Tokyo Anime and Manga Tour

[lastresort]

Hello!


First of all, I want to say that before posting this I contacted forum admin to ask permission. (Thank You!)


Here goes!


I am an employee of a Japanese company called Last Resort. We are currently developing a package tour of Tokyo designed to specifically appeal to foreign fans of Japanese Anime. The idea is to bring people to Japan for a week in which they can encounter a range of Japanese cultural experiences with the focus being on Manga and Anime.

The tour will include :

An Anime / Manga Workshop with a professional artist

A tour of an Anime studio

A trip to one of the big conventions
Tokyo International Anime Fair
Comiket
Tokyo Game Show

A trip to the Studio Ghibli Museum

A trip to Akihabara
Akihabara is (as you probably know) the best place in Japan to find Manga, Anime and collectibles.

Other possible elements of the tour (depending on the final length of the tour / time of year etc.) could include :

A trip to Tokyo Tower

A trip to Harajuku
Harajuku is famous for crazy-looking Goth chicks, street performers and cool fashions.

A trip to the Tokyo National Museum
The biggest museum in Japan. It contains a huge variety of Japanese and other Asian art and archaeological objects.

A trip to Mount Fuji

A trip to the Tokyo Dome
There is an amusement park with roller coasters and other rides as well as a park and restaurants, etc…

A trip to Oedo Onsen Monogatari
This is a kind of Hot Spring Amusement Park. There are a huge range of different baths to try as well as an 1800’s style shopping street, restaurants, shops and stuff. And, you get to wear a Yukata (a type of kimono) in the design of your choice!

An evening watching Sumo

An evening watching Kabuki

And…
Visits to shrines and temples, shopping, restaurants and other great tourist stuff.

I am looking for some feedback with regards to the content of the tour. To that end, I am contacting Anime fans all over the World to see if people are interested. Of course, we want to provide a tour that will give fans the experiences they really want. That's where you come in.

What do you think about the proposed content?
Is there anything not mentioned that you would like to do?
Would you prefer Western style or Japanese style accommodation?
Would you be interested in going on the tour?

Do you have any other suggestions?

If you are interested in the tour and would like to receive information in the future, please let me know and I will keep you informed of developments.

Also, if you see fit, I would be very pleased if you could tell anyone else you feel would be interested about what we are doing. The more feedback I get, the better we can make the tour.

I want to assure you that this is all legitimate and there will be no attempt made to spam you or anyone else who gets in touch with us. Here is the link to Last Resort’s English Language website. Hopefully this will show you that this company really exists! http://company.lastresort.co.jp/en_top.html

Last Resort is a company that tries to promote international understanding and help people to realize their dreams. Generally, the company helps Japanese people travel overseas for home stays and working holidays. But, now we want to help people from other countries take the leap and visit Japan.

I am extremely excited to be working on this project. I have been living in Japan for a few years now and really love this crazy country. I hope that I can help more people experience what Japan has to offer.

Thank you for reading all of this.


Sincerely,


Richard Mands


richardmands.lastresort@yahoo.co.uk

[Kevin]

This thread is allowed, thanks.

[Schuldich]

i thought i would start out with some comments about the proposed trip. this is just my opinion...i'm sure many other people would feel differently. i just wanted to give some constructive criticism.

- i have been to the Tokyo International Anime Fair, a summer Comiket, and the Tokyo Game Show. i only lived 2 hours away from each event, so it wasn't too much effort to go to them, but i can honestly say that even if i were in the Tokyo area during the events i would not spend time going to them again. conventions in Japan are so much different from cons in America, and the Anime Fair and Game Show seemed like gatherings for people in the industry...not as much for fans. the transportation to the convention center is pretty expensive, too..and very out of the way.

- Akihabara is cool if you want hentai, games, and electronics, but for regular anime shops there aren't many places to buy things. i would say Ikebukuro provides more of an anime experience. there are many anime shops and even more used anime goods stores that sell things from older shows. also - Ikebukuro has arcades with UFO catchers, DDR, and all the other arcade games that anime fans seem to like (like the taiko game). in the same area are 2 of the biggest department stores in Japan, and a 2 floor Hello Kitty store. i think for anime lovers Ikebukuro has better stores, and Akihabara is better for gamers.

- how long would this trip be? it seems like all of the things listed could only be done comfortably in a 2 week period. this seems rather expensive for a demographic that usually includes 12-25 year olds. i haven't met too many anime fans with enough money to go for such a long time. the transportation around the country itself would be very expensive unless each person bought a rail pass.

- i think anime fans would also be interested in a few kareoke trips. this would also be a good option to include since it's one of the few things to do after everything closes at 5. also, a trip to Asakusa might be a good idea. Sensoji is a pretty cool temple, and the shops around it provide a great opportunity to buy some nice, cheap souvenirs (unlike those in Akihabara that aren't even Japanese items).

overall it seems like a very good idea in theory, but it seems very difficult to do with a group of people. especially when some of the events are shopping and conventions it can be hard to move on to the next spot when some people might lag behind (or get lost). so far these are my thoughts...i might add more later when more comes to me...but i think i left enough for now.

[fujyoshi]

0_0 ........!!! That's.....so.......sweet!!!!!!!!!!!

[GokuMew2]

Um, I think I read that the Bandai Museum will be closing its doors at the end of this month or something? Ayep, here (http://www.animaxis.com/en/zine/newsletter/view.asp?id=N001638) is the link.

Though I've never been to Akihabara, I agree with Schuldich that a trip to Ikebukuro is not to be missed. There's the Animate main store (8 floors of anime goodness, yo!) and that really sweet SEGA arcade down Sunshine Street.

[Gasaraki]

My biggest concern would be time and cost. I HIGHLY doubt this tour could be affordable for anyone 12-25 years of age as Schuldich mentioned.

[hiroaki]

Comiket (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJFwvHXkR9I) Akiba1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjXXC4LXsY&mode=related&search=) Akiba2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHOZosBJGo8) 秋葉観光地化 (http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/00/sya/20060824/mng_____sya_____012.shtml)　乙女ロード (http://alisato.parfait.ne.jp/etc/hagarenmovie/otomeroad.htm)

[lastresort]

My biggest concern would be time and cost. I HIGHLY doubt this tour could be affordable for anyone 12-25 years of age as Schuldich mentioned.

I appreciate that money is an issue with something like this. But, we want to make this tour affordable for anime fans. There would be no point if only the super-rich could afford it. We know who our target market is, so we will try to make something those people want. That includes pricing the tour sensibly.

I can't make any statements about the exact price at this time (because I honestly don't know yet). But, we want to be competitive with other tours that are available. We certainly won't cost any more than those other tours (and hopefully will be cheaper).

Here's a story that I hope will encourage people worried about the cost. When I was 21 I spent a month traveling around Europe. I certainly don't come from a rich family, so I had to do part-time jobs and save, save, save. Eventually, I got the money together and spent a wonderful month with my friends in some of the world's greatest cities.

So, don't give up! It's not impossible. (although doing telephone market research nearly killed me...)

lastresort

[lastresort]

Um, I think I read that the Bandai Museum will be closing its doors at the end of this month or something? Ayep, here (http://www.animaxis.com/en/zine/newsletter/view.asp?id=N001638) is the link.

Ah. Right. Thanks for the info!

lastresort

[lastresort]

Sorry! This is the last one for now.

The tour won't be longer than a week. I think 2 weeks would end up being too expensive to be popular.

The tour itinerary isn't set. The list covers things that I believe people would like to do. But, it may not be possible to do all of those things in one week.

We need to find a balance between having an active tour and being too controlling of people's time. There will be a free day in there somewhere as well for people to do whatever they like.

I hope this clears things up a little.

lastresort

[Gasaraki]

Thanks for the reply, I'll be looking forward to updates. I could possibly see myself trying to get to this in the future.

[cris]

Yes, Akihabara is more for Bishojyo type things and usually more towards digital content. Akihabara, "The Eletric City" isn't really a place to go for your anime needs. It's more of a place to go for Video Games, PC games, electronics and devices...not for eating, site seeing, or Anime collecting. I'm not saying there's NO stores, but it's not generally a place you would go for such cause

Also, if you intend to do everything on the list and perhapes adding more, even if it was at an affordable price, it would be very rushed and I would say that it is not worth it. I suggest you take out some of those things out if you want it done in a week without a rushed manner.

Edit again:
sorry, ignore this. I overlooked the URL.

[lastresort]

Yes, Akihabara is more for Bishojyo type things and usually more towards digital content. Akihabara, "The Eletric City" isn't really a place to go for your anime needs. It's more of a place to go for Video Games, PC games, electronics and devices...not for eating, site seeing, or Anime collecting. I'm not saying there's NO stores, but it's not generally a place you would go for such cause

Also, if you intend to do everything on the list and perhapes adding more, even if it was at an affordable price, it would be very rushed and I would say that it is not worth it. I suggest you take out some of those things out if you want it done in a week without a rushed manner.

Edit again:
sorry, ignore this. I overlooked the URL.

Hi Cris. Thanks for taking the time to pass on your thoughts.

I appreciate your concerns about doing too much and everything being rushed. Of course, this is something we are highly conscious of. We have to strike the right balance between having an attractive tour and not exhausting our visitors. I hope that we can strike that balance and keep everybody as happy as possible.

Sincerely,

lastresort

[Bernard_Monsha]

What do you think about the proposed content?

It looks fine, there are even a couple of things i never got to do while in Japan.

Would you prefer Western style or Japanese style accommodation?

I myself prefer to go native. You may want to leave that as an option on diffrent tours as some people are less inclined to be accomidateing in that way.

Would you be interested in going on the tour?

Myself no. I know several younger people who would be chomping at the bit to go on something like this.

Do you have any other suggestions?

I do have a question. What group you will try to market this to? Most of the fans would be of the 16-24 crowd so shaparones would have to come. Some of them may not be too thrilled with some of the activities. Just some food for thought.

[lastresort]

Right then! Prices...

I’ve been a little wary of naming prices because I can’t give any concrete information just now. But, I think it would help people to have a rough price range to think about.

The cheapest 1 week trip I have seen advertised is around US$1750 and the most expensive is US$2400. These prices include flights and accommodation. Spending money is extra.
(Sorry for not converting prices into all available denominations. To convert to your currency, click here http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter )

We won’t cost any more than this and will hopefully be cheaper. But, these are only ballpark figures.

Also, please don’t think that a ‘cheap’ trip is necessarily worse than an ‘expensive’ one. There are a lot of factors that can affect the price. Also, there’s lots of cool stuff that can be done very cheaply.

Food in Japan is not actually that expensive. Around US$10 will see you pretty well-fed.

But, new electrical goods ARE expensive. So, if you buy a new digital camera and the limited edition Totoro DVD player, you will end up spending more money.

I hope this helps put things into perspective.

Thanks,

lastresort

[Gasaraki]

Haha, well, I'm not quite sure why I thought there's a slim chance I could afford this, $1750 is way out of my league. I'd have to save up for over a year just to be able to comfortably spend that much+food+merchandise, and if I'm saving up, I'm not spending on my hobby in the first place which is a bummer.

Not saying the price is unreasonable, especially when I think about the ruond trip flight to Japan being almost(more than?) $600 by itself, just that I was dumb to think I could POSSIBLY afford it =P

[Pariah]

Just one major problem with this idea (otherwise it looks great):

Your target market is fairly limited (anime and manga fans) when tourism is a huge industry. On top of that, this trip isn't exactly cheap. Most anime or manga fans I know aren't that rich, often resorting to illegal downloads of animes or mangas just to avoid the massive cost of anime. This trip is hugely expensive for someone aged 16-24 and you might find willing participants for a 2 week trip at that price a little scarce.

My thoughts anyway, best of luck with everything

[mystic_ss]

ummm... where's the starting point...my question is will it be possible for some europian people to take part... for example from balkans...or something..???

[fujyoshi]

Comiket (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJFwvHXkR9I) Akiba1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjXXC4LXsY&mode=related&search=) Akiba2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHOZosBJGo8) 秋葉観光地化 (http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/00/sya/20060824/mng_____sya_____012.shtml)　乙女ロード (http://alisato.parfait.ne.jp/etc/hagarenmovie/otomeroad.htm)

akiba events are awsome!!!

[lastresort]

ummm... where's the starting point...my question is will it be possible for some europian people to take part... for example from balkans...or something..???

Right... I think we will certainly run organised flights out of the US. But, we are not ignoring the rest of the World. There will be an option to pay for the tour only and book your own flights (so the tour would be a lot cheaper). That would allow anyone from anywhere to go.

The cost of flights varies a lot depending on when you go. For example, a friend of mine visited me in Japan (from England) and his flights were about 300 Pounds (around US$570 ish) during June 2004. I flew back to the UK for my summer holiday this year in August and my flights were 190 000 Yen (around US$1600 ish).

Depending on the time of year, it should be possible to organise reasonably priced flights from anywhere in the World.

We will (hopefully) also organise our own flights from the UK, Canada and Australia.

Thanks.

lastresort

[lastresort]

Last Resort’s main business is in helping Japanese people travel abroad. When they go, they usually live with a family in the country they are visiting. The family will feed and generally look after them for the duration of their stay.

One way of making our tour available to more people (i.e. reducing the price) would be to accommodate people in this way. I reckon this would halve the price of accommodation. This would make the tour significantly cheaper for people choosing this option. The tour will be quite busy so your contact time with the family would probably be limited. But, I think it would be a good way of seeing what life in Japan is really like.

So, would you be interested in staying in a house or apartment with a friendly Japanese family?

Feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. The more people who reply positively to this, the better chance I can convince my bosses to pursue this idea. Thanks!

lastresort

[saikos]

Speaking from personal experience, I think a trip to the Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan would be a good idea too. The people who are interested in Anime/manga usually have a sort of interest in traditional Japanese culture and history, but on average seem to be pretty poorly informed on the subject. Not only would it be a lot of fun for them, but it would also be sort of like a public service! Education to the masses!

[lastresort]

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things.

If you took the homestay option and spent nights in a Japanese household, at least 1 person would speak decent English (other than yourself). We would also give people information regarding etiquette (e.g. take off your shoes indoors – a good idea in any country if you ask me!) and other cultural points beforehand.

We will offer a range of accommodation options to cater to everyone. We want to provide everybody with an experience of Japan that they will enjoy. I imagine most people will choose to stay in a hotel, but we would like to offer a homestay to people who are interested.

lastresort

[Lunay]

So, would you be interested in staying in a house or apartment with a friendly Japanese family?

Feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. The more people who reply positively to this, the better chance I can convince my bosses to pursue this idea. Thanks!

lastresort

I think staying in a house would be a lot better - more space and more likely to receive better home cooked meals (although, I have nothing against eating instant ramen everyday). =P Plus, the people living in a apartment is probably struggling to support themselves as is.. it will be terrible to make it harder for them.

I'm not sure what time of the year this trip is available, but how about hanami (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami)?.

[Magami No ER]

^Good points. Houses may be the way to go, though they still will most likely be somewhat smaller then what one's used to here(not that that really matters, space is used quite well inside, it'll be really interesting for those on tour).^^;
Depending on the living area I suppose when it comes to space I suppose; I only have limited experience regarding what Obu Shi was like. And the family in my case didn't speak much english, but made great use of handy electronic dictionaries. There weren't any MAJOR commuication gaps.

[lastresort]

Hi again everyone!

It’s been a little while since I posted. I’ve been really busy trying to get everything sorted out. You may not believe me but this is actually my 78th consecutive day of work without a day off! I can’t believe I’m not dead!

Things are getting ready to move forward now. We have decided on a target date for the tour as well as a name.

Here it is!

Last Resort’s “Lost In Japan” Tour (I hope you like the name!)

Here is a provisional itinerary.

Day 1 (Wed 20th June)
* Arrival
* Hotel
* Dinner
* Karaoke

Day 2 (Thu 21st)
* Ghibli Museum
* Akihabara
* Roppongi Hills

Day 3 (Fri 22nd)
* Mount Fuji
* Tokyo Dome

Day 4 (Sat 23rd)
* Nihon Minka En (Japanese House Museum)
* Tokyo National Museum
* Tokyo Tower

Day 5 (Sun 24th)
* Harajuku
* Meiji Jingu Shrine
* Miraikan (Science Museum)
* Oedo Onsen Monogatari

Day 6 (Mon 25th)
* Anime Studio Tour
* Ikebukuro

Day 7 (Tue 26th)
* Nikko
* Asakusa

Day 8 (Wed 27th)
* Free Day
* Stay in Capsule Hotel

Day 9 (Thu 28th June)
* Return

Things may change slightly but this is essentially what the tour will be.

Again, I would love to get some feedback about the content and dates of the tour.

We are hoping to finalize prices and make bookings possible through our website by January.

** Please note that this is only our first tour. We will be running subsequent tours in September, December and March. Hopefully we can expand even further so that we are running a large number of tours every year.

If anyone is wants to be added to our mailing list, please send me your email address.

Thanks everyone! Your advice has been incredibly helpful. Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Richard Mands

[Kstyle]

Can Europeans go to, or is it exclusive for americans?

[lastresort]

Can Europeans go to, or is it exclusive for americans?

Anyone from anywhere will be able to go. All are welcome!

LR