to Yakushima, either you take a flight or ferry from Kagoshima. Besides, there are not many accommodations there, I recommend you to book in advance!
*Location: Kagoshima prefecture, Yakushima town
Transportation: Kagoshima port to Miyanoura port in Yakushima by 2h-fast ferry *
Evangelion
This giant humanoid robot(actually it is a cyborg) was produced in Hakone town(箱根町)! Hakone, its another name is Third New Tokyo city....in this anime :)
Evangelion is considered one of the most well-known anime all the time.
On the other hand, Hakone is well-known for its Onsen and the scenery of Mt.Fuji and Ashino Lake(芦ノ湖)....What a combination, a big humanoid robot and Onsen, isn't it awesome?
In Hakone you will find many places collaborated with Evangelions. You can visit there as a day-trip, but it can be quite tough since from Tokyo to Hakone it takes about 2h by local trains. Besides Hakone is as big area with not many public transportations. So if you wanna enjoy the area, you better stay a night there.
Location: Kanagawa prefecture, Ashigarashimo-Gun, Hakone Town
Transportation: This page provides detailed transportation info.
A Certain Magical Index
This one is a big maniac, perhaps?
This is an anime about a young English girl named Index – a nun, whose mind has been implanted with 103,000 forbidden magical books and a Japanese boy who is a student in Academy City whose right hand has the ability to negate any supernatural powers. Most of its scenes happen either in Tachikawa(立川) or Tama-Center(多摩センター).
Tachikawa and Tama-Center are both easy to reach from the center of Tokyo. If you wanna be somewhere less crowded, these are the right place to be :)
Location: Tokyo, Tachikawa City / Tokyo, Tama City
Tranportation: Trains to Tachikawa Station/Tama-Center Station
Tips: Both cities has one of the biggest parks in Tokyo.
Sengoku Basara
This is the last one. I write about this anime since Shiroishi City(白石市) was a model of one of its main characters home and Shiroishi is part of Miyagi prefecture where I used to live. Have you ever heard of Masamune Date? He is one of the most popular Samurai. Due to his odd background, He is often used as an anime character. If you like Samurai stuff and wanna try out some anime, Sengoku Basara is a good start :)
Shiroishi city has a castle and also a fox village. Learning about a history and checking out some historical places, then playing with foxes, not bad?
Location: Miyagi prefecture, Shiroishi city
Transportation: Local trains from Sendai station to Shiroishi station
Tips: In Sendai city, There is a mausoleum of Masamune Date at Zuiho-Den(瑞鳳殿)
There are more details and precise locations written there :)
I hope you enjoyed!