Why 'Kimi No Na Wa''s Popularity Turned A Quiet Japanese Town Into A Tourist Destination
J RoseMakoto Shinkai's breakthrough animated movie "Kimi no Na wa," or "Your Name" in English, has turned a once quiet Japanese city into a must-see tourist destination for anime fans.
According to Anime Bibly, the small city of Hida, which is located in Gifu Prefecture and was used as the inspiration for the location of "Kimi no Na wa," is now being visited by tons of fans of the popular anime film.
Places such as the Hien Temple, the abandoned train station and the Hida City Library, which was featured prominently in some scenes in the film, is now crowded with people. Anime Bibly also reported that the town's tourism has benefitted from the popularity of the anime movie, with its income soaring to 10 billion yen because of tourist visits.
Hida City Library has also taken advantage of "Kimi no Na wa"'s popularity by allowing people to take pictures in the premises, on the condition that they add "I visited Hida City Library" on their pictures once uploaded on social media, Manga.Tokyo reported.
The city of Hida also created a special "seichi junrei", roughly translated into "holy pilgrimage," for avid anime fans whose only purpose of visit is to experience the anime locations in real life.
"Kimi no Na wa" has broken box-office records in Japan, holding the number one spot for over six weeks since it was first shown in Aug. 26.
The anime film is also the sixth top-grossing Japanese film and the fifth Japanese animation film in history, and is the only anime in the top five slot that is not created by renowed animation studio Studio Ghibli, trailing behind some of the company's biggest titles "Spirited Away," "Howl's Moving Castle," Princess Mononoke" and "Ponyo," according to Anime News Network.
"Kimi no Na wa" is also set to be released in 85 regions outside Japan soon, according to Otaku Tale.
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