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INTEREST: Residents Near Kyoto Animation's 1st Studio Building Raise Concerns about Proposal for Mem

There is not going to be a large pilgrimage if any to this site, good lord, you'll find a few Otaku and a tourist every now and then taking a look, much like the 9/11 Memorial on any day that's not 9/11 and that's it.

I've heard about some of the problems with otakutourism in the past, but I feel that the fact that this is a memorial makes it a bit different. Have there been any cases of Otakutourists making a nuisence of themselves at, say, a temple, shrine, graveyard, or similar sort of place which traditionally gets a lot of respect?

And no, Ozzy4k, it's not selfish. It is selfish of us for expecting something to be put there without taking into consideration those who will have to put up with it. It's easy for us to say, because we are just visitors, not having to live there.

It's probably safe to assume everyone posting in this topic doesn't live in this neighborhood, so them not being affected by anything that happens makes it easy for them to support it out of their fondness of KyoAni.. If it was next door to their own home, they might have a different opinion on the subject.

Crispy45 wrote:

It's probably safe to assume everyone posting in this topic doesn't live in this neighborhood, so them not being affected by anything that happens makes it easy for them to support it out of their fondness of KyoAni.. If it was next door to their own home, they might have a different opinion on the subject.

I certainly don't live near KyoAni. But my opinion on the subject is based on a matter of principle. First off, there's the obvious: This is a memorial to those who were killed in a heinous act of murder. Memorial trumps personal preference. I'm not a huge KyoAni fan--I haven't even seen most of their works. In fact, I think Haruhi is the only one I have seen, and it didn't interest me enough to buy it. I don't hold this opinion because I put KyoAni on a pedestal, rather it's simply the right thing to do for any sort of mass murder like this. Even if the deceased had nothing to do with anime I would still feel this way. A memorial to the dead is a memorial to the dead. Whether or not I personally cared for those people or not is immaterial; it still deserves respect. Friend or enemy, a grave is a grave and a memorial is a memorial.

And second, for me anyway, the real crux of the matter distills to private property rights. KyoAni owns the land (presumably), therefore they are free to do whatever they want with it, within the law of course. That's really all there is to it. Nobody else has a right to complain unless there is some kind of a law being broken.

Now then, as for my personal experience: I strongly value my peace and quiet as well as my privacy. I'm exactly the sort of person who would be unhappy with a bunch of strangers wandering around my neighborhood. I moved a few years ago. I picked a semi-rural area that's very quiet and has few neighbors. I'm surrounded by undeveloped land and ranches. About a year after I moved a massive industrial plant was built nearby. They fabricate steel pipe for water mains, drainage, etc. Often times I can hear incredibly loud banging noises--imagine a man beating a huge iron plate with a sledgehammer--24 hours a day, including on some holidays. All day every day there is the constant noise of big semi trucks, heavy equipment moving around, etc. Needless to say I wasn't happy about that. But you know what? I have no right to complain: it's their land, they can do what they want with it, that's just what happens sometimes. What they do might drive me nuts, but I would still defend their right to do it, because the same principle applies right back to me.

I think the problem here is cultural differences.

First of all, comparing this to any normal mass murder is ludicrous. Just seeing the reaction and donations is enough to show that.

I mean, most of the others are usually localised, or only directly impact those close to those involved. Even something like the 9/11 memorial is within the psyche for only while

On the other hand otaku culture is vastly different. A school building was going to be torn down if it wasn't for the combination of otaku and local businesses benefiting from them stepping in, and yes, I am talking about the school from K-On.

And that's just from the Japanese side, KyoAni has a global reputation. It may not be a mass flocking, or maybe at the beginning it will, but it will definitely be a constant flow.

The other difference is Japanese culture of being respectful to each other.

This was an animation studio in a residential area. If it was in a commercial area, things might be different, but KyoAni would listen to those within the neighbourhood before proceeding, realising how this would impact them.