In the mountain town of Chichibu, northwest of Tokyo, something unusual has been happening on weekday mornings. Groups of young people — many of them foreign tourists — stand in front of ordinary train stations, vending machines, and convenience stores, comparing their surroundings to screenshots on their phones. They are pilgrims of a sort: visitors to the real-world locations that inspired the anime series "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day," released in 2011 and still drawing devotees fifteen years later.
The Scale of the Phenomenon
Seichi junrei — anime pilgrimage, literally "sacred place pilgrimage" — is no longer a niche activity. The Anime Tourism Association estimates that over 10 million pilgrimages take place in Japan annually, contributing several hundred billion yen to local economies. Towns that appear in popular series see sustained visitor growth that often outlasts the series' peak popularity by decades.
The economics are striking. Oarai, a coastal town in Ibaraki Prefecture that appeared in "Girls und Panzer," has built an entire local identity around the association — with themed merchandise, character-branded local businesses, and seasonal events that draw tens of thousands of visitors who would otherwise have no reason to make the trip. The tourism revenue has partially offset the economic decline that many Japanese regional towns face as young people move to cities.
