so I don't know if you guys have heard about this whole social distancing thing
that's been going on but because of it and for absolutely no other reason I've
had a lot of time to sit and think about the time I spent in Japan and ask myself
if I'd ever go back and if I did what I'd do differently when I first started
really getting into anime a couple years ago I came across a post on Reddit that
was a guy that went and visited the Yuru camp camp sites in real life and until
that point I didn't even realize that anime were so closely based on real
locations so that really inspired me to start planning my own trip but there was
about 14 months between when I first had the idea and when I actually ended up
going and in that time my interest to anime started to kind of creep into
other areas of my life and I started reading books from Japanese authors
learning the language eating more different Japanese food and kind of just
enjoying the culture and history a lot more than just limiting it at anime so
by the time I actually went to Japan I was really excited to just experience
the entire culture and not just looking forward to the anime based destinations
so that got me thinking that if someone really loved anime but just anime and
never expanded outside that would it be worthwhile for them to go to Japan and
would they have a good time experiencing only anime based things obviously you
have to eat something while you're there so I'm assuming you like a bit of
Japanese food but let's pretend your entire itinerary is just based on
visiting anime theme locations would it be worth your time and money to take a trip to Japan
I imagine most anime fans that are looking into taking a vacation to Japan
are interested in a couple things first is the widespread idea that since anime
is more mainstream in Japan you'd kind of feel like you fit in there a bit and
feel at home second it's pretty hard to come by anime
merch in North America aside from a few really popular shows like My Hero Academia
and Naruto so people want to travel to Japan so they can fill a
suitcase with clothing anime statues blu-rays manga pretty much everything
you could think of and third is the amount of actual anime themed activities
and destinations you can visit while you're there so first off this might
actually come as quite the surprise to a lot of people but anime really isn't
that popular in Japan yeah I know that sounds like it makes no sense
but it's true you're still considered an otaku if you're really into anime because
watching it is considered sort of childish the same way it is in Western
culture and watching cartoons and you may have seen pictures of billboards and
ads and like the sides of trains painted with anime characters on them right but
that's just because anime is part of the cultural zeitgeist there but that
doesn't mean it's normal for adults or teenagers to spend much time watching it
the first time that really sunk in on my trip was actually on the plane ride
there it was a Japan Airlines flight so all the in-flight entertainment was a
lot of Japanese content but there was not a single anime to be found
same with in hotel rooms we were flipping through channels expecting to
see a lot of anime pop up but really aside from a few channels at key times
anime is not the majority of the TV that's being played compared to anime
manga is pretty popular in Japan but still maybe not to the level you think it'd be
if you look at the highest-grossing films in Japan several of them are anime
but only Hayao Miyazaki or Makoto Shinkai films because the rest are just Disney
movies just like they are here you'll see way more people walking around
wearing Disney shirts then you would see someone wearing a Naruto shirt and
there's a lot more Disney activities and stores than there are anime Tokyo Disney
gets around 18 million visitors per year making it the third most popular theme
park after Disney World and Disneyland both in the States and if you're anything
like me and don't love standing in line for three hours or getting clumped into
really tight spaces then you'll stay as far away from those as possible
speaking of merch I think a lot of people plan to bring an empty bag to
fill with anime themed souvenirs while they're there which is a really good
idea I did the same thing but ended up mostly filling it with booze.
Every anime fan knows that if there's one place they need to visit it's Akihabara
an entire city based around selling anime merch and it does not disappoint
it is just filled with multi-story anime merch buildings and mostly it's just
waifu figurines but there are some other things you can get as well but keep in
mind it is mostly for popular shonen it's pretty tough to find merch for more
niche shows like I'm a huge fan of K-on! and even though I spent hours exploring
Akihabara I only found a couple pieces of merch and it really wasn't what I was
looking for and this probably goes without saying but none of the anime or
manga is translated meaning the blu-rays don't have subtitles and bookstores
don't carry translated manga all the stores look the exact same and it's
really easy to just get lost wandering down aisles and just when you think
you've explored the entire building you'll find a secret door that leads to
three more floors of anime merch outside of Akihabara though there's really
not too much merch to be found except for maybe some Ghibli stuff oh and Rem
they love Rem from Re:Zero there you can't walk more than thirty feet without
running into a capsule toy machine that sells Rem key chains it's really weird
since that show came out in 2016 anime themed attractions on the other
hand are actually few and far between like Odaiba where the giant Gundam
statue is and the Gundam cafe and I think they have an Attack on Titan VR
game which looks pretty cool there's the Pokemon Center one piece tower which is
like a multi floor museum and merch store for one piece fans and the Ghibli
museum which is probably the only one that's worth your time if you like
Studio Ghibli movies it is an essential stop. It is maybe the coolest thing I saw while I
was there and then they're coming out with the Ghibli theme park in fall 2022
which I'm really excited for but other than that there's limited time pop-up
shops and cafes here and there but it's really not as common as you might think
and there's hardly anything outside of Tokyo so if you're going because you
think you'll just be bombarded with anime attractions and merch and people
enjoying it and talking about it maybe consider going to anime convention
instead because you really won't find too much of that just wandering around
Tokyo so is it worth traveling all the way to Japan just because you like anime
100% yes but not because you want themed attractions and merch it's worth it
because you get to experience the same things and culture that your favorite
characters do whether you're visiting convenience stores or walking into
back-alley bars finding random festivals if you're lucky seeing some fireworks or
going into karaoke rooms doing any of the things I mentioned in
my five ways Japan is exactly like anime video it all feels so familiar
because you've seen it on the screen so many times I based my entire trip around
visiting the real-life locations that anime are based on and that is something
I cannot recommend to you enough it's so much more of a unique and real
experience than going to any of the manufactured anime themed attractions
and it's also a great way to find hidden merch shops for shows you really like
like K-On! in Toyosato or Yuru camp in Yamanashi both places I really recommend
you check out planning your trip around visiting the locations that anime are
set versus visiting anime themed locations it's such a better way of
doing it and will really take you off the beaten track so you aren't just
stuck doing the same tourist activities that everyone does. Driving on the wrong
side of the road through mountains to visit some weird lake from Yuru Camp or
going to an elementary school converted into a museum in the middle of nowhere
can be kind of nerve-wracking especially if you don't speak the language at all
but those experiences are so much more rewarding than waiting in line to see a
statue unless it's at the Ghibli museum in which case it's worth your time so with
that I really hope you guys have amazing first trips to Japan I don't want to
dissuade anyone from going but I just want your expectations to be more
realistic from what being there is gonna be like thank you so much for watching
if you enjoyed the video please subscribe and if you could leave a like
below that'd really helped me out if you only take one thing away from this
video I hope it's that you bring an extra bag with you to fill with strong
zero because it's delicious!