by A “sacred place pilgrimage” to visit areas where anime and manga are set. The number of tourists increases due to the setting of a work, and the name of the local government may become widely known. On the other hand, there are cases where the boom subsides after some time has passed since the anime was broadcast. Now that more than ten years have passed since the area’s rise, what should we do to ensure that it continues to be a sacred place? We spoke to
Toshimichi Kakizaki is a former anime magazine editor and sacred place pilgrimage producer knowledgeable about content tourism. [Image] God-level “Ita Ema,” “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” “Natsume’s Book of Friends,” and “Garupan.”
Toshimichi Kakizaki was born in 1976. After editing and writing anime magazines such as the monthly magazine “Animage” (Tokuma Shoten) and anime-related books, he became a “sacred place pilgrimage producer” involved in planning local events. He served as the general producer for the 2nd and 3rd Anime Festival in Saitama, an anime event in Saitama Prefecture. His book is “A Pilgrimage to 12 Anime and Manga Sacred Places” (2005/Kill Time Communication).
“Pilgrimage to holy places” concentrated since 2011
The “sacred place pilgrimage,” which involves visiting the areas where anime is set, left an impression on the popularity of the 2000s. Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, was the setting for the 2006 broadcast of “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, “and Washinomiya Town, Saitama Prefecture (currently Washinomiya, Kuki City) was the setting for the 2007 broadcast of “Lucky Star.”
The excitement in 2006 and 2007 was local. Pilgrimages to sacred places have been concentrated since 2011. For example, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, is the setting for “We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day.” (broadcast in 2011), and the setting for “Rinne no Lagrange” (broadcast in 2012).
This is Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture, and Oarai Town, Ibaraki Prefecture, the setting for “Girls & Panzer” (broadcast in 2012). It was a time when the fans were excited about it, and the local community got serious about using anime to revitalize the town. The background is also the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In the case of Oarai town, where “Garupan” is set, it was initially a famous tourist spot for sea bathing and monkfish hotpots. Still, tourism became difficult due to the earthquake disaster. Chichibu City, the setting for “Anohana,” is also seeing an increase in tourists due to the anime effect. “Anohana” was broadcast in April 2011, right after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and became a hot topic of conversation.
Manabu Nakajima, who has been working on anime tourism policies for more than ten years at the Chichibu City Tourism Division, looks back on those days as follows. “Until the earthquake, the number of tourists visiting Chichibu City had hovered around 3.8 million to 4 million a year, but by 2011, it had fallen to about 3.54 million.
However, the “Anohana” effect also Approximately 3.96 million people visited Chichibu in 2012, more than the year before the earthquake.” -with news article “Chichibu becomes lively thanks to the anime “Anohana,” and the messy activities that lead to it becoming a “sacred place”
