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The anime industry is a multi-billion-yen industry in Japan. As of 2024, the anime industry was valued at 3.84 trillion yen1 and this number has continued to grow as overseas demand has increased. With more than 50+ anime airing each cour (a three-month broadcasting period with 10-14 episodes of anime, aligned with calendar seasons), you can experience the wildest creativity of different fictional genres from different animation studios. However, not all anime takes place in fictional backgrounds and settings. Some anime genres are down-to-earth. Slice of life anime or romantic comedy (romcom), especially in a middle or high school setting, often takes place in a real-life location. This gives rise to anime tourism, with fans visiting the same real-life location as the characters in the anime they like.
Take Laid-Back Camp (JP: ゆるキャン△) as a classic example for anime tourism. This anime adaptation illustrates the friendship between five schoolgirls who love camping. The story is set in Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, where five schoolgirls discover the fun of camping during visits to camping grounds and tourist attractions. The story’s comforting tone speaks to modern readers’ need to take breaks from work from time to time.
To enjoy the same experience as the characters, fans visit real-life locations that appear in the anime. This brings economic benefits to the local area because fans not only visit the anime spot, but also spend money on food, souvenirs, transport, and accommodation. Local businesses often take advantage of these opportunities by collaborating with the anime to release locally exclusive goods and merchandise. During a 5-month Laid-Back Camp stamp rally campaign, the activity generated 500 million yen in revenue for Shizuoka Prefecture alone2.
This activity of visiting real-life locations is called Anime Seichi Junrei (JP: アニメ聖地巡礼), meaning ‘anime pilgrimage’. A pilgrimage, by definition, has religious connotations of visiting holy and sacred sites. Applied to anime, this means fans visit ‘sacred’ sites that appeared in their favourite anime. The “Anime Spots 88” (JP: 訪れてみたい日本のアニメ聖地 88) is a list of anime spots in real life, based on a fan voting basis. This list is updated every year, adding recent anime spots with real-life impact (you can cast your vote in English as well!!).
Some spots have been very popular, and they have been on the list for many years. For example, the anime Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (JP: あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない) is set in Chichibu (the same town as the Chichibu Whisky). Although it aired in 2011, fans still visit Chichibu and follow the characters’ footsteps in the anime. Chichibu is a (relatively) famous tourist destination in Saitama Prefecture, especially now that it is world-renowned for its whisky. However, like many other rural Japanese cities, it still suffers from depopulation and a lack of economic opportunities. Attaching value and a sense of place through anime allows these rural towns to attract sustained attention, and many local governments were grasping at straws.
Thus, it is not rare to see local governments strategise economic activities around anime tourism. The anime Too Many Losing Heroines (Makeine)(JP: 負けヒロインが多すぎる！) takes place in Toyohashi in Aichi Prefecture, where the author Amamori Takibi based his light novel on his hometown. Despite being along the Tokaido Shinkansen (the main arterial high-speed rail line linking Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka), Toyohashi is not a tourist city and is often overshadowed by neighbouring cities. When the anime adaptation aired in 2024, its massive popularity prompted the city government to take advantage of anime fans.
Anime pilgrimage is not limited to Japan, it can be closer than you think! In the slice-of-life and music band anime K-On! (JP: けいおん!), the movie episode takes place in London. The five girl band members travelled to different tourist spots in London, such as Big Ben. They also visited a cafe for breakfast, inspired by The Troubadour, a restaurant in Earl’s Court that serves British classics. By the window, there is still an image of the scene where the characters visited the cafe. If you’re a fan of K-On!, that might be an easier and closer pilgrimage to make!
In addition, sake breweries are also featured in anime. In the slice-of-life anime series mono by Afro, the same author as Laid Back Camp, the series featured Yamanashi Meijo, the brewery for the sake brand Shichiken. Like Laid Back Camp, mono extols local tourist destinations in Yamanashi and its surrounding prefectures, with a focus on photography. In Episode 2, the characters went on a motorcycle road trip around Yamanashi. They stopped at Yamanashi Meijo to enjoy the brewery cafe. Afro injects real-life locations into its manga to spark readers’ curiosity about exploring the local area. For the newer generations, this might be a gateway to explore sake and its culture.
Anime tourism isn’t without any drawbacks. Many real-life locations that appear in anime are nothing more than ordinary residential areas. These places lack the tourism infrastructure to welcome a surge of tourists, often causing conflict with the local community. A classic example is Kamakura Koko-mae station on the Enoshima Electric Railway, which is extremely popular due to the infamous sports anime Slam Dunk (JP: スラムダンク). In the anime’s opening theme, the scene features the protagonist standing in front of the level crossing next to Kamakura Koko-mae station. To replicate the framing of that scene, some fans pose in the middle of the road to take pictures, causing traffic to be obstructed. Moreover, some tourists dispose of rubbish in the neighbourhood because the area lacks rubbish bins and toilets. Tensions between tourists and locals persist if the area cannot accommodate tourism activities.
Japanese anime has gone global, and some inbound tourists now visit Japan to participate in ACG (Anime, Comic & Gaming)-related activities. Anime pilgrimage offers a unique and unusual travel experience, bringing people to less well-known parts of Japan. While it’s exciting to see real-life anime locations, it is important to follow the same travel etiquette so the activity remains sustainable!
1 – The Association of Japanese Animations – https://aja.gr.jp/info/2579 (Retrieved September 10, 2026)
2 – Nikkei – https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOCC287450Y5A720C2000000 (Retrieved September 10, 2026)
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