Anime and Manga Souvenir Shops

Above, the entrance to Nakano Broadway, where
Mandarake has a store of kaiju toys. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For those going to Japan to fill gaps in their collections, but need to know where to go get those items, Goin' Japanesque has a list of places and stores where fans can find them.

They begin with:

Today we have collected a few souvenir spots that will make your hearts race with excitement, regardless of whether or not you are an “otaku”! Each location carries numerous limited edition items that can only be purchased there, which makes it 100% worth the trip!  

*Otaku: A Japanese term used for people who are extreme fans of the manga/anime fandom, as well as idol groups, etc.

To read more, go here. 

The Return of Astro Boy

Above, the Astro Boy figure in my collection. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japanese companies are gearing up to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the birth of comic and animation master Osamu Tezuka.

Five of those companies have banded together to create an Astro Boy robot.

According to NHK:

Five Japanese companies have teamed up to re-create legendary comic book robot Astro Boy in toy form. The product marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of comic and animation master Osamu Tezuka. 

The Astro Boy manga started in 1952 and was later adapted to TV and film. 

The newly created Astro Boy robot stands 44-centimeters tall, one-third the height of the original.

To read more, go here.

Find It In Akihabara

Above, the Akihabara shopping district. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

If one should be in Tokyo and have need for something for their laptop or other Internet devices, there's a section in the city that may have it.

That place is Akihabara.

According to Live Japan:

Once known as a black market where people dealt with random items from international troops stationed in Japan after World War II, Akihabara is now a paradise for those looking to find electronic equipment and for Otaku (Fanatics) looking for the latest anime and manga related merchandise! 

Akiba, as it's known to the locals, is a great place to spend a day traveling and sightseeing. Being close to Asakusa and Ueno, there are a variety of interesting shops and cafes such as the ever-popular maid cafes, where you can be a “master” for a day as elegant young ladies and/or gentlemen cater to your needs! 

If shopping is on your mind, there are a ton of electronic shops, some as small as an office cubicle and others with more than 10 floors of the latest technology! Once you finish shopping, you can head to Ueno or Asakusa and relax and take in the atmosphere of many temple and shrine grounds or visit one of the many museums. With so many things to do in Akihabara, you are sure to have an amazing time!

 To read more, go here.

Tokyo Otaku Mode

In the never-ending search for sources for action figures, toys, books and everything else fans want for their collections, fans sometimes find dealers who may have something they've been looking for but were unsuccessful.

Today, I went to the website of Tokyo Otaku Mode. They have just about everything fans of Japanese pop culture will want.

Here's how they describe themselves:

Tokyo Otaku Mode™ (TOM) shares with the world the latest Japanese pop culture news through its Facebook page, which has over 18 million likes, and sells products related to Japanese anime, manga, games, music, and fashion through its website, the Tokyo Otaku Mode Premium Shop. TOM strives to be the fastest source for delivering world-famous Japanese pop culture content around the globe. That is TOM’s mission. 

TOM also strives to support top creators in expanding overseas. This is achieved through translation support of creators’ products and profiles, creating portfolios for creators geared toward overseas viewers, increasing their overseas exposure through interviews, exhibiting their works at overseas conventions, and more. TOM aims to be a platform on which creators can post and sell their works to a worldwide audience.

Founded in 2012, they are based in Portland, Oregon and have a branch office in Tokyo.

Do they have Godzilla goods? Yes, they do!

Back in 2014, I wrote up an article on their partnership with the Japan Tourism Agency. I looked through their site back then and found nothing kaiju-related. However, they have since added Godzilla goods. Maybe they saw my blog post and did a u-turn, realizing that kaiju fans also have money to spend? Well, I am pleased that they joined our ranks.

To go to their website, go here.

"10 Reasons Why Japan is Awesome for Solo Female Travel"

Above, a JR Yamanote Line train in Tokyo. Public transit is safe, affordable and easy. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This really doesn't apply to us guys, but it will be of interest to the ladies who may be contemplating a solo trip to Japan. Yes, there are female Godzilla/kaiju, anime and manga fans who may want to visit Japan.

As a man, it was very easy for me to travel solo to Japan (or anywhere else, for that matter), but women traveling alone may feel vulnerable in a different country. In seven out of eight trips to Japan, I traveled solo. Last year, I brought Denise Santos and her son Aiden with me. It was a different but enjoyable experience.

Writer Alyssa Ramos has written "10 Reasons Why Japan is Awesome for Solo Female Travel" for the Huffington Post. Here, she describes why Japan is such a great place for the female solo traveler.

She begins with:

I didn’t go to Japan looking to test out its safety or to see if it was or wasn’t a good place for solo female travel. I’m so used to traveling on my own these days that it seems normal to me, however I have to say, I was especially blown away by my solo experience in Japan. 

Not only did I feel safer in Japan than I usually do back home in LA, but I also felt more respected, welcomed, and able to freely and easily explore than I have in most countries. The people in Japan are some of the nicest I’ve ever met, and there was not one single millisecond when I thought I was in a dangerous area or situation. Japan was also fairly easy to travel around in, and even had specific transportation and accommodation options for females only! 

So as a an experienced solo female traveler, here’s what I noticed about Japan that made it one of my top choices for solo female travel:

To see the 10 reasons, go here. 

Tokyo Otaku Mode Partners With Japan Tourism Agency; Kaiju Fans Ignored

Above, Akihabara, Tokyo, a center of otaku subcultures. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM) is partnering with the Japan Tourism Agency in promoting Japan travel, according to an Anime News Network article.

They wrote:

TOKYO - Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc. (incorporated in Delaware, U.S. by President and CEO Tomo Kamei), the managing body of Tokyo Otaku Mode (TOM), a worldwide distributor of otaku content including anime, manga, and cosplay, announces its participation in the Visit Japan Campaign, the Japan Tourism Agency's project to promote travel to Japan, as well as the implementation of promotions for overseas Japanese pop/subculture fans through a partnership with Expedia (Washington, U.S. / CEO Dara Khosrowshahi), the world's largest online travel site. This is the second year in a row that TOM will be participating in Visit Japan Campaign. 

The special website (http://otakumode.com/sp/visit_japan) launched last year by TOM during its participation in the Japan Tourism Agency's Visit Japan Campaign, held with the cooperation of Japanese-managed companies using Japanese pop culture in overseas marketing, is getting a massive renewal for this promotion. The site will reopen on Aug. 1, 2014 and will include a survey campaign in which Expedia travel discount coupons will be given out, as well as videos of influential overseas figures introducing Japan, and other content to promote travel to Japan. 

I did some perusing of the site and didn't find anything kaiju fan-related. It appears that for some reason kaiju fans don't seem to warrant the attention of Japan's tourism promoters. Hopefully, this will change in the future. After all, kaiju fans also have money to spend on Japan travel as do fans of manga, anime and cosplay.

It seems odd that this should occur as the new American Godzilla is getting a lot of attention since it opened in Japan July 25. Plus, since Godzilla raked in over half a billion dollars worldwide, do they really think our numbers are too small for their attention?

To read the article, go here. 

Vacation In Japan and Become A Movie Extra In "Attack On Titan"

A familiar name, who raised the bar in Japanese special effects in the 1990s, is helming a new live-action movie, Attack On Titan. It is scheduled to be released in 2015.

But that's not the story. The story came from Rocket News 24 and it states that extras will be needed and a travel agency has a deal for those who are interested in traveling to Japan and become an extra.

Here's part of what they wrote:

Japan loves package tours. For many of them, you meet up with your tour guide and fellow travelers, hop on a bus for the countryside, then spend a few days relaxing in a hotel with some occasional shopping or sampling of local delicacies. It’s more or less the definition of safe and convenient, if not exactly exciting, travel. 

If you’re looking for a trip with a little more adrenaline, though, there’s a tour next month that includes an activity set to get any anime fan’s pulse racing: helping to create the Attack on Titan live-action movie. 

Not content with their domination of the manga and anime worlds, the Titans are next advancing into live-action film, with director Shinji Higuchi helming the project, which is set to premiere in 2015. It’s also cast the lead role of Eren Jaeger, who’ll be played by popular actor Haruma Miura, and the producers have decided on a handful of filming locations, as well. 

What the movie still needs, though, are extras, which is where Japan’s largest travel provider, JTB, comes in. If you’re looking to take a trip from June 7-10, JTB will take you, plus the 49 other Attack on Titan fans it hopes to recruit, to the movie’s filming site in Ibaraki Prefecture to help bring the immensely popular animated series to life.

So, if you have nothing to do June 7-10 and would like to visit Japan and be in a movie, this is your chance!

To find out the details on this offer, go here.

Are Japanese Men "Afraid To Get It Dirty"?

Above, aren't Japanese girls interesting to Japanese males?  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For the past several days, I have been seeing stories on how the Japanese government is very concerned over the lack of interest young Japanese males have for sex. Until now, I have been ignoring it.

They are concerned because the population of Japan is aging and not enough babies are being born to maintain current population levels.

According to an article from The Tokyo Times:

If more babies will not be born in Japan, the country’s population will go down by a third by 2060. One of the reasons for the country’s low birthrate could be a new breed of Japanese men – the otaku, who love manga, anime and computers more than sex. 

Kunio Kitamara, of the Japan Family Planning Association, describes many young Japanese men as “herbivores” – passive and lacking carnal desire. 

A survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2010 found 36 percent of Japanese males aged 16 to 19 had no interest in sex – a figure that had doubled in the space of two years. 

Another reason for Japan’s low birthrate is that even if men and women are involved in relationships, they rarely have sex, according to several surveys. One of the surveys showed that only 27 percent of the couples said they had sex every week.

It is weird to read that Japanese males are so disinterested in sex and prefer "virtual girlfriends" (read the full article) over real flesh and blood females. In a way, I can understand how a married man could be so tired and stressed from work that he isn't interested in indulging with wifey. But younger Japanese males more interested in manga, anime and computers?! Are they that afraid to get it dirty?

There must be a lot of frustrated Japanese women "just ripe for the pickin'!" (Then again, are there any figures on Japanese women's interest in sex? Is it all one-sided?)

To read the full article, go here.

Niigata Manga Animation Museum

Above, the JR Niigata Station.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It appears that I visited Niigata two and a half years too early.  There's a new anime museum that has opened up near JR Niigata Station that fans of anime and manga may want to check out.

It is the Niigata Manga Animation Museum.

According to The Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun):

NIIGATA--In the fast-expanding field of manga and anime museums, an institution that opened last month in Niigata is aiming to take its exhibitions to a whole new level through a bonus element: interactivity. 

The city has produced many renowned manga and anime creators, and the museum hopes to make that a more visible part of the city’s identity, say those behind the founding of the new Niigata Manga Animation Museum. 

Among the big names that have hailed from Niigata are Shinji Mizushima, Rumiko Takahashi and Mineo Maya. Fujio Akatsuka also lived in the city during his teens.

Presently, there's a special exhibit based on Space Battleship Yamato 2199. It runs until July 31.

For details, go here.

Anime News Network Posts News On Monster Japan Travel Guide Pre-Vacation Season Sale

Above, Yuu Asakura with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan."  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Anime News Network (ANN) has picked up the news release on the pre-vacation season sale (starting this Saturday) for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

ANN is perhaps the biggest news source for all things anime and manga.  They also cover other aspects of Japanese pop culture.

To see their posting, go here.

ANA Launches "Let's Do Japan" Website

All Nippon Airways has launched a new website that targets U.S. tourists who are also manga and anime fans.

According to Japan Daily Press:

In the tradition of Japanese manga-style comics, All Nippon Airways (ANA) recently launched a tourism and culture website called “Let’s Do Japan” (www.letsdojapan.com). ANA, Japan’s leading airline in terms of sales, built the site to let online visitors create their own Japanese manga personality while learning helpful tidbits about Japanese culture and trends. 

This is ANA’s first-ever tourism campaign that is specifically targeted at U.S. consumers, given that Japanese manga and anime are becoming global phenomena, especially in America. Site visitors will be able to create their own manga characters through a site feature called “Manganizer”. The app uses manga-style graphics and features five distinct Japanophile travelers that the visitors can choose from: they can either be the Executive, the Fashionista, the Gourmand, the Designer or the Aficionado, thus creating a true-blue manga hero with stories that use the visitors’ own pictures.

Sounds like fun.

To view the full article, go here.

"An Otaku Abroad" Travel Guide For Anime and Manga Fans

Back in January, I blogged about the Japan Anime Tourism Guide.  Now there's another Japan travel guide targeted to anime and manga fans.

Anime News Network posted a news release on a new book, An Otaku Abroad: The Affordable Japan Experience for Anime and Manga Fans.

Fayetteville, NC, March 5, 2013 – Otaku (anime and manga fan) Sarah Rothman spent five months exploring Japan in 2011. She used anime and manga to guide her exploration of the country. She is sharing her experiences in a new book that details her discoveries and shows other anime fans how to plan their own trips to Japan while saving money. The book is entitled “An Otaku Abroad” and covers all aspects of planning a trip to Japan, traveling within the country, and experiencing the culture from the point of view of an anime fan.

To read more about it, go here. 

Japan Anime Tourism Guide

Attending travel shows, one can gather up a lot of literature on resorts, attractions, hotels, transportation (airlines, cruises, rail, etc.) along with maps and guide books.

One such guide book I picked up at the Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show last weekend in Long Beach was the Japan Anime Tourism Guide (I mentioned this guide in an earlier blog) published by the Japan Tourism Agency.

The guide's contributors included the Tokyo International Anime Fair Executive Committee, Takayoshi Yamamura of Hokkaido University and Toshimichi Kakizaki (Anime Tourist).

My first exposure to anime was the original Astro Boy cartoons of the 1960s when they aired in Los Angeles. 

The Japan Anime Tourism Guide contains information on anime and manga sites of interest to fans of the genre(s).

 

For example, in the Kanto area of Japan, the guide spotlights Niiza-shi, Saitama as "The Home of Astro Boy."  Osamu Tezuka, the father of Astro Boy (known in Japan as The Mighty Atom), a "robot with feelings."  Tezuka Productions, the studio which created the character, is located in Niiza City.  The city honored Astro Boy on year Astro was born, April 7, 2003 with a "special residential status."  The city also adorns street seals with the image of Astro and, also, hosts a stamp collection rally annually starting at Niiza and Shiki Stations.

Another example is in Niigata (a city I visited in December 2010) in the Hokuriku area.  The baseball manga of Shinji Mizushima has been turned into a bronze statues that is located at Managa Street.   The "charismatic" characters featured in Mizushima's work have been turned into bronze statues and placed at Niigata's Manga Street.

Above, inside a Niigata tourism loop bus.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While we're talking about Niigata, the guide also spotlights the "Dokaben" and "INUYASHA" characters that adorn the tourism loop buses (photo above) that run between the municipal history museum, municipal aquarium, municipal art museum and Nihonkai Tower.  I took a loop tour on these buses in 2010 and noticed the characters on them.

 

Along with these examples from the Kanto and Hokuriku areas of Japan, the guide contains anime and manga sites in Tohoku, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu areas.

If you are a manga or anime fan and plan on visiting Japan, this guide will get you to the places that celebrate the culture.

The Japan Anime Tourism Guide is available through the Japan National Tourism Organization at http://visitjapan.jp.

Kyoto International Manga Museum

Above, a view of Kyoto, Japan from Kiyomizu-dera.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A few days ago, I blogged about visiting Kyoto, Japan to see the historical sites in the city along with landmarks that met a devastating fate by kaiju.

There's another attraction to lure people to Kyoto.

The Japan Times reported:

KYOTO — Kyoto, with its long history and ancient temples, has acquired an additional and contemporary attraction for tourists — a manga museum that has become a mecca for comic-book and animation fans around the world.

After opening in 2006 in Nakagyo Ward, the city's downtown area where both modern office buildings and traditional townhouses can be found, the Kyoto International Manga Museum is attracting 200,000 to 300,000 visitors a year, including some 30,000 from abroad.

What many of these visitors find irresistible is the "wall of manga," a 200-meter-long wall lined with shelves on which some 50,000 manga published between 1970 and 2005 are stacked up.

So, if you are in Kyoto to see the landmarks trashed by Godzilla and Gamera and happen to be a fan of manga, here's another reason to visit Kyoto.

That's one thing we in America don't have, a comic book museum (or do we?).

To read the full article, go here.

The Daily Yomiuri: Setting The Stage

Above, Yokohama harbor, featured in two Godzilla movies.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

An interesting article caught my attention, especially so since I have long been advocating similar things for kaiju fans.

The Daily Yomiuri posted:

OSAKA--Some local towns are turning to a new attraction as they seek to energize their communities and bring in visitors--anime and manga.

Towns across Japan are holding unique anime events and offering tours to locations that provided the settings--"sacred sites" to diehard fans--for popular manga in the hope that they can entice more tourists and give their local economy a shot in the arm.

One prime example is "ufotable CINEMA," which opened in Tokushima in March as a theater for anime fans. The cinema is operated by Tokyo-based anime production firm, ufotable Inc.

The Japanese tourism industry should organize "kaiju events" based on science-fiction and fantasy movies of the past 58 years similar to the ones described for manga and anime fans. They can be staged in localities that were featured in the films.

Fans can still organize their own tours by using The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

To read the full article, go here.

Japan Culture Tour Returns

Above, the Wako Department Store that was trashed by Godzilla in 1954.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

For years, Digital Manga has been offering up tours of Japan.  The Great East Japan Earthquake caused a major disruption in Japan's tourism industry.  There's now good news on the tourism front.

Now, the Japan Culture Tour resumes.  According to Animation Insider:

One year and two months ago, the Great East Japan Earthquake rocked an island nation, and tens of thousands of lives were lost -- countless more displaced. Long since, regional and national rebuilding efforts have sought to clean up and resurrect Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, and its surrounding areas. Also long since, efforts to re-ignite tourism in Japan have been popping up, lending hope to certain industries whose bread-and-butter rests in keeping close relations with the land of the rising sun. 

All this to serve as a little reminder that manga publisher and culture authority Digital Manga has officially returned to the business of offering weeklong travel tours in Japan. The Pop Japan Travel (PJT) organization has been offering group tours tailored to western anime and manga aficionados for quite a few years now, and has planned its first group tour for later this year. Want to see a genuine summer festival fireworks display? Taste the freshest sashimi on the planet? Tour the stables of your favorite anime artists at a renowned studio? PJT makes all the arrangements and does all the translation, all you have to do is show up (and pay the registration fee, of course).

For some time, I've been advocating similar tours tailored to fans of Japanese science-fiction and fantasy movies.  The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan was designed for use by individuals or tour companies to see the sites and landmarks trashed by Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Gyaos, Mothra and others on celluloid.

To read the full article, go here.

JAL Dreamliners To Offer Manga To Passengers

Above, the Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is amazing to see what avenues today's technology are available to travelers.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is going to offer something new to keep travelers occupied during their flights aboard their new Boeing 787 Dreamliners. This'll help make the long trip to Japan seem faster.

Terminal U posted an interesting article:

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced that electronic manga (Japanese comics) will be the new in-flight entertainment when its first 787 Dreamliner flies into service next year.


From March, manga fans will be able to choose from up to 30 different titles on seatback video screens on board JAL™'s International Dreamliner flights.

The new service comes off the back of a collaboration with Japanese publisher Shogakukan Inc and eBook Initiative Japan Co.

Left, Tokyo Tower in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.



Considering that flights to Japan from Los Angeles take eleven hours, any innovation to help pass the time are welcome.

To read the full article, go here.