Welcome to this week’s review of notable instances of public transit use and urban design, as well as discussion of place identity and culture, through anime currently broadcast or screening in Japan and simulcast internationally via the web. This review also documents seichijunrei (聖地巡礼 holy land pilgrimage) and butaitanbou (舞台探訪 scene hunting), which are pop culture tourism and place-based engagement induced by the use of real locations in show settings.

Media and General Interest

Asahi Shimbun English edition (article) and Saga Shimbun (article) published stories about an exhibition of drawings, life-sized character costumes and other materials related to Yūri!!! on Ice in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, the model for the main setting of the series. The exhibition will run from 2018 April 29 to June 10, and is part of a larger strategy by the city to leverage the series to boost tourism since it aired in 2016 Fall.

Anime News Network (article) and @crazynabe (Twitter moment) published reports from the Shirobako x Musashi-Sakai Spring Festival held on April 28. The event featured live talk shows with cast, goods and a stamp rally, culminating in the announcement of a sequel film. Musashi-Sakai is the location of Skip-dōri Shōtengai and nearby areas used as settings in the series.

Otaku News reported on the award of the AA B&B Story of the Year 2018–19 to Fosse Farmhouse, for owner Caron Cooper’s efforts to promote British-Japanese cross cultural exchange. The bed and breakfast in Castle Combe, England is used as the model for the Cartelet home in anime series Kin’iro Mosaic.

Netatopi published a series (article 1, article 2, article 3) about the Hakodate, Hokkaidō Prefecture settings used in Love Live! Sunshine!!

The Yurucamp and Fuji-Q Highland collaboration campaign launched April 28. Fans ventured out for a look on opening day, at the beginning of the Golden Week holiday in Japan:

富士急ハイランドゆるキャン△コラボスタンプラリー終了。1/2。リンちゃん可愛いすぎでございます
#ゆるキャン pic.twitter.com/YdlIN5zMUm

— みかん探訪記 (@mikantanbouki) April 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/fujikyu_bus/status/990123444552388608

Nagi no Asukara fans held an exchange meeting in Kumano, Mie Prefecture on April 29. Though the series creators only recently acknowledge the use of Mie locations as the basis for the setting, butaitanbou practitioners and seichijunrei fans discovered and have held regular events in these places since the 2013/2014 broadcast:

第1部最後は、もちほりをやりました(°▽°)僕も頂きました！#凪あすファン交流会 pic.twitter.com/zU8CfXYcWV

— KEIHI (@keihi49) April 29, 2018

凪のあすからのコスプレ写真撮影をさせて頂いたので、そこから何枚かご紹介をします。撮影場所は三重県熊野市。人物撮影はほぼ経験が無かったので苦戦しましたが、また機会があれば撮影してみたいですね。答えが無いだけに、最善を模索し続けるのが興味深いですね。#凪あすファン交流会 pic.twitter.com/pPIiNIFibL

— KEIHI (@keihi49) April 29, 2018

Uma Musume Pretty Derby

(ウマ娘プリティーダービー Uma Musume Puritī Dābī)

Episode 6

I really wish P.A.Works would give us enough detail in these embankment scenes to determine if it’s actually the Tama River or just a generic background. Though we generally give P.A.Works the benefit of the doubt, it seems clear at this point that background art is not a priority for Uma Musume. Oh well!

Tokyo Racecourse (東京競馬場) in Fuchū (府中), Tokyo Metropolis

Amanchu! Advance

(あまんちゅ！〜あどばんす〜 Amanchu Adobansu)

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@Surwill compiled a Street View tour and archive images of locations in Itō and Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture for Episode 1 through Episode 4. As always, lots of good background information about these places in Surwill’s article.

Episode 4

Amanchu! is a wonderful breath of fresh air this week with new locations and the return of old favorites. It also seems clear, at this point, there was a conscious decision for the detail level and warmth of the backgrounds to be a level or two higher than they were back in the first season. Quality doesn’t happen by accident.

Itō High School bus stop (伊東高校バス停) was used fairly often in the first season, however there is much more detail to see this time.

Atami Ginza Shōtengai (熱海銀座商店街) in Atami (熱海), Shizuoka Prefecture also returns. Again, there is much more substance to observe and enjoy compared with how it was rendered previously.

Izu Kōgen Rose Terrace (伊豆高原ローズテラス) is a new location for the series. Izu Kōgen (伊豆高原) is the highland area in Itō.

I think this is down in the embankment of the Matsukawa (松川), the river that runs through Itō, just to the west of the Ideyu Bridge (いでゆ橋), where the lanterns were strung up in Episode 2. Right about here.

Sakura-no-sato (さくらの里), the final new location, is a park at the base of Ōmuroyama in Futo, Itō. This is just north of Izu Kōgen. The park has cherry trees that blossom in the spring, but also rarer varieties that bloom in October and winter.

Izu Kōgen is also the location of the three kilometer long cherry tree lined street Sakura Namiki (桜並木), a well-known spring blossom viewing location. Pikari took Teko to see Sakura Namiki in the first season.