One of the joys of being an anime fan in Japan is visiting the real places seen in your favorite anime series, which is known as 聖地巡りseichi meguri in Japanese, lit. “making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.” My first visit to a real place in anime was in Shinjuku, standing in front of the hallowed Studio Alta TV from Megazone 23 then exploring the station to find the City Hunter “xyz” blackboard. (Yes, I rock my anime old school.) These days most every anime are set in real locations for added realism, and if you should want to eat taiyaki in front of the train station from Kanon, walk up the sakura tree-lined road from Clannad or enjoy a pleasant afternoon of boating on the lake from Please Teacher/Please Twins and the final scenes from Ano Natsu de Matteru, it’s possible to do so. One of the most popular places for otakus to ring in the new year this year was Oarai, Ibaragi Prefecture, the setting for the popular moe tank anime Gals und Panzer, and many fans traveled there to see the first sunrise of the new year.
Many Gal-Pan wishboards were hung at the temple in Oarai.
