Shopping Guide
There have been talks recently about the necessity of overseas distribution of Japanese anime, manga, and characters. Under such circumstances, an original Internet anime is being promoted from the walls of a toilet in Harajuku.
On Jan. 16, at a corner of the city close to Harajuku, Tokyo, Sushi Ninja Toilet appeared. Sushi Ninja Toilet is one of the area’s public toilets, the outside of which is decorated with characters wearing ninja outfits, each based on a different kind of sushi––red caviar, tuna, and Japanese omelette, respectively. It also has a stone wall design reminiscent of traditional Japanese castles.
The characters featured on the toilet wall all appear in the full CG anime Sushi Ninja. Ikura (red caviar), Maguro (tuna), and Tamago (Japanese omelette) accompany the princess in search of the “Spice of Happiness” on an adventure in a world called Galaxy. Aiming to be the strongest sushi ninjas, the three of them grow along the way.
Sushi Ninja is a unique piece that bravely mixed two parts of Japanese culture well-known to foreigners: “sushi” and “ninja.” It wants to appeal not only to Japanese but overseas audiences as well. It was well-received upon its worldwide online release in July 2014. Now the prologue is available in three separate episodes.
In addition, the anime stars the representatives of today’s Japanese voice acting scene: Popular voice stars such as Yuki Kaji, Romi Paku, Mamoru Miyano, and Nana Mizuki. Music is written by Katsuhisa Hattori, and the theme song is performed by Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endo, and Hiroshi Kitadani, giving this aspect of the show some edge, too. It has been receiving attention as “a mysterious CG anime with a puzzling but gorgeous voice star lineup” ever since the release of the first episode.
The Sushi Ninja Toilet is another project to gather more attention for the series. Planner and developer Jenko says they implemented it by acquiring the naming rights to “Jingumae Icchome Public Lavatory.” Jingumae Icchome is close to Harajuku, Shibuya and Omotesando’s business district, and it’s also an area often frequented by tourists. They are going to promote the charm of the characters from there.
They are planning to add a QR code to the toilet that will include the link to the Sushi Ninja Portal, a website featuring information on the anime and its hometown, the shopping district of Harajuku. This public toilet has quickly changed into being a distribution point for content, and we can expect further developments in the future, too.
Sushi Ninja
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Source: animeanime
