Interest
Anime Tourism Association Reveals Fan-Voted Pilgrimage Sites for 2018
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The Anime Tourism Association revealed its 2018 list of 88 anime pilgrimage sites at the C3AFA Tokyo 2017 pop culture event on Saturday. Gundam creator and Anime Tourism Association head Yoshiyuki Tomino and former Morning Musume member Reina Tanaka appeared at the event.
Tomino said, "I hope (fans) will deepen their understanding (of selected sites) starting from their interest based on animation."
The association's website conducted a one-year fan poll beginning in July 2016. The association based their list of 88 pilgrimage sites on the results. The 88-site pilgrimage concept is modeled on Shikoku's 88 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan's most famous Buddhist pilgrimage route.
This year's list again includes perennial favorites such as Lucky Star's Washinomiya Shrine in Saitama and Girls und Panzer's town of Ōarai in Ibaraki. New additions include the Tokyo and Gifu Prefecture settings of 2016's hit anime film your name.
Tokyo Prefecture dominates the list with pilgrimage locations for 25 anime and anime-related museums. Kyoto Prefecture features on the list for seven anime and its Kyoto International Manga Museum. The prefectures of Hiroshima, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa each have five listings.
The Anime Tourism Association revealed a separate list of anime pilgrimage sites last year. Anime pilgrimage site initiatives have been gaining momentum in Japan for several years.
The publisher Kadokawa, tourism company JTB, and a total of five companies founded the Anime Tourism Association last September. The association's aim is to attract tourists, from Japan as well as foreign countries, and bolster regional revitalization projects throughout Japan.
Sources: Mainichi Shimbun, The Mainichi via Yoshihiro Watanabe
