Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 102

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 sacred site pilgrimage) and butaitanbou (舞台探訪 scene hunting)—on this website referred to collectively as anime pilgrimage—which are forms of place-based engagement induced by the use of real locations in show settings.

Glasslip

(グラスリップ Gurasurippu)

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@ni_pu_ made a pilgrimage to Mikuni and Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, including a ride on the Echizen Railway between them, for Episode 5.

@ye_bi_su made a pilgrimage to Mikuni and Fukui City for Episode 4 and Episode 5.

@teravich made a pilgrimage to Mikuni, Awara and Fukui City for Episode 4 and Episode 5.

@kbt_tigers1985 made a pilgrimage to Mikuni for Episode 4.

Episode 6

Yukinari and Kakeru sulk through town on the way to their altercation at the shrine. Note the large zebra crossings, walk signals and wide sidewalks.

In the pan up the hillside to Shirayama Jinja (白山神社), note the stairs, ramps, and terraced paths that enable access by foot in all directions.

Mikuni-Minato (三国港)

More of the footpaths embedded in the hill

Mikuni-Minato Station (三国港駅)

Mikuni Museum (みくに龍翔館)

Mikuni-Minato Station

Hanayamata

(ハナヤマタ)

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@shira_ry made a pilgrimage to Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture for Episode 5.

@yusa_yusaani made a pilgrimage to Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture for the OP and Episode 1, as well as covering promotional material on the Enoshima Electric Railway and a special event at Enoden House.

Episode 5

After withdrawing from her solitary extracurricular training and joining the yosakoi club, Tami is excited by the prospect of social outings with peers after school. Because most Japanese secondary school students use public transit and walk or cycle to school, they have the flexibility and autonomy to develop social aptitude through independent association at an earlier age than and without the transportation barriers of many of their North American counterparts.

The club takes a weekend day trip to nearby city Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture to view a yosakoi dancing festival. They ride the Enoshima Electric Railway (江ノ島電鉄) heading west, so the route would ultimately include a transfer to the JR Tokaido Line via Fujisawa Station.

Hiratsuka Station (平塚駅)

The exit on the north side of the station opens into the bus rotary, as well as shopping district that extends toward the northwest. The closer and smaller shōtengai is pedestrian only, and while the center of the lane is open to the air, there are large awnings over the shopfronts on either side. There is an additional shōtengai of wide, covered sidewalks on either side of a main, traffic bearing street a short walk to the north.

Update 2014/08/11: I had originally written that all of the Hiratsuka shots in this episode appear to be set in the the bus rotary and the smaller shopping street. Thanks to investigation by @shira_ry (in the pilgrimage section above), we can see that both shōtengai are used, and the dancing area is in the larger one. See specific notes below.

Pearl Road Shōtengai (パールロード商店街), the smaller, pedestrian shopping street close to the station

As Hana and Naru sit while waiting for the event to begin, they discuss the various types of public festivals held in Japan throughout the year.

Shonan Star Mall Shōtengai (湘南スターモール商店街), the split arcade that flanks the main street to the north. In the show, the street is closed to traffic for the festival.

Got your naruko ready?

Terror in Resonance

(残響のテロル Zankyō no Teroru)

Episode 5

Nine and Twelve plant explosives on a subway car. The choice of target is likely to evoke memories of the 1995 sarin gas attack perpetrated by members of Aum Shinrikyo.

Shibuya crossing

Riders wait on a train platform as cellular networks across the city are disrupted.

The terrorists’ riddle intentionally alerts detectives to the location of the bomb. What they call the “Shuto Shinjuku Line” is actually the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (東京地下鉄丸ノ内線). This was one of several lines targeted in the 1995 gas attack.

When a third party calls the terrorists’ bluff, preventing them from disarming it remotely and the police from moving on their intelligence, Twelve and Nine set out to track it down directly. Twelve eventually finds it approaching his location, running into a nearby station. Here, Nakano-sakaue Station (中野坂上駅) has had its name changed to Minami-Nakano (南中野) in the show. During the 1995 attack, at Nakano-sakaue Station an attendant removed sarin packets and two injured passengers from a train, one of which became the only fatality among the 358 seriously injured on that specific train. In our fictional scenario, one key difference is that Twelve and Nine appear to be deliberately designing these attacks to avoid injuring people, using the threats of violence to draw attention to some yet unknown issue. We shall watch and see.

Tokyo Ghoul

(東京喰種トーキョーグール Tōkyō Gūru)

Episode 6

A tip from @rimatai and quick check of Street View confirm that we’re back in Kichijōji (吉祥寺)—this looks to be Inokashira-dōri on the south side of Kichijōji Station—though one bit seems to be rather out of place. The building with arched stained glass in the background of the frame above looks a lot like Old Seoul Station, built in 1925 and designed by Tsukamoto Yasushi of Tokyo Imperial University.

Wide sidewalks and storefront displays take advantage of this high pedestrian traffic zone around the station.

Tokyo ESP

(東京ESP)

Episode 4

West side of Ueno Station (上野駅)

Rinka searches the neighborhood for the missing Azuma (東), finding him on the Azuma Bridge (吾妻橋). Different kanji, but still, we see what you did there.

Sensō-ji (浅草寺)

Sakaemachi-dōri (栄町通り) in Ikebukuro

Higashi-Ikebukuro Central Park (東池袋中央公園)

Free! – Eternal Summer

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@yacchamfree made a pilgrimage to Iwami, Tottori Prefecture for Episode 6.

Episode 6

Iwami (岩美), Tottori Prefecture

Rail Wars!

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@ngwrb made a pilgrimage to Kiryū and Midori, Gunma Prefecture; and Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture for Episode 5.

Episode 5

Takayama waxes poetic on the JNR KiHa 52 series (国鉄キハ52系気動車), modeled on the family headed by the JNR KiHa 20 series (国鉄キハ20系気動車), but with a second engine added to allow it to travel through mountainous territory.