Shopping Guide
On Feb. 1 and 2, in Ikebukuro, the Tokyo Manga and Anime Carnival in Toshima was held. In the first floor exhibition hall of the Toshima public center, 18 organizations from cities all over Japan held manga and anime displays in an effort to revitalize their respective cities.
The cities at the event included Hanno, Tamano, Himi, Ishinomaki, Niiza, and more. In an effort to increase awareness of their city, Chofu was displaying the work Gegege no Kitaro from its honorary citizen and manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. The city of Kasukabe, the setting for the popular anime Crayon Shin-chan, was displaying a special certificate of residence for the author of Crayon Shin-chan. The hometown city of Toshima was displaying the Tokiwa-so Street Cooperation Project. Tokiwa-so is a legendary apartment complex located in Ochiai-minami-nagasaki that was home to some of Japan’s most famous manga artists including Osamu Tezuka, Hiroshi Fujimoto, Motoo Abiko, Shinichi Suzuki, Naoya Moriyasu, Shotaro Ishinomori, and Fujio Akatsuka.
The event also featured a special stage talk with voice actress Akira Kamiya and anime director Akitaro Daichi, which was a huge success. Aside from this, there was also a symposium held themed around the question “How Can We Best Cultivate a Path for Manga and Anime?” The symposium featured famous panelists from cities such as Sakaiminato, Kobe, and Ishinomaki.
The Tokiwa-so Street Cooperation Project is a joint cultural project between the businesses that make up the Toshima’s Minaminagasaki Store Association and the city council of Toshima. The project started in 2009 with the creation of the Tokiwa-so Heroes monument. The project then expanded to include various businesses that are active in manga culture. Currently, as part of the project, workshops are being held periodically at Shiunso, the place where the pioneer manga artist Fujio Akatsuka once lived. In 2013, the “Tokiwa-so Street Rest Spot” (tentative name) will also be established.
Tokiwa-so Street Official Site:
http://tokiwaso-street.jp/ (Japanese)