Riding on the hype of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Anime Tourism Association has opened its online survey to determine the top 88 anime pilgrimage sites in Japan. This is the third time the survey has been run.
The list aims to attract anime fans to the country by featuring locations featured in popular anime. The top 88 will be selected by the Association, taking into account the results of the survey. The concept for this anime pilgrimage is inspired by Shikoku’s 88 Temple Pilgrimage, which is Japan’s most famous Buddhist pilgrimage route.
For most anime fans, visiting Japan is high on the bucket list. Though there are some key places to visit, like Akihabara, the list is sure to inspire your itinerary with locations that’ll bring your anime memories to life.
The survey will be online until September 22 and will be available in English, Japanese, Chinese (simple and traditional), German, French, Spanish, Italian, Malay, Thai, and Korean.
The 2018 survey was heavily criticized online due to the Association’s lack of transparency. In a post written by American anime pilgrimage fan and writer Michael Vito, he expressed that many of the top-voted works produced by P.A. Works and Kyoto Animation were discarded from the list and felt that there was a major bias toward titles under Kadokawa. The chairman of the Anime Tourism Association and Kadokawa Corporation, Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, stated that there were some issues in getting the rights cleared with all the Intellectual Property owners in such a limited time, but have said that they have rectified the issue this year.
If you are interested to vote for your favorite places, head over to the official survey page.
Source: ANN
