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.
Media and General Interest
Eiden Kinmoza collaboration
The Eizan Electric Railway in Kyoto will again enter a collaborative marketing campaign with Kin’iro Mosaic for the show’s second season, premiering 2015 April. The campaign will feature train carriage wrappings, a stamp rally, commemorative tickets, private events and participation of some of the Kinmosa voice actors.
Shirobako
(シロバコ)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@ssslocation made a pilgrimage to Musashi-Sakai, Musashino; Higashi-Nakano, Nakano Ward; Shinjuku Station; Kōjimachi, Chiyoda Ward; and Tokyo Station (preceding all Tokyo Metropolis); and Kamiochiai, Chūō Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture for Episode 24.
@ssslocation made a pilgrimage to Kichijōji, Musashino; the Tokyo Dome in Kōraku, Bunkyō Ward; and Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku Ward (all Tokyo Metropolis) from the Exodus segments that appeared within Shirobako.
@jitsuzon published a detailed report from the final episode viewing party held at Matsutei in Kichijōji, Musashino. Matsutei is the izakaya where Zuka works in Shirobako.
Episode 24
Koizumi Farm (小泉牧場) in Oizumigakuencho, Nerima Ward
BOOK OFF Higashi-Nakano location (ブックオフ東中野店)
The race is off to hand deliver all of the final episode tapes to TV studios in time for broadcast. The cities are real, the names of the TV stations, as with most business names in SHIROBAKO, have been changed to protect the innocent.
Rapid-fire IC transit card swipes at the Higashi-Nakano Station (東中野駅) west ticket wicket
Shinjuku Station (新宿駅) platform 13/14
Tokyo Station (東京駅) shinkansen entrance gate
Jōetsu Shinkansen (上越新幹線)
Tōkaidō Shinkansen (東海道新幹線)
Non-reserved car, standing room only. In Aoi’s daydream, Roro admonishes her not to fall asleep and end up in Hakata. Some services on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen continue on the Sanyō Shinkansen (山陽新幹線) line all the way to the Hakata, Fukuoka terminus. The complete journey, a distance of 1175km, can be made in as few as five hours on a Nozomi service. For comparison, the Amtrak Acela Express makes the journey from Boston to Washinton, DC, about 700km, in about seven hours—if you are lucky.
Minamibōsō (南房総), Chiba Prefecture—I think (^^).
Jetfoil ferry from Niigata City (新潟市) to Sado Island (佐渡島), both in Niigata Prefecture.
Matsumoto (松本), Nagano Prefecture
Kamikōchi Line (上高地線)
Nagawado Dam (奈川渡ダム)
Kobe (神戸), Hyōgo Prefecture
Sado Island
Asahikawa (旭川), Hokkaido Prefecture
Odawara (小田原), Kanagawa Prefecture
Matsumoto
Aoi gets caught in a traffic jam, exits the taxi and completes the journey to the television station in Hiroshima (広島) on foot, an estimated distance of 1.1km.
Event space Cruise Cruise Shinjuku (クルーズ・クルーズSHINJUKU), in the Shinjuku central business district
Subway access from the lower level of the building
Return trip from Hiroshima to Tokyo via shinkansen
Shinjuku Station south entrance
お疲れ様です！
Saekano -How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend-
(冴えない彼女（ヒロイン）の育てかた Saenai Hiroin no Sodatekata)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@rimatai (post) and @ssslocation (gallery) made pilgrimages to Akihabara (Soto-Kanda), Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Metropolis for Episode 12.
@SSEBTBM883 made pilgrimages to (post 1) Ariake, Kōtō Ward, Tokyo Metropolis for Episode 5/7/8/9; and (post 2) Iruma, Saitama Prefecture for Episode 5/6.
@ngwrb made a pilgrimage to multiple locations for the manga source material Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata Koisuru Metronome, Volume 2.
Episode 11
Coffee shop as third place/workspace at the Komeda Kissaten, Hōya shop (コメダ珈琲店保谷店) in Fujimachi, Nishitōkyō, Tokyo Metropolis
Episode 12
Akihabara Station (秋葉原駅)
Live house MOGRA Akihabara (MOGRA 秋葉原)
Yamanote Line (山手線)
Akihabara (秋葉原) commercial district (Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Metropolis)
Hokōsha tengoku (歩行者天国 pedestrian paradise) on Chūō-dōri (中央通)
The Idol M@ster Cinderella Girls
(アイドルマスターシンデレラガールズ Aidorumasutā Shinderera Gāruzu)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@rimatai made a pilgrimage to Musashi-Sakai and Kichijōji, Musashino; and Higashi, Shibuya Ward (all Tokyo Metropolis) for Episode 11.
Episode 11
Queen’s Isetan (クイーンズ伊勢丹) supermarket location under the viaduct at Musashi-Sakai Station (武蔵境駅) in Musashino. This particular branch features outdoor cafe style sidewalk seating near the station entrance.
Chūō Line (Rapid) (中央線快速)
Life supermarket Shibuya Higashi location (ライフ渋谷東店)
Kichijōji Station (吉祥寺駅)
Temporary concert stage setup in the center of the bus rotary on the north side of the rail station.
Durarara!! X2
(デュラララ!!×2 承 Durarara!!x2 Shou)
Episode 12
Shōtengai
Your lie in April
(四月は君の嘘 Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso)
Fan Pilgrimage Update
@626shin made pilgrimages to (post 1) Sendagi, Bunkyō Ward for Episode 20; and (post 2) Nerima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis featuring cherry blossoms for final Episode 22.
@teo_imperial made a return pilgrimage (post 1, post 2) to Nerima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis, now featuring cherry blossoms in early bloom, for Episode 1/2.
@rimatai made pilgrimages to (post 1) Shinjuku Ward and Kodaira (both Tokyo Metropolis) for Episode 7; and (post 2) Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture for Episode 16.
Other Pilgrimage
@thunder_cycle made a pilgrimage to Nishinomiya and Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture for the PV to Nagato Yuki-chan no Shōshitsu.
@rimatai made a pilgrimage to Ueno, Taitō Ward and Ogikubo, Suginami Ward (both Tokyo Metropolis) for Kōfuku Gurafiti.
@cairn_07 made a pilgrimage to Hannō, Saitama Prefecture for Yama no Susume Second Season.
@rimatai made a pilgrimage to Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo Metropolis for selector spread WIXOSS.
@rimatai made a pilgrimage to Tama, Tokyo Metropolis for Isshūkan Friends.
@teo_imperial made a pilgrimage to Minamitanaka, Nerima Ward, Tokyo Metropolis for Aldnoah.Zero.
@seikoudou blogged about a mochi making class at the Deまち event space in the Demachi Masugata Shōtengai in Kyoto that included a Tamako Market cosplayer. She is also the very talented graphic designer for the banners in the shōtengai, the model for the main setting of Tamako Market.
@yomikatajiyu made a pilgrimage to Cape Kadokura, the southernmost point of Tanegashima, Kagoshima Prefecture for Robotics;Notes.
@kou1mori made a pilgrimage (post 1, post 2) featuring cherry blossoms to Shioiri, Yokosuka, Kanagawa Precture for Tamayura.
