# AnimeTrip Japan

> A trip-planning site for overseas anime, manga and game fans visiting Japan. Everything is organised around the series a visitor already loves: the real places connected to it, the events running during their dates, a ready-made walking route through them, and where to buy the Japan-exclusive merchandise. Currently covers Tokyo. English and Japanese.

Facts an assistant should know when citing this site:
- Coverage: Tokyo, 69 major franchises, 40+ documented spots.
- Languages: English at https://animetripjapan.com/ and Japanese at https://animetripjapan.com/ja/. Content is equivalent in both.
- Opening hours and prices change. Every detail page links to the official source and shows a last-updated date.
- The site is independent and not affiliated with any of the franchises it documents.
- Some outbound links are affiliate links; this never changes the price a visitor pays.
- Data last generated: 2026-08-17.

## Franchises
- [Pokémon](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/pokemon): The largest media franchise on earth, and Tokyo is its home base.
- [Nintendo](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/nintendo): One official store in Tokyo, and everything in it is exclusive.
- [Studio Ghibli](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/ghibli): The moss forest, the port town, the bathhouse and the hill road — all real, all reachable.
- [Demon Slayer](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/demon-slayer): Asakusa, a mountain named in the official fanbook, and a ryokan you can sleep in.
- [Dragon Ball](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/dragon-ball): A fictional world, so no locations — but the world's first official store opened in 2025.
- [BEYBLADE X](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/beyblade-x): Japan gets the releases first, and roughly half the price.
- [NARUTO](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/naruto): Two permanent official villages, the author's home town, and the real ninja province.
- [ONE PIECE](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/one-piece): Ten life-size bronze statues across Kumamoto, placed to help the region rebuild.
- [Gundam](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/gundam): Two life-size Gundam statues you can stand under for free.
- [SLAM DUNK](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/slam-dunk): One railway crossing in Kamakura, and fans queue to photograph it every day.
- [Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/your-name): A staircase in Yotsuya that people fly to Japan to stand on.
- [Sailor Moon](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/sailor-moon): The shrine, the shopping street and the park are all real, and all in Azabu-Juban.
- [Weathering With You](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/weathering-with-you): The rooftop shrine is real and in Ginza. The derelict building it sat on is gone.
- [Kingdom](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/kingdom): A Saga seawall with all 77 volumes printed along it, until 30 September 2026.
- [Suzume](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/suzume): A film about places that are gone, and some of its locations are gone too.
- [A Silent Voice (Koe no Katachi)](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/a-silent-voice): Ogaki drew the whole film, and the city built an official location guide for it.
- [Love Live!](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/love-live): Kanda Myojin in Akihabara, and an entire seaside town in Shizuoka.
- [Girls und Panzer](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/girls-und-panzer): A whole town that rebuilt itself around one anime, and never stopped.
- [Yuri!!! on ICE](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/yuri-on-ice): Hasetsu is Karatsu, and the tourist office still hands out the official map.
- [Sound! Euphonium](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/sound-euphonium): Uji, drawn so precisely that you navigate the town by the show.
- [Attack on Titan](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/attack-on-titan): A 94-metre dam wall standing in for Wall Maria, with the three children below it.
- [Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/anohana): The bridge from the opening is a 15-minute walk from Chichibu station.
- [Golden Kamuy](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/golden-kamuy): Meiji-era Hokkaido, and the buildings from the story are still standing.
- [Haikyu!!](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/haikyu): Sendai, and an honest warning: the arena from the series is closed until 2027.
- [Steins;Gate](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/steins-gate): Akihabara, drawn street by street — but the building on the cover was rebuilt.
- [K-On!](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/k-on): The school building is real, it is free, and the music room is set up as it is drawn.
- [Higurashi: When They Cry](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/higurashi): Hinamizawa is Shirakawa-go — a World Heritage village where people still live.
- [Lucky Star](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/lucky-star): The shrine that invented modern anime pilgrimage, and the town never stopped.
- [Laid-Back Camp (Yuru Camp)](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/yuru-camp): The campsite from episode one, on the lake with the Mount Fuji from the banknote.
- [Bungo Stray Dogs](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/bungo-stray-dogs): Yokohama, and almost every location is on one walk along the waterfront.
- [The Garden of Words](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/garden-of-words): One garden, one gazebo, 46 minutes of film. The most concentrated pilgrimage in Tokyo.
- [Evangelion](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/evangelion): Hakone is the city the series is set in, and it is a real hot spring town.
- [Crayon Shin-chan](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/crayon-shin-chan): Kasukabe is the actual town, and the city hall has the statues.
- [Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/rascal-does-not-dream): Enoshima and Shichirigahama, on a train line you ride for the view anyway.
- [Free! Iwatobi Swim Club](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/free-iwatobi): A fishing town in Tottori that has kept the collaboration running for over a decade.
- [Hyouka](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/hyouka): Takayama, drawn building by building, in a town people already travel to.
- [Chihayafuru](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/chihayafuru): Omi Jingu, where the actual national karuta championships are held every January.
- [Summer Wars](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/summer-wars): Ueda in Nagano, where the castle gate is the gate of the family house.
- [Wolf Children](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/wolf-children): The house is real, it is free to enter, and it is furnished as it is in the film.
- [Initial D](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/initial-d): Mount Haruna is Akina. A public road, a real lake, and a hard rule about how to drive it.
- [The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/haruhi): Nishinomiya, and the school that is being renamed out of existence.
- [GeGeGe no Kitaro](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/gegege-kitaro): 178 bronze yokai along one 800-metre street, free, lit until 22:00.
- [Detective Conan](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/detective-conan): An entire town in Tottori renamed itself around the series.
- [Captain Tsubasa](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/captain-tsubasa): Nine bronze statues across two neighbourhoods in east Tokyo, and a station wrapped in the manga.
- [Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy)](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/tezuka-osamu): The museum in the town he grew up in, 25 minutes from Osaka.
- [Chibi Maruko-chan](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/chibi-maruko-chan): Set in 1970s Shimizu, and Shimizu built the 1970s back.
- [Anpanman](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/anpanman): The author's home valley in Kochi, and the museum he designed himself.
- [Sazae-san](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/sazae-san): The longest-running animated series in the world, and its museum is in the suburb it is set in.
- [Lupin the Third](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/lupin-iii): The author's home town on the far east coast of Hokkaido, and it is free.
- [Fist of the North Star](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/hokuto-no-ken): A bronze bust inside the Shinkansen gates at Saku, and seven manhole covers laid out as the Big Dipper.
- [Teasing Master Takagi-san](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/takagi-san): Shodoshima, where the town hands out the location map at the ferry terminal.
- [Hanasaku Iroha](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/hanasaku-iroha): A festival invented for the anime, now held for real every October since 2011.
- [Tamako Market](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/tamako-market): A working Kyoto shopping arcade that helped make the show and never stopped.
- [Doraemon](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/doraemon): The museum is advance-ticket only, and it sells out.
- [Encouragement of Climb](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/yama-no-susume): A 197-metre mountain 50 minutes from Ikebukuro, and the reason a lot of people started hiking.
- [Summer Time Rendering](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/summertime-render): An uninhabited island of overgrown Meiji gun batteries, 20 minutes by ferry.
- [Tamayura](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/tamayura): A preserved Edo merchant town on the Inland Sea, and a series about photographing it.
- [Tsuki ga Kirei](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/tsuki-ga-kirei): Kawagoe, drawn street by street — and it is a major sightseeing town anyway.
- [5 Centimeters per Second](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/five-centimeters-per-second): The station at the end of the first chapter, in rural Tochigi. Now unstaffed.
- [Zombie Land Saga](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/zombieland-saga): A comedy about how little anyone knows about Saga, made with Saga prefecture's cooperation.
- [A Place Further Than the Universe](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/yorimoi): Tatebayashi in Gunma, and a story that ends in Antarctica.
- [Kochikame](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/kochikame): Fifteen bronze statues around one station in east Tokyo, all free.
- [City Hunter](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/city-hunter): Shinjuku itself, drawn as itself, for a series enormous in France and Italy.
- [Kids on the Slope](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/sakamichi-no-apollon): Sasebo in Nagasaki — the slope, the church and the school are all real.
- [Sanrio / Hello Kitty](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/sanrio): Two theme parks: one indoor near Tokyo, one outdoor in Kyushu.
- [Digimon Adventure](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/digimon): Odaiba, drawn as itself in 1999, and the reason a generation knows the word.
- [Chiikawa](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/chiikawa): The character that took over Japanese merchandise shelves, with a permanent store under Tokyo Station.
- [Jujutsu Kaisen](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/jujutsu-kaisen): The Shibuya Incident is set in the real Shibuya, and you can walk all of it.
- [My Hero Academia](https://animetripjapan.com/ip/my-hero-academia): No real-world locations exist. Here is what to do instead.

## Ready-made routes
- [Pokémon Tokyo: One Perfect Day](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/pokemon-tokyo-1-day): Three Pokémon Centers, one café and the Tokyo Station character corridor, arranged so you never backtrack.
- [Shibuya Incident Walk: Jujutsu Kaisen in Half a Day](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/shibuya-jujutsu-half-day): Three Shibuya Incident locations inside one station complex, then the densest official-store floor in Japan.
- [The Unicorn Gundam and the Gundam Base, in One Afternoon](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/odaiba-gundam-half-day): A 19.7-metre statue that transforms on a schedule, and the deepest Gunpla shop in the world, in the same building.
- [Nintendo & Pokémon Shibuya Half Day](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/nintendo-pokemon-shibuya): Two official game stores on one floor, then a toy store in Ginza where you can play what you just bought.
- [Karatsu in a Day: Three Series, One Town](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/karatsu-three-series-day): Yuri!!! on ICE, Zombie Land Saga and the Kingdom project all land in the same small castle town.
- [The Bungo Stray Dogs Waterfront Walk](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/yokohama-bungo-half-day): Four locations in a straight line along the harbour, finishing on the hill at dusk.
- [The Ten Straw Hat Statues, in Two Days](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/kumamoto-one-piece-two-days): Two in the city, then a loop through the Aso caldera towns the earthquakes hit hardest.
- [Kawagoe Half Day: Tsuki ga Kirei](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/kawagoe-half-day): The warehouse street, the bell tower and the shrine, 30 minutes from Ikebukuro.
- [Uji Half Day: Sound! Euphonium](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/uji-half-day): The station, the bridge and the hill viewpoint, then tea. Twenty minutes from Kyoto.
- [Oarai by Bicycle](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/oarai-one-day): Rent a bicycle at the market, ride the shops, the beach and the shrine on the headland.
- [Takayama & Shirakawa-go: Three Series in the Mountains](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/hida-shirakawa-one-day): Hyouka in Takayama, Higurashi in Shirakawa-go, and Your Name one stop up the line.
- [Chichibu Day: Anohana](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/chichibu-one-day): The bridge from the opening, the temple with the ema, and a hot spring at the end.
- [Akihabara & Nakano Shopping Day](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/akihabara-anime-shopping-day): Modern Akihabara in the morning, vintage Nakano in the afternoon. New releases and twenty-year-old rarities in one day.
- [Ghibli Tokyo: Museum and Beyond](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/ghibli-tokyo-1-day): A morning museum slot in Mitaka, then east along the Chuo line through Nakano to the Ghibli shop under Tokyo Station.
- [Demon Slayer Tokyo Pilgrimage](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/demon-slayer-tokyo-pilgrimage): Walk the real Asakusa in the morning, buy official goods at Skytree at midday, and return to the lanterns after dark.
- [Comiket First-Timer: Two Days in the Bay](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/comiket-first-timer-trip): Day one is Comiket from before dawn. Day two recovers with Odaiba, the Unicorn Gundam and Akihabara.
- [SLAM DUNK Kamakura: Half Day on the Enoden](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/kamakura-slam-dunk-half-day): The crossing at opening light, the coast one station on, and the island at the end of the line.
- [Osaka in One Day: Nintendo, Pokémon and Den Den Town](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/osaka-anime-1-day): The only Nintendo official store outside Tokyo, on one floor with a Pokémon Center — then the western Akihabara.
- [Kyoto in One Day: Manga, Film Sets and Shijo](https://animetripjapan.com/trips/kyoto-anime-1-day): Three hundred thousand volumes you can actually read, a working period-drama film lot, and the shops on Shijo.

## Places
- [Pokémon Center Shibuya](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-shibuya): A dark, laboratory-styled Pokémon Center on the game floor of Shibuya PARCO, sharing a floor with Nintendo TOKYO.
- [Nintendo TOKYO](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/nintendo-tokyo): The only Nintendo official store in eastern Japan. Apparel, plush and homeware that is never exported.
- [Super Nintendo World](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/super-nintendo-world): A walk-in Mario world with rides, interactive blocks and a wearable Power-Up Band.
- [Pokémon Center Tokyo DX & Pokémon Café](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-tokyo-dx): The flagship Pokémon Center in Tokyo, with the reservation-only Pokémon Café attached.
- [Ghibli Park](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/ghibli-park): The only Ghibli theme park in the world. Advance date-and-time tickets only.
- [Ghibli Museum, Mitaka](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/ghibli-museum): Advance-ticket-only museum designed by Hayao Miyazaki. No tickets are sold at the door.
- [Nintendo OSAKA](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/nintendo-osaka): The second Nintendo official store in Japan, and the only one outside Tokyo.
- [Shibuya PARCO 6F Game Floor](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/shibuya-parco): One floor holding Nintendo TOKYO, Pokémon Center Shibuya, Capcom Store Tokyo and Jump Shop.
- [Sensoji Temple & Nakamise](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/sensoji): The Taisho-era Asakusa referenced in Demon Slayer, and Tokyo's oldest temple.
- [Pokémon Center Osaka DX & Pokémon Café](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-osaka-dx): The western flagship Pokémon Center, with the only Pokémon Café outside Tokyo.
- [Kamakurakokomae Railway Crossing](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/kamakurakokomae-crossing): The SLAM DUNK opening shot: a level crossing with the Enoden train and the sea behind it.
- [Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-mega-tokyo): The Ikebukuro branch, with a Pikachu Sweets dessert counter and a card play area.
- [NARUTO & BORUTO Shinobi-Zato (Nijigen no Mori)](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/naruto-shinobizato): A permanent NARUTO attraction — a three-storey maze behind a full-size Hokage Rock.
- [Shibuya Scramble Crossing](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/shibuya-scramble-crossing): The crossing at the centre of the Shibuya Incident arc — free, outdoors, and already on your route.
- [Life-size Unicorn Gundam Statue](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/unicorn-gundam-statue): A 19.7-metre Gundam that transforms several times a day, and lights up after dark. Free.
- [Sanrio Puroland](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/sanrio-puroland): A fully indoor theme park — Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll, Kuromi and My Melody, rain or shine.
- [Suga Shrine Steps](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/suga-shrine-steps): The staircase from the final scene of Your Name — a public flight of steps in a quiet residential street.
- [Animate Ikebukuro Flagship](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/animate-ikebukuro): The largest anime goods store in the world, rebuilt in 2023 across ten floors.
- [Jump Shop Tokyo Skytree Town](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/jump-shop-skytree): Official Shonen Jump store. The most reliable place in Tokyo for Demon Slayer merchandise.
- [Fujiko F Fujio Museum](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/fujiko-f-fujio-museum): The Doraemon museum. Advance tickets only — nothing is sold at the door.
- [The Gundam Base Tokyo](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/gundam-base-tokyo): The official Gunpla flagship, with a life-size Unicorn Gundam statue outside that transforms on a schedule.
- [Pokémon Center Skytree Town](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-skytree): The Skytree branch, on the same floor as Jump Shop and the Mugiwara Store.
- [Kyoto International Manga Museum](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/kyoto-manga-museum): A former elementary school holding roughly 300,000 volumes — and you can sit down and read them.
- [Oyama Dam — Eren, Mikasa and Armin Statues](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/oyama-dam-statues): A 94-metre dam wall as Wall Maria, with the three children standing beneath it.
- [Chiikawa Land Tokyo Station](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/chiikawa-land-tokyo): A permanent Chiikawa store inside Tokyo Station, and often the busiest shop on the corridor.
- [Tokyo Big Sight](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/tokyo-big-sight): The venue for Comiket and most major anime conventions in Tokyo.
- [Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Akiba](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/yodobashi-akiba): A nine-floor electronics store whose hobby floor carries the full current BEYBLADE X lineup at Japanese retail price.
- [Nipponbashi Den Den Town](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/den-den-town): Osaka's equivalent of Akihabara — second-hand figures, retro games, cards and doujinshi along one street.
- [Attack on Titan in HITA Museum](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/shingeki-hita-museum): Original signed artwork, rejected statue designs, and objects made only for this museum.
- [Homangu Kamado Shrine](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/homangu-kamado-jinja): A shrine on Mount Homan sharing the "Kamado" name with the main character. Fan-designated, not official.
- [Luffy Statue (Kumamoto Prefectural Government)](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/luffy-statue-kumamoto): The first of ten life-size Straw Hat statues placed across Kumamoto after the 2016 earthquakes.
- [Super Potato Akihabara](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/super-potato): The famous retro game store, with a coin-op arcade of 1980s cabinets on the top floor.
- [Nakano Broadway](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/nakano-broadway): A four-floor 1960s mall filled with Mandarake shops selling vintage figures, cels and out-of-print merchandise.
- [Pokémon Center Kyoto](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-kyoto): The Kyoto branch, with Kyoto-limited designs drawing on the city's traditional motifs.
- [The Gundam Base Fukuoka](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/gundam-base-fukuoka): The Kyushu Gunpla flagship, with a life-size Gundam statue outside the mall.
- [Okawaso (Ashinomaki Onsen)](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/okawaso): The ryokan whose atrium fans identified as the model for the Infinity Castle.
- [Life-size ν Gundam Statue](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/nu-gundam-statue-fukuoka): The western Japan life-size Gundam, outside LaLaport Fukuoka. Free to watch.
- [Mandarake Complex Akihabara](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/mandarake-complex): Eight floors of second-hand anime goods, each floor a different category.
- [Donguri Kyowakoku Solamachi](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/donguri-kyowakoku-solamachi): Official Studio Ghibli merchandise, no reservation needed. The realistic fallback if you cannot get museum tickets.
- [Pokémon Center Nagoya](https://animetripjapan.com/spots/pokemon-center-nagoya): The Nagoya branch, in the Sakae department store district.

## Events currently listed
- [Kingdom Reading Seawall (Yomihatei)](https://animetripjapan.com/events/kingdom-yomihatei-saga): 2026-01-27 to 2026-09-30. Every page of all 77 volumes, printed along 340 metres of seawall on the Ariake Sea. Free, outdoors, and a Guinness World Record.
- [Saga Kingdom Airport & Special Exhibition](https://animetripjapan.com/events/saga-kingdom-airport): 2026-01-27 to 2026-09-30. The airport terminal decorated inside and out, plus a free exhibition of 34 replica original artworks on the third floor.
- [Kingdom at Furuyu Onsen](https://animetripjapan.com/events/kingdom-furuyu-onsen): 2026-01-27 to 2026-09-30. The hot spring town north of Saga joined the collaboration, with decoration through the town centre.

## Guides
- [Every Makoto Shinkai Location, in One Route](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/makoto-shinkai-locations-complete): Five films, five places, and three of them are in Tokyo. Here is the order to do them in.
- [The Anime Pilgrimage Sites That Cost Nothing](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/free-anime-pilgrimage-sites): Most of the best locations on this site are free. Here are the ones worth planning a day around.
- [Ten Anime Day Trips from Tokyo](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/anime-day-trips-from-tokyo): All within about 100 minutes, all on a single direct train or a short bus. Ranked by how little planning they need.
- [The Towns That Adopted a Series](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/towns-that-adopted-a-series): Six places where the relationship outlasted the broadcast — including a village that started holding a festival that only existed in an anime.
- [Where the Authors Are From](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/author-hometowns-of-japan): Eight towns with no connection to the story at all — because the connection is to the person who wrote it.
- [Fullmetal Alchemist, Frieren and the Anime With No Japanese Locations](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/anime-with-no-japanese-locations): Some of the biggest titles have nothing to visit in Japan, because they are not set here. Here is what is actually documented about where their worlds come from.
- [Walking the Shibuya Incident: Jujutsu Kaisen Locations in Shibuya](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/jujutsu-kaisen-shibuya-guide): Three locations, all inside one station complex, all free apart from a platform ticket. A 45-minute walk that needs no planning.
- [The Your Name Staircase: Visiting Suga Shrine in Yotsuya](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/your-name-suga-shrine-guide): Free, open at all hours, five minutes from a subway station — and in the middle of somebody's neighbourhood. How to visit without being the problem.
- [ONE PIECE in Kumamoto: Ten Statues and Why They Are There](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/one-piece-kumamoto-statues): The author is from Kumamoto. After the 2016 earthquakes, ten life-size bronze statues were placed across the prefecture — mostly in the towns that were hit hardest.
- [Demon Slayer Locations: Which Are Official and Which Are Fan Theory](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/demon-slayer-real-locations): One location is named in the official fanbook. The rest — including the famous ryokan — are fan identifications. The difference matters before you book a trip.
- [Love Live! Sunshine!! in Numazu: The Town That Said Yes](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/love-live-numazu-guide): An hour from Tokyo, and the shopping streets, the buses and the ferry all carry the characters. How to spend a day there.
- [The Two Life-size Gundam Statues in Japan (and the One That Closed)](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/gundam-statues-guide): Odaiba transforms on a schedule. Fukuoka is the western one. Both are free, outdoors, and next to the best Gunpla shops in the world.
- [The SLAM DUNK Crossing in Kamakura: How to Visit Properly](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/slam-dunk-kamakura-guide): The level crossing is free and open at all hours — but it is also a residential street with a real train on it. Here is when to go, where to stand, and what to do with the rest of the day.
- [Sanrio Puroland: The Indoor Theme Park That Works in Any Weather](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/sanrio-puroland-guide): Fully indoors, 40 minutes from Shinjuku, and built around shows rather than rides. What that means for how you plan the day.
- [NARUTO on Awaji Island: The Permanent Attraction Most Fans Do Not Know About](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/naruto-shinobizato-awaji-guide): Almost every anime attraction in Japan is temporary. This one is not — and it is a realistic day trip from Osaka or Kobe.
- [How to Get Fujiko F Fujio Museum Tickets (the Doraemon Museum)](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/doraemon-museum-tickets): Advance tickets only, date and time specific, sold through Lawson. Nothing is sold at the door. Here is the process.
- [Attack on Titan in Oita: The Dam That Became Wall Maria](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/attack-on-titan-hita-guide): A 94-metre dam wall, three life-size statues beneath it, and a museum in the author's hometown. Remote, free to look at, and unlike anything else on this site.
- [Osaka Anime Guide: What Is Here That Tokyo Does Not Have](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/osaka-anime-guide): The only Nintendo official store outside Tokyo, the only Super Nintendo World in Japan, and a second Akihabara. What to do with one day.
- [Japan eSIM and Wi-Fi Guide for Anime Travellers](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/japan-esim-guide-anime-travellers): You will need mobile data for maps, store hours, ticket sites and Comiket queues. Here is what actually works and what it costs.
- [Buying Anime Goods in Japan: Tax-Free, Luggage and Shipping](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/buying-anime-goods-in-japan): How tax-free actually works, what is genuinely cheaper than at home, and the three ways to get everything back to your country.
- [Demon Slayer Locations in Tokyo: Where to Actually Go](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/demon-slayer-tokyo-locations): Asakusa is the real setting, Skytree is where the merchandise is, and going at night is what makes the difference.
- [Comiket for Foreign Visitors: The Complete Guide](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/comiket-guide-foreign-visitors): Tickets are no longer free, the queue starts before dawn, and hotels sell out months ahead. Everything a first-time overseas attendee needs to know.
- [Akihabara Anime Guide: One Day on Foot](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/akihabara-anime-guide): What Akihabara is actually good for in 2026, which stores are worth your time, the correct walking order, and what to buy where.
- [How to Get Ghibli Museum Tickets from Overseas](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/ghibli-museum-tickets-overseas): There are no tickets at the door, ever. Here are the two purchase routes, the exact release schedule, and what to do when both fail.
- [Nintendo TOKYO: How to Visit and What to Buy](https://animetripjapan.com/articles/nintendo-tokyo-visit-guide): The only Nintendo official store in eastern Japan, what it stocks, when to arrive, and how entry restrictions work on busy days.

## Tools
- [Trip planner](https://animetripjapan.com/trip-planner): Pick franchises, a city, a length and interests; returns a timed itinerary grouped by district
- [Map of every spot](https://animetripjapan.com/map): All documented spots on one map, filterable by franchise
- [Comiket guide](https://animetripjapan.com/comiket): Tickets, timing, accommodation and etiquette for overseas attendees
- [First time in Japan](https://animetripjapan.com/first-time-japan): Tax-free rules, transport, cash, eSIM and luggage

## Common questions
- **Which Tokyo district is best for anime shopping?** Akihabara for the widest range in the smallest area — retro games, capsule toys, cards and second-hand figures. Ikebukuro for manga, doujinshi and character goods, including the ten-floor Animate flagship. Shibuya for official game stores, with Nintendo TOKYO and Pokémon Center Shibuya on one floor. Nakano for vintage and out-of-print items.
- **How many days do I need in Tokyo for an anime trip?** Three full days covers the essentials comfortably: one day for Shibuya and the official game stores, one for Akihabara and Nakano, and one for Asakusa, Skytree and either Ikebukuro or Odaiba. Add a fourth day if you have a Ghibli Museum ticket, since that slot fixes half of a day.
- **Is Comiket free to enter?** No, not any more. Since 2023, entry requires a paid wristband ticket purchased in advance. There is no free general admission. Overseas visitors can buy tickets, and the official site publishes English-language information about the process.
- **How does tax-free shopping work in Japan?** Visitors on a temporary visitor status can buy tax-free at registered stores. The threshold is 5,500 yen including tax, counted per store per day, and you must show your physical passport — a photo is not accepted. Because the threshold is per store, it is usually better to concentrate your spending in one shop rather than spread it across several.
- **What is AnimeTrip Japan?** AnimeTrip Japan is a travel planning site for overseas anime, manga and game fans visiting Japan. It organises everything around the series you already love: which real places relate to it, what events are running during your dates, a ready-made route through them, and where to buy the Japan-exclusive merchandise.
- **What time should I arrive at Comiket?** Leave your hotel by 05:00 if you want popular circles. The outdoor queue forms from around 06:00, doors open at 10:30, and popular circles sell out within the first hour. If you only want to see the event rather than buy specific works, arriving from 13:00 is far more comfortable.
- **Do I need cash in Tokyo, or are cards enough?** Cards and mobile payments work almost everywhere in central Tokyo, including all the official stores on this site. Carry some cash anyway: small second-hand shops, capsule toy machines, coin lockers, older arcades and Comiket circles are cash-based. Capsule machines specifically need 100-yen coins.
- **Is AnimeTrip Japan free to use?** Yes. All guides, spot information, event listings and route plans are free. The site earns a commission when you book tours, hotels or eSIMs through partner links, which does not change the price you pay.
- **Where should I stay for Comiket?** Book on the Rinkai line or the Yurikamome line, months in advance. Ariake, Odaiba, Shinagawa and Toyosu are the practical zones. Rates in these areas rise sharply during Comiket and rooms disappear early. Avoid anywhere requiring two transfers at 05:30.
- **Do I need mobile data in Japan for an anime trip?** Yes, effectively. Store entry restrictions are announced the morning of, pop-up stock updates go out on social media, café reservations run on Japanese web systems, and navigating multi-floor buildings like Nakano Broadway is a map problem. An eSIM installed before you fly is the simplest solution for most travellers; a pocket Wi-Fi device is cheaper per person for groups of three or more.

## Machine-readable data
- [https://animetripjapan.com/api/ips](https://animetripjapan.com/api/ips): all franchises as JSON
- [https://animetripjapan.com/api/spots](https://animetripjapan.com/api/spots): all spots as JSON, filter with ?ip= &city= &type=
- [https://animetripjapan.com/api/events](https://animetripjapan.com/api/events): events as JSON, filter with ?status=active
- [https://animetripjapan.com/api/routes](https://animetripjapan.com/api/routes): ready-made routes as JSON
- [https://animetripjapan.com/sitemap.xml](https://animetripjapan.com/sitemap.xml): every page in both languages

Append ?locale=ja to any API endpoint for Japanese.