Japan for anime fans: the best places to visit, what to book, when to go and a 10-day route

What to do in Japan as an anime fan

Most of what anime fans come to Japan for costs nothing to walk into. The shopping districts, the capsule-toy halls, the arcades and three museums in Tokyo are open to anyone who turns up. The first of those districts is the one you already know by name, and Tokyo's official travel guide sums it up in one line: "Akihabara is the beating heart of the manga and anime movement".

What does need planning falls into three groups:

1. Five places that need a ticket or a reservation in advance. The Nintendo Museum, Ghibli Park, the Ghibli Museum, the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum and the Pokémon Cafe. Each has its own booking window, set out further down this page.
2. Events on fixed dates. Jump Festa, Comic Market and AnimeJapan each run for two or three days a year.
3. Closed days. The museums close on different weekdays, so the order of your days matters more than it does on an ordinary trip.

Three things to know for a trip in late 2026 or early 2027

1. The life-size Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba has gone. The statue's official website says its display ended on Monday 31 August 2026. Plenty of guides still list it, including official ones.
2. AnimeJapan 2027's public days are in Osaka. The event's own page gives INTEX Osaka as the public-day venue, on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March 2027.
3. Comic Market 109 runs for three days. The organiser's schedule sets it for Tuesday 29 to Thursday 31 December 2026 at Tokyo Big Sight, the first winter Comic Market longer than two days since 2019.

Best places to visit in Japan for anime fans

Ten places cover most anime trips. Five are in Tokyo, four are in the Kansai region around Osaka and Kyoto, and one, Ghibli Park, is in Aichi.

How to use the table:

• The five Tokyo rows are free to walk around and need no booking, so they can go on any day of the trip.
• Ghibli Park and the Nintendo Museum need tickets bought weeks or months ahead. Fix those dates first and build the rest around them.
• The Kansai rows (Nipponbashi, the Nintendo Museum, the manga museum and Nijigen no Mori) fit a second base in Osaka or Kyoto.

The sections below take each place in turn: the districts first, then the museums and parks with their prices and booking rules.

Which city in Japan is best for anime fans?

Tokyo. No other city puts as many anime places within one short train ride.

Four things set it apart:

1. Three shopping districts. Akihabara, Ikebukuro and Nakano Broadway are each within about 25 minutes of Tokyo Station and of Shinjuku Station by train.
2. Three free museums. Anime Tokyo Station, the Suginami Animation Museum and the Toei Animation Museum charge nothing to enter.
3. Two museums that take bookings. The Ghibli Museum is in Mitaka, in Tokyo, and the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum is in Kawasaki, in Kanagawa Prefecture.
4. The winter events. Jump Festa is held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba and Comic Market at Tokyo Big Sight, both in late December.

Osaka is the second city and the natural base for the Kansai region: Nipponbashi for shopping, the Nintendo Museum in Uji and the Kyoto International Manga Museum in Kyoto, Universal Studios Japan, the Nijigen no Mori park on Awaji Island and, in March 2027, the public days of AnimeJapan. Everywhere else is a detour for one series or one venue, and the last part of this section lists the detours that official guides recommend.

Akihabara

Akihabara, Akiba for short, is where most anime trips start. Tokyo's official guide describes how the district has changed: "More recently, it has also become the cultural home to the diehard fans of gaming, manga and anime—the otaku."

The same guide names the places to look for:

• Akihabara Radio Kaikan and the Akiba Cultures Zone. Two buildings that each house many shops for anime, manga and games. Radio Kaikan is the one for anime and character goods. Do not confuse it with Akihabara Radio Centre, which is the place for electronic equipment and amateur radio.
• Akihabara Gachapon Hall. A shop that sells nothing but capsule toys, including toys of film and anime characters.
• Tokyo Leisure Land. An arcade with a wide range of games. Professional players from the BEMANI PRO LEAGUE, which mixes music with e-sports, visit often.

Getting there is simple from anywhere in the city:

• From Tokyo Station: 4 minutes on the JR Yamanote Line.
• From Shinjuku Station: 18 minutes on the JR Sobu Line.
• From the airports: 45 minutes by train from Haneda Airport, and roughly 90 minutes by train from Narita Airport.

Nothing in Akihabara needs a ticket, and the only timing advice the official guide gives is about weekends: "The streets can become crowded on weekends if groups of cosplayers arrive, transforming into their characters of choice." If you would rather browse shelves than crowds, go on a weekday.

Ikebukuro

Ikebukuro is the district to add once you have seen Akihabara, and for some fans it is the better of the two. The official guide's judgement is that "Ikebukuro now rivals Akihabara for its dedication to Japanese subcultures". What it names there:

• Otome Road. A street given over to comics and video games for girls.
• Animate Ikebukuro Honten. Animate's flagship store, for anime, manga and video games alike, close to the east exit of Ikebukuro Station.
• Pokémon Center MEGA TOKYO and Pikachu Sweets. On the second floor of Sunshine City alpa. Sunshine City itself is a large complex that also holds an aquarium and an observation deck.
• The Evangelion Store. Named in the guide alongside the Pokémon Center.

Ikebukuro also has one of Tokyo's free anime museums, Anime Tokyo Station, on the first basement, first and second floors of the Tokyu Building East 5, four minutes on foot from Ikebukuro Station. The practical details:

• Price: free.
• Hours: 11:00 to 19:00, with last admission at 18:45.
• Closed: Mondays, or the next weekday when Monday is a national holiday. The museum's own calendar lists Tuesday 13 October and Tuesday 24 November 2026 among its closed days for that reason.
• What is inside: the plan for the second floor is roughly four exhibitions a year, and the basement shows production materials. Tokyo's guide lists them: "In basement 1, layouts, original illustrations, scenarios, plans and proposals, storyboards, and cels that are not usually open to the general public are exhibited."
• On now: a Fist of the North Star special exhibition, from Saturday 22 August to Sunday 8 November 2026.

Fans of Durarara!! have a reason of their own to come. Tokyo's guide to anime locations recommends the real places that appear in the series: Ikebukuro Sunshine Street, Naka-Ikebukuro Park and Sunshine City.

Ikebukuro Station is 8 minutes from Shinjuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line. From Tokyo Station it is 24 minutes on the same line, or 17 minutes on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line.

Nakano Broadway

Nakano Broadway is a shopping complex, not a street, and it is the calmest of the three Tokyo districts. The official guide's own heading for it reads: "The anime-themed stores of Nakano Broadway are a relaxing alternative to the bustling streets of Akihabara".

The building has four floors of shops, and the guide explains how they divide: "Most of the hobbyist shops are located on floors two through four, while general shopping on the first floor and a supermarket in the basement cater to everyday shoppers." The name to know is Mandarake, which the guide lists for its huge stock of manga and hobby collectibles, anything from a plastic figurine to a cosplay outfit. The complex first opened in 1966.

• Hours: 10:00 to 20:00, though the guide notes that hours vary by floor and by shop.
• Closed: closing days vary by shop. The whole building closes on the third Wednesday in February, which in 2027 is Wednesday 17 February.
• Getting there: a 5-minute walk from Nakano Station. The station is about 10 minutes from Shinjuku Station and about 25 minutes from Tokyo Station on the JR Chuo Line. From Shibuya Station allow about 14 minutes, changing at Shinjuku.

Mitaka, the station for the Ghibli Museum, is on the same JR Chuo Line, so the two fit into one day.

Shibuya and Harajuku

Shibuya is not an anime district, but it has three addresses worth knowing:

• Pokémon Center Shibuya. On the sixth floor of Shibuya PARCO, a 5-minute walk from Shibuya Station, open from 10:00 to 21:00 every day.
• Tokyo Anime Center. Tokyo's guide to anime locations, on a page last updated in October 2025, places it in DNP PLAZA SHIBUYA on the second floor of Shibuya MODI. Check that it is open before you go.
• The Gundam Base Shibuya. A new shop for Gundam plastic models. The operator announced on 9 September 2026 that it is due to open in November 2026.

Harajuku is the place for the street fashion that anime and manga borrow from and feed back into. The official guide's advice for a first visit: "Begin your initiation to Harajuku on Takeshita-dori Street, the iconic shopping street at the heart of it all."

Osaka: Nipponbashi and Den Den Town

Osaka's answer to Akihabara is Nipponbashi. The city's official tourism guide calls it "the largest mecca for pop culture, including anime and manga, in western Japan". The shops are concentrated along Sakaisuji-dori, from Nipponbashi 3-chome to 5-chome, and on Ota Road to its west: specialist shops for figures, anime goods and plastic models.

The same guide has a separate page for Den Den Town, the shopping area between Nipponbashi Station and Ebisucho Station on the Sakaisuji subway line, and it draws the comparison directly: "Similar to Tokyo's famous Akihabara area, Den Den Town is a popular shopping destination for fans of Japanese anime and manga."

• Getting there: about 10 minutes on foot from Namba Station on the Osaka Metro Midosuji, Sennichimae and Yotsubashi lines. A JNTO article from 2021 names Exit 9 as the closest.
• Nipponbashi Street Festa: the same 2021 article describes an annual street festival in early March with a cosplay parade. This site does not quote a date for 2027.

Elsewhere in Osaka:

• Pokémon Center Osaka DX and Pokémon Cafe Osaka are on the ninth floor of the Daimaru Shinsaibashi main building. Pokémon Center Osaka is on the 13th floor of LUCUA SOUTH in Umeda.
• The Gundam Base Osaka was announced on 2 September 2026 and is due to open in February 2027.
• Universal Studios Japan has the Mario area, as Osaka's tourism guide calls it. Prices are in the theme park section below.

Kyoto, Nagoya and further afield

These are the places outside Tokyo and Osaka that the official guides point anime fans to:

• Kyoto. The Kyoto International Manga Museum, the Nintendo Museum in Uji and Pokémon Center Kyoto on Shijo-dori.
• Aichi. Ghibli Park, in Aichi Prefecture, and Pokémon Center Nagoya on the second floor of the Nagoya PARCO East Building. JNTO's anime guide also notes that the World Cosplay Summit is held in Nagoya. This site does not quote a date for it.
• Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, for Doraemon.
• Hakone. JNTO sends Evangelion fans here: "Hakone is a major influence on this anime's imagery."
• Kumamoto. One Piece statues stand in several places, with Luffy at the Kumamoto Prefectural Office.
• Tottori. Hokuei Town, the home town of the creator of Detective Conan, has the Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory.
• Toyama. Takaoka, the home town of Doraemon's creator, has the Fujiko F Fujio Hometown Art Gallery.
• Awaji Island, Hyogo. The Nijigen no Mori park, covered with the theme parks below.
• Fukuoka. JNTO lists a life-size Gundam statue here. Read the Gundam section of this page before you plan around it.

Anime museums and theme parks in Japan

Ten venues are worth knowing about, and they divide into those you can walk into and those you cannot. The prices in the table are the adult prices published by each venue, or by Osaka's tourism guide in the case of Universal Studios Japan.

Ghibli Museum, Mitaka

The Ghibli Museum sells its tickets in advance only, and none at the museum itself. The essentials from its English pages:

• Price: 1,000 yen for adults (19 and over). Younger visitors pay 700, 400 or 100 yen depending on age, and children aged 3 and under get in free.
• On sale: Lawson Ticket releases a whole month of tickets online on the 10th of the month before, at 10:00 Japan time.
• The other route: a bus tour from JTB Sunrise Tours that includes the museum among several stops.
• Hours: 10:00 to 18:00.
• Getting there: Mitaka Station is about 20 minutes from Shinjuku Station on the JR Chuo Line. From its south exit the museum is a 15-minute walk, or a ride on the community bus that leaves every 15 minutes while the museum is open.

Our Ghibli Museum tickets guide has the rest: the system fee added from November 2026, the closed days month by month, the on-sale time in your own time zone and what to do when a month sells out.

Ghibli Park, Aichi

Ghibli Park is not the Ghibli Museum, and the park's website says so on its front page: "This is a website for Ghibli Park in Aichi, not for Ghibli Museum, Mitaka (Tokyo)."

The park sits inside Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park and has five areas: Ghibli's Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest, Mononoke Village and Valley of Witches. Two day passes are sold to visitors from overseas:

Children aged 3 and under are free. The prices include tax, and a service charge is added when the tickets are issued.

Four rules to know before you buy:

• Advance purchase only. The ticket page states that "park tickets cannot be purchased at any area of Ghibli Park". Sales are online, through Lawson Ticket and Klook.
• On-sale date. Passes go on sale two months in advance, on the 10th at 14:00 Japan time. December 2026 went on sale on Saturday 10 October 2026. By the same rule, January 2027 goes on sale on Tuesday 10 November 2026 and February 2027 on Thursday 10 December 2026.
• Entry time. The Grand Warehouse is the one area with a set entry time, in hourly slots of which the last is 14:00. The rule is strict: "Please enter Ghibli's Grand Warehouse no later than one hour after your reservation time. Early entry is not allowed."
• The other areas. They have no set time. The ticket page asks you to enter them between opening time and 16:30.

Getting there:

• By train: take the Linimo line to Ai-Chikyuhaku Kinen Koen Station. The park is just outside Exit 2.
• By bus from Nagoya: shuttle buses run from the Meitetsu Bus Center at Nagoya Station. The park's directions page lists 9 a day on weekdays, 7 of them non-stop, and 10 on weekends and holidays, all non-stop. Coming back there are 8 on weekdays, 6 of them non-stop, and 9 on weekends and holidays.
• Paying on the bus: some of the listed departures are cashless and do not take cash as a general rule.
• By car: the page says there is no car park designated for Ghibli Park.

The park's pages checked for this guide give no fixed weekly closed day, so check its calendar for the day you want before you buy.

Nintendo Museum, Uji

The Nintendo Museum in Uji, in Kyoto Prefecture, covers the company's history from Hanafuda playing cards to Nintendo Switch, and lets you play as well as look. It is the hardest ticket on this page to plan for, because you cannot simply buy one. The museum's rule: "Tickets are sold via a randomly selected drawing."

How the process works, in the order the museum sets out:

1. Apply for the ticket drawing. Entries are accepted from three months before your visit. You need a Nintendo Account, which is free.
2. Check the drawing results.
3. Pay. Payment comes only at this stage: "The cost of the ticket must be paid after your entry is drawn." Only credit cards are accepted.
4. Issue your QR code. The tickets are QR codes.
5. Enter the museum. Bring your passport. The museum's wording leaves no room: "A passport is the only accepted form of ID for non-Japanese nationals." A visitor whose identity cannot be verified may be refused entry.

On 12 October 2026 the museum's website showed the drawing open for tickets in January 2027.

• Price: 3,300 yen for adults (18 and over), 2,200 yen for ages 12 to 17 and 1,100 yen for ages 6 to 11, tax included. Children aged 5 and under are free.
• Hours: 10:00 to 20:00.
• Closed: Tuesdays, and from 30 December to 3 January.
• Getting there: a 5-minute walk from the east exit of Ogura Station on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line, or an 8-minute walk from the north exit of JR Ogura Station on the JR Nara Line. The museum asks visitors to come by public transport, not by taxi.

One more thing to know before you promise anyone a souvenir: "The café and shop are located inside Nintendo Museum and are open only to ticket holders."

Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, Kawasaki

This is the museum for Doraemon and the other works of its creator, in Kawasaki, in Kanagawa Prefecture. Entry is by reservation, and the museum gives its reason: "Our museum requires reservation in advance so that every guest could thoroughly enjoy the museum."

• Entry times: seven a day, on the hour from 10:00 to 16:00. You have to go in within one hour of the time you reserved.
• Price: 1,000 yen for adults (18 and over), 700 yen for ages 13 to 17 and 500 yen for ages 4 to 12. Children aged 3 and under are free. The ticket includes the museum's theatre.
• Hours: 10:00 to 18:00.
• Closed: every Tuesday, and over the year-end and New Year holidays.
• Getting there: a shuttle bus runs from Noborito Station on the Odakyu and JR Nambu lines. On foot it is about 16 minutes from Mukogaoka-Yuen Station on the Odakyu line, or about 15 minutes from Shukugawara Station on the JR Nambu Line. The museum asks visitors to use public transport.

The English page checked for this guide does not name where the tickets are sold, so look at the museum's ticket page before you plan the day.

Kyoto International Manga Museum

The manga museum in Kyoto is half museum, half library. In its own words: "This museum is a new kind of cultural facility that concurrently performs library functions and museum functions." The collection runs to approximately 300,000 items, and the building is the former Tatsuike Elementary School, kept with its Showa-era appearance.

• Price: 1,200 yen for adults, 400 yen for ages 13 to 18 and 200 yen for ages 6 to 12.
• Tickets: from the ticket machine when you arrive, or online in advance.
• Hours: 10:00 to 17:00, with last admission at 16:30.
• Closed: Wednesdays, or the next day when Wednesday is a national holiday.
• Re-entry: the fees page notes that "Tickets permit multiple re-entry throughout the day", so you can leave for lunch and come back.
• Shop: around 3,000 items on sale, some of them original goods.
• Getting there: Karasuma Oike Station on the Karasuma and Tozai subway lines, then about 2 minutes on foot from Exit 2. From Kyoto Station it is the third stop on the Karasuma Line, about 6 minutes.

Three free museums in Tokyo

Anime Tokyo Station is in Ikebukuro. Its hours, closed days and current exhibition are in the Ikebukuro section above.

The Suginami Animation Museum is on the third floor of the Suginami Kaikan building in Suginami City. Tokyo's official guide calls it "the only museum in Japan that focuses solely on animations".

• Hours: 10:00 to 18:00, with entry by 17:30.
• Closed: Mondays, and from 28 December to 4 January. It opens on national holidays and closes on the day after one.
• Language: the museum is direct about this: "We speak only in Japanese." It asks visitors who want explanations in other languages to arrange an interpreter.
• Groups: reservations are required.
• Getting there: from the north exit of Ogikubo Station, on the JR Chuo Line and the Marunouchi Line, a Kanto Bus takes roughly 5 minutes to the Ogikubo Police Station stop. Walking from the station takes about 20 minutes. From Nishi-Ogikubo Station the bus takes about 7 minutes.

The Toei Animation Museum is in Nerima, in Tokyo.

• Hours: 11:00 to 16:00, with last admission at 15:30.
• Closed: every Wednesday, plus irregular holidays shown on the museum's calendar.
• How long to allow: the museum's own estimate is between 30 minutes and an hour.
• Getting there: about 15 minutes on foot from the north exit of Oizumi-gakuen Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, or about 5 minutes by bus from the same exit.

Nijigen no Mori and Universal Studios Japan

Nijigen no Mori is a theme park built around anime. It is set inside a prefectural park on Awaji Island, in Hyogo Prefecture. Its website lists four attractions:

• Dragon Quest Island.
• Godzilla Interception Operation. JNTO's page on the park gives the size of its Godzilla as 23 metres high, 25 metres wide and 55 metres long, with a zipline that passes through its mouth.
• NARUTO & BORUTO Shinobi-Zato.
• Crayon Shin-chan Adventure Park.

An Attack on Titan collaboration event runs there until Sunday 13 December 2026. To get to the park, JNTO's directions are about 35 minutes by train from Shin-Osaka Station to Sannomiya Station, and then about 45 minutes on a highway bus to the park. The pages checked for this guide give no admission price, so this site does not quote one.

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka is the other park on the list, for its Mario area. Osaka's tourism guide lists the 1-Day Studio Pass from 8,200 yen for adults (12 and over) and from 5,400 yen for children (4 to 11). Prices vary with the date of entry.

What to book before you fly

Work through these in order. The first is the one with the longest lead time.

1. Three months ahead: the Nintendo Museum. Enter the ticket drawing as soon as it opens for your month. Until you know the result you cannot fix the Kyoto part of the trip.
2. Two months ahead, on the 10th at 14:00 Japan time: Ghibli Park. Buy the pass for the day you will be in Aichi.
3. The 10th of the month before, at 10:00 Japan time: the Ghibli Museum. Tickets for every day of the following month are released at the same moment.
4. Before you leave: the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum and the Pokémon Cafe. Both need a reservation. The Pokémon Cafe in Tokyo is on the fifth floor of the Nihombashi Takashimaya S.C. East Building, a 5-minute walk from the Yaesu North Entrance of JR Tokyo Station, and is open from 10:30 to 21:00. Its page says only "Prior reservation required." This site does not quote how far ahead bookings open.
5. If your dates include 19 or 20 December 2026: Jump Festa. It is free, but entry is by advance application and invitation.

As a worked example, these are the dates for a trip in January 2027:

Everything else on this page can be decided on the day.

Arcades in Japan for anime fans

Japan's arcades, usually called game centres, matter to anime fans for one reason above all: the prizes. JNTO's guide to them says the claw machines are stocked with almost anything: plush toys large and small, and goods from major anime series that are made only for arcades.

Which arcade is best? JNTO's guide names no chains and ranks nothing, so this site does not rank them either. What the guide does give is where to look and how the buildings are laid out: "Today, in Tokyo's Akihabara or Osaka's Umeda, the bigger game centers often organize their attractions by floor." You may find a whole floor of claw machines and, on a different one, only card games, retro fighting games or train simulators. In Akihabara, Tokyo's official guide names Tokyo Leisure Land.

What you will find inside:

• Claw machines. The main draw for anime fans, for the prizes described above.
• Rhythm games. These take up a large share of the floor. One of the most popular is Taiko no Tatsujin, in which players beat a drum in time with J-pop songs, anime soundtracks and other music.
• Photo booths. Purikura booths, which do more than simply take your picture.
• Capsule toys. Not arcade games, but often nearby. Akihabara Gachapon Hall is a whole shop of them, and Tokyo Character Street at Tokyo Station has a Gashapon Bandai official shop.

How to win a prize, and what it costs

Do not expect to win on the first try. JNTO's guide says a win in a single attempt is uncommon, because the machines are built so that it takes more than one good try, each nudging the prize a little closer. Three more points from the same guide:

1. Ask for help. If a prize is stuck, its advice is to "ask the staff to reposition it—this is standard practice throughout Japan".
2. Expect a limit on rare prizes. For rare or especially popular prizes, an arcade may limit each customer to one.
3. Never shake or hit a machine.

Newer machines take IC cards as well as coins, so a Suica card can save you a trip to the change machine. The guide's own estimate of the cost is modest: a couple of hundred yen is enough for a lot of fun.

One more interactive stop in Tokyo

Tokyu Kabukicho Tower in Shinjuku is an entertainment complex with a hotel, a cinema and a theatre, one minute from Seibu-Shinjuku Station and seven minutes from Shinjuku Station. Tokyo's official guide, on a page updated on 22 January 2026, adds a detail for anime fans: "One floor of the Tokyu Kabukicho Tower is devoted to an interactive experience called Sword Art Online: Anomaly Quest." Attractions of this kind change, so check that it is still running before you go.

Real anime locations: the 88 Animation Spots

Japan has a published list of real places tied to anime, and it is a good starting point for visiting the settings of a favourite series. The Anime Tourism Association has chosen its 88 Animation Spots since 2018, and Tokyo's official guide explains how: "The 88 Animation Spots are selected each year." Fans in Japan and abroad vote, and the final choice is made after talks with the copyright holders and with local governments.

The association also promotes two things at the selected spots: a certification plaque, and a stamp with a scarlet seal that visitors can collect.

Tokyo's guide, on a page updated in October 2025, introduces ten spots in the city that are good for walking around, along with related facilities where a seal is available. Among them:

• Akihabara, for Steins;Gate. The Akihabara of 2010 in the series matches the real townscape in many places.
• Kanda Shrine, for Love Live! The shrine is closely tied to the series, and the slope beside it appears in the anime. In 2015, at the 400th anniversary of the Kanda Festival, a collaboration with the series was held. The seal for this series and for Steins;Gate is in front of the studio on the first basement floor of the EDOCCO Edo Culture Complex, at 2-16-2 Sotokanda, Chiyoda City.
• Ikebukuro, for Durarara!! The seal is at the tourist information centre of the Toshima City Tourism Association.
• Koenji, for Accel World. Koenji, in Suginami City, is the setting. The guide points on from here to the Suginami Animation Museum.
• Tokyo Anime Center, Shibuya. Listed among the related facilities, with the suggestion to walk there across the Shibuya Scramble Crossing.
• Tokiwaso Manga Museum, Toshima City. A reproduction of Tokiwaso, the apartment building that was once home to manga artists including Osamu Tezuka and Fujio Akatsuka. One of its apartments has been rebuilt inside at full size. It is in Minami-Nagasaki.
• Spot No. 88: the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. The seal is at the Tokyo Tourism Information Center on the first floor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1, at 2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku.

Seals are not always available, so check before you make a special trip for one.

JNTO's anime guide adds one location for Studio Ghibli fans that is not a film set at all: the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. The guide suggests it to fans of Spirited Away, because parts of the film were inspired by it.

Best time to go to Japan for anime fans

There is no anime season. The districts and museums are open all year, so the best time is whichever week has the event or exhibition you care about.

These are the dated ones that official pages confirmed on 12 October 2026:

What to know about each of the three big events:

• Jump Festa 2027. Organised by Shueisha in exhibition halls 1 to 9 and 11 of Makuhari Messe. Admission is free, but entry is by advance application and invitation, and every visitor of elementary school age or older needs an electronic entry ticket in the Jump NAVI app. Last entry is at 16:30. This site has not seen the application dates.
• Comic Market 109. The organiser describes it as the first Comic Market longer than two days since winter 2019, and says the three-day schedule applies to this winter only for now. Fan-circle stalls run from 10:30 to 16:00 and corporate booths from 10:30 to 17:00, or 16:00 on the last day. Arriving at the venue the day before or queuing overnight is banned. East Halls 4 to 6 are out of use because of renovation work at Tokyo Big Sight. Entry uses the same ticket and wristband system as the previous seven Comic Markets, and the organiser says full details will be published in early November. This site does not quote a price.
• AnimeJapan 2027. The public days are at INTEX Osaka, with last admission at 16:30. The programme lists exhibit booths, stage events and official merchandise. This site does not quote a ticket price.

Getting to Tokyo Big Sight for Comic Market: Kokusai-Tenjijo Station on the Rinkai Line is about 7 minutes away on foot, and Tokyo Big Sight Station on the Yurikamome line, about 22 minutes from Shimbashi Station, is 3 minutes away. The organiser asks visitors not to use taxis, to ease traffic around the venue.

Closed days and the New Year break

Late December has the most events, and it also has the most closures. Plan around both.

National holidays shift some of these. Anime Tokyo Station closes on the next weekday when a Monday is a holiday, the Suginami Animation Museum opens on holidays and closes the day after, and the Kyoto International Manga Museum closes the next day when a Wednesday is a holiday. Our Japan public holidays calendar shows which days those are.

Year-end closures published so far:

• Suginami Animation Museum: 28 December to 4 January.
• Nintendo Museum: 30 December to 3 January.
• Anime Tokyo Station: its calendar lists 28, 29, 30 and 31 December 2026 as closed.
• Fujiko F. Fujio Museum: closed for the year-end and New Year holidays. Its English page gives no dates.

The life-size Gundam in Odaiba has gone

If your plan includes the transforming Unicorn Gundam at DiverCity Tokyo Plaza in Odaiba, take it out. The statue's official website announces that its display ended on Monday 31 August 2026. It had stood on the Festival Plaza, on the second floor of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, for about nine years after its completion on 24 September 2017, and a final ceremony was held on Saturday 29 August 2026.

Guides have not caught up. JNTO's own anime guide still describes a 20-metre Unicorn Gundam in Odaiba that transforms four times a day.

What Gundam fans can still do:

• The Gundam Base Tokyo. The official shop and exhibition space for Gundam plastic models is on the seventh floor of the same DiverCity Tokyo Plaza. Its four zones are for buying, building, looking and learning. The listed hours are 10:00 to 21:00, in line with the mall's, but the operator's website says some hours are currently changed. Check before you go.
• New shops. The Gundam Base Shibuya is due to open in November 2026 and The Gundam Base Osaka in February 2027, according to the operator's announcements of September 2026.
• Other branches. The operator also lists Gundam Base shops in Fukuoka and at New Chitose Airport.

Fukuoka is the open question. JNTO's guide describes a life-size ν Gundam statue there as "a massive Gundam towering nearly 25 meters", and the GUNDAM SIDE-F shop on the fourth floor of LaLaport Fukuoka lists hours of 10:00 to 21:00. This site could not confirm from the operator's own pages that the statue is still on display. Odaiba shows that these statues are not permanent, so check before you travel to Fukuoka for it.

A 10-day Japan itinerary for anime fans

This route starts on a Sunday, and that is deliberate. Arrive on a Sunday and the plan misses every regular closed day in the table above. Days 1 to 5 are in Tokyo, day 6 is for Ghibli Park, and days 7 to 10 are in Kyoto and Osaka.

Why the days fall where they do:

• Monday is the Akihabara day. Anime Tokyo Station and the Suginami Animation Museum both close on Mondays, and neither is part of this day.
• Tuesday is the Ikebukuro day. Anime Tokyo Station is open again. The two venues that close on Tuesdays, the Nintendo Museum and the Fujiko F. Fujio Museum, come later in the route.
• Wednesday follows one railway line. Nakano, Ogikubo and Mitaka are all stations on the JR Chuo Line. Nakano Broadway opens at 10:00, Ogikubo is the station for the Suginami Animation Museum and Mitaka is the station for the Ghibli Museum. The Toei Animation Museum closes on Wednesdays, so if you want to see it, swap it into Thursday.
• Friday is the Ghibli Park day. Nagoya is on the Shinkansen line that runs from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka, so the park fits between the two halves of the trip. Choose a Grand Warehouse entry time that your train can meet, because you have to go in within an hour of it.
• The second Sunday is the Nintendo Museum day. In practice the drawing decides this date, not you. If your entry is drawn for a different day, move the Kyoto and Osaka days around it.

Two calendars are not in the closed-day table and need a look for your own dates: the Ghibli Museum's, which is in our tickets guide, and Ghibli Park's, which is on the park's website.

How to adapt the route:

• If the first Monday is a national holiday. Anime Tokyo Station closes on the Tuesday instead, so swap days 2 and 3.
• If you arrive on another day of the week. Keep the order of the cities and check each museum day against the closed-day table.
• If you have five days. Follow days 1 to 5 and stay in Tokyo.
• If you have seven days. Add Ghibli Park and one day in Kyoto or Osaka.
• If the trip is built around an event. Start from its dates. Jump Festa and Comic Market both fall in late December, when several museums close for the New Year. The public days of AnimeJapan 2027 are in Osaka, so that weekend belongs in the Kansai half of the route.

For the journeys between the cities, our Japan itinerary ideas cover the route between Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and the Shinkansen tickets guide lists the fares, including the legs to and from Nagoya. For hotels, see where to stay in Japan, and for a family trip, our guide to Japan with kids.

Do you need an anime tour of Japan?

No. Nothing on this page needs a guide, and the tickets that take planning are ones you can buy yourself:

• The districts are free to walk around and need no ticket.
• The Ghibli Museum sells to visitors overseas online, through Lawson Ticket.
• Ghibli Park sells its passes online, through Lawson Ticket and Klook.
• The Nintendo Museum runs its own ticket drawing, which you enter with a free Nintendo Account.

This site does not rank tour companies and does not quote tour prices. A tour or a package can still earn its place in three cases:

1. The Ghibli Museum by bus tour. The museum itself lists a bus tour by JTB Sunrise Tours as its second way to buy from overseas. The tour visits several places, and the museum is one of them.
2. Ghibli Park with a hotel. The park's ticket page points to ticket plans that include accommodation in Aichi Prefecture, sold by travel agencies, among them JTB, Viator and KKday.
3. Places that work in Japanese. The Suginami Animation Museum asks visitors who want explanations in another language to arrange an interpreter.

If you are comparing packages, ask three questions before you pay:

1. Which timed tickets are included? The Ghibli Museum, Ghibli Park and the Nintendo Museum are the ones that are hard to get. The districts themselves cost nothing to visit.
2. Do the days avoid the closed days? Check the plan against the closed-day table on this page.
3. Do the dates match the event you want? Jump Festa, Comic Market and AnimeJapan each run for two or three days a year.

Best souvenirs from Japan for anime fans

The best souvenirs are the ones you can only get here, or only in one shop.

These are the places the official sources point to:

• Figures and character goods. Akihabara Radio Kaikan is the building Tokyo's guide names for anime and character goods. At Nakano Broadway the guide describes rare plastic figurines and collectibles next to manga series that are in demand and books that are no longer in print. Mandarake is one of the shops it names. Our guide to where to buy anime figures in Japan goes through the shops floor by floor, with prices, the tax-free rules and how to get the boxes home.
• Capsule toys. Akihabara Gachapon Hall, and the Gashapon Bandai official shop on Tokyo Character Street.
• Arcade prizes. JNTO's guide to game centres describes merchandise from major anime series that is exclusive to arcades. You win it instead of buying it.
• Pokémon goods. The Pokémon Centers in Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Kyoto, Osaka and Nagoya are all on this page. For a last chance before the flight, the official shop list has a Pokémon Store on the fourth floor of the South Wing of Terminal 1 at Narita International Airport.
• One series, one shop. Tokyo Character Street is a row of character shops on the first basement level of First Avenue Tokyo Station, and several of them are the official shop of a single series or publisher. The official list includes the JUMP SHOP, the Crayon Shin-chan official shop, Ultraman World M78 and the Kamen Rider Store. The listed hours are 10:00 to 20:30, and most of the shops carry a tax-free mark. A JNTO article from 2019 counted more than 30 shops there.
• Gundam plastic models. The Gundam Base Tokyo, on the seventh floor of DiverCity Tokyo Plaza in Odaiba.
• Museum shops. The shop at the Kyoto International Manga Museum sells original goods as part of a range of roughly 3,000 items. The shop at the Nintendo Museum is inside the museum, so you need a ticket to reach it.

Tax is worth a thought before a large purchase. Of Akihabara, Tokyo's official guide notes: "Many stores offer duty-free shopping to help you stretch your yen further." Our guide to what to buy in Japan explains how tax-free shopping works for visitors, including the change to the system on 1 November 2026.

Two more pages help with the practical side:

• Gifts for people who are not anime fans. Our Japanese souvenirs guide covers gifts for the office, cheap souvenirs, traditional crafts and where to buy them.
• Getting it all home. Boxed figures take up room. Our luggage guide covers buying a suitcase in Japan and sending bags ahead to the airport.

Related guides

Tickets

Studio Ghibli Museum Tickets: How to Buy

How to buy Ghibli Museum tickets from overseas: prices from 100 to 1,000 yen, on-sale dates and local times, Lawson Ticket, the JTB tour and sold-out options.

Anime

Where to Buy Anime Figures in Japan

Where to buy anime figures in Japan in 2026: Akihabara's Radio Kaikan floor by floor, Nakano Broadway, Osaka, real prices, tax-free rules and spotting fakes.

Shopping

What to buy in Japan 2026: the shopping list

What to buy in Japan in 2026: snacks, skincare, clothes, knives, anime goods, electronics and crafts, where to find each, tax-free rules and what you can take home.

Start here

Japan itinerary ideas: 7, 10 and 14 days

Japan itinerary ideas for a first trip: 7, 10 and 14-day routes through Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka with Shinkansen times and fares, extra stops and dates to avoid.

Shopping

Japanese souvenirs 2026: what to bring home

The best Japanese souvenirs for 2026: omiyage for coworkers, cheap gifts, traditional crafts, gifts for kids, and where to buy them in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Japan: areas, types and costs

Where to stay in Japan for a first trip or on a budget: the best areas in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, hotel or ryokan or hostel, what a night costs and when to book.

To cite or link to this page: Japan for anime fans: the best places to visit, what to book, when to go and a 10-day route — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/things-to-do/japan-for-anime-fans/ Copy