Otaku tourists out of Japan : fictionality, shared memories, and the role of national branding in the Japanese pilgrimages of anime fans in the United Kingdom

Hernandez Perez, M

Abstract

The article explores the reasons and narratives behind the anime pilgrimage experiences of Japanese tourists in the UK. Anime or otaku (fan) pilgrimages are a phenomenon widely studied by Japanese and foreign academics in relation to seichi junrei (“pop culture tourism”) and activities such as collecting of snapshots from media (butaitanbou). The article establishes a typology for the study of Otaku Tourism that can be eventually transferred to other media pilgrimages and examines a significant case of anime pilgrimage in England (the Cotswolds).

Citation

Hernandez Perez, M. (2019). Otaku tourists out of Japan : fictionality, shared memories, and the role of national branding in the Japanese pilgrimages of anime fans in the United Kingdom. Journal of Popular Culture, 52(6), 1512-1535. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12871

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 16, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 2, 2020
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jun 2, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2022
• Journal: The Journal of Popular Culture
• Print ISSN: 0022-3840
• Electronic ISSN: 1540-5931
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 52
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1512-1535
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12871
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12871
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1540-5931
• Additional Information: Access Information : This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Hernández-Pérez, M. (2019), Otaku Tourists Out of Japan: Fictionality, Shared Memories, and the Role of National Branding in the Japanese Pilgrimages of Anime Fans in the United Kingdom. J Pop Cult, 52: 1512-1535, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12871. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.