Coming soon: Japan national ‘anime shrine’
The Japanese government is going to build a national ‘anime shrine,’ reports the Asahi:
The Agency for Cultural Affairs plans to spend 11.7 billion yen to build a “shrine” dedicated to anime, manga, videogames and other contemporary Japanese art.
As the first government-built facility of its kind, the “national comprehensive center for media art” in Tokyo will serve as a base for promoting the popular culture.
From the information currently available about the plan, it sounds like it will be a gigantic manga cafe for foreign tourists:
The planned new center will collect and preserve works and information on anime, manga, games and other items. Visitors will be able to watch anime, read manga and play videogames there.
The agency plans to make the center a venue for showcasing cutting-age Japanese culture to the world and cater to foreigners with an interest in Japanese pop culture.
In a related story, Prime Minister Aso has vowed to create 500,000 new jobs by 2020 through the promotion of the anime/manga industry.
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April fools?
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woah! anime shrine? is that for real?
well if it’s true then that would be a great idea and look forward to see that place.
(by the way i’d like to exchange links with your team. if it’s ok. mine is about anime you can check my site, it’s new though and looking for some interesting site to back it up… I look forward to you positive reply, thanks, see you)
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11.7 billion. Brilliant. Just give me an actual slap in the face the next time I pay my taxes, already. It would be more lovingly personal.
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I think it’s kinda misleading to translate “殿堂(dendou)” as “shrine”.
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thats how i felt when i stoped to read this news:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3t15bBRU6s
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Hmm… I wonder do they have manga in english cos most of the foreigners can’t read japanese.
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Yep: my first thought was ‘April Fool’s Day’. But no, it’s not. My kids will go hog wild at this. It’s kind of neat in a way: the nerds of the world could use their own Mecca — it’ll get them out of their apartments.
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Hoping it’s gonna be another Sega World…
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Taro Aso – Manga fanatic.
Taro Aso of Lafarge Aso Cement.
Taro Aso the Prime Minister who puts forth an 11.7 billion yen pet project.
“First of its kind” indeed.
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