Thousands of anime and manga fans visit Japan every year, eager to see with their own eyes the country that has produced their favorite books and films. Along with the excitement of seeing Japan for the first time, many visitors feel a rush of familiarity as they catch glimpses of a world they know from the page and screen: the high-rise buildings in front of busy stations, the efficient networks of futuristic subways and trains, the ubiquitous vending machines, the convenience stores on every corner, the guardrails separating the sidewalks from the neatly paved roads, the school uniforms, and the clanging of trains as they pass through neatly kept residential neighborhoods. For fans of Japanese pop culture, it is almost like walking into a panel of their favorite manga or anime.

The Real World of Manga and AnimeIn the past, many manga were set in generic locations featuring aspects of daily life that could be found throughout Japan. In the ever-popular Doraemon series, for example, the adventures of the wonder-working robot cat from the future and his young human friends take place in a suburban neighborhood that could be almost anywhere in Japan. Today, however, growing numbers of anime and manga feature specific locations and real buildings in great detail, making them popular pilgrimage spots for fans.

Among recent anime hits to make use of real locations is Kon Satoshi's 2003 film Tokyo Godfathers, a heartwarming tale that won an animation award at the 36th Sitges Film Festival in Spain. Set in contemporary Tokyo, the film features prominent shots of Ginza and other Tokyo neighborhoods, showing Tokyo Tower and other major landmarks in unmistakable detail.

Where the Magic Comes FromThe Toaru Majutsu no Index II (A Certain Magical Index of Prohibited Books II) and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (A Certain Scientific Railgun) series is one of the pop culture phenomena of recent years. The original novels feature a group of junior and senior high school students with psychic abilities, and are set in a fictional "academic city" to the west of Tokyo. Many of the locations in the anime version are based on real places in Tachikawa city in Metropolitan Tokyo. Fans have been visiting the city to hunt down the original locations that provided the inspiration for the fictional world of the anime version, including the Tama Center building and the Tama monorail. The city has set up tours and special promotions to make the most of this boom in popularity, making Tachikawa a popular excursion destination with pop culture fans from Tokyo and surrounding areas.

The Japanese Shrine That Became an Anime Pilgrimage SpotLucky Star is another comic strip that has been a phenomenal hit in recent years. Its main characters are four high-school girls in Kasukabe in Saitama Prefecture, a short train ride out of central Tokyo. Fans of the series have been flocking to the town in recent years, visiting the real-life models for the girls’ school and other locations. One popular location is the Washinomiya Shrine in the nearby town of Washimiya, where two of the characters work part-time jobs as shrine maidens. The traditional ema wooden plaques in the shrine, on which worshipers write prayers, are decorated with fan art. The shrine offers Lucky Star-themed good luck charms, and the girls have even featured on the omikoshi portable shrine carried through the local streets during the shrine’s annual festival.

Japan’s Source of Creative InspirationSeveral books provide detailed information on the places throughout Japan that have featured in popular manga and anime. Visiting the real-life models for fictional settings allows fans to get closer to the world of their favorite stories, serving as a useful reminder of the intimate connections between the creativity and inventiveness of manga and anime and the everyday world that inspires them. Manga and anime have become global phenomena, but they remain rooted in the unique conditions of contemporary Japan. (March 2011)