Tokyo Anime and Manga Tour

[lastresort]

Hello!





First of all, I want to say that before posting this I contacted the webmaster to ask permission.





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 StudioGhibliMuseum



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 TokyoTower



A trip to Harajuku.

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



A trip to the TokyoNationalMuseum

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





[email protected]

[Kaitou Ace]

This one is allowed here ^_^; so if you want, help them out and answer their questions

[International 4-8818]

Well this is a pretty cool offer. How much is the trip?

[lastresort]

Prices are yet to be decided. I'm putting together the plans for the tour now. We want to be competitive so we certainly won't cost more than other tours that are currently available.

I'm sorry I can't tell you any more now.

If you want to send me an email I will add you to our mailing list. That way I can keep you up to date with all of the details.

Thanks!

lastresort

[Tetsanosuke]

Wow.... well.... hmmmmm.

This seems.. amazing!

But alas, I'd never be able to afford it...

oh I have a suggestion though!!!

Maybe you could ask a Sword School to let you and your tour watch training sessions, or maybe you can also go to Kendo competions.

As you can tell I'm very interested in japanese swordsmenship.

[Gjallarhorn]

Sounds great.

Proposed Content:
Sounds really good. That is a lot of things. I did a similar trip to Italy a few years ago that proved very fun. Though I would like to go everywhere on your list, I personally would be excited to go to Harajuku and Akihabara. I have watched several documentries and shows about those two areas. Harajuku just seems like quite an amusing place, and I have been an anime fan since my early childhood, so Akihabara also catches great interest from me.

Accommodations:
Preferably a mix of both. Though it would be nice to experience more of the Japanese culture, too much of it may be semi-overwhelming to someone who is not used to or familiar with that culture.

Interested on going on the tour:
Absolutely. But at the moment, I am legally a minor, and I couldn't afford it. I also have school until next summer. Next summer, before I leave for college, I will probably be looking to do something, so I will keep this in mind. I was actually think of a trip to either Japan or Germany, so this has really peaked my interest. I am going to bookmark this thread, and your site. I also have a few friends who are not members of this site who may be interested in this. I will be sure to tell them.

[lastresort]

Wow.... well.... hmmmmm.

This seems.. amazing!

But alas, I'd never be able to afford it...

oh I have a suggestion though!!!

Maybe you could ask a Sword School to let you and your tour watch training sessions, or maybe you can also go to Kendo competions.

As you can tell I'm very interested in japanese swordsmenship.

Well, There is a sword museum in Tokyo... I'm sure it would be possible to fit in a visit there. I will look into other sword related stuff. Thanks!

lastresort

[Sammael]

I don't think I can afford it but its a great offer.I mean you get to travel around Japan and stuff...so awesome!

[Aeria]

I'd love to do it, but i have a lot of things to do at home, so i probably would not be able to do it.

[lastresort]

I'd love to do it, but i have a lot of things to do at home, so i probably would not be able to do it.

Hopefully, once we get started, we will run a number of tours a year, every year. So, even if you can't find the time or the money now, there is always the chance you will be able to do so in the future.

With that in mind, I would love to hear what you have to say, even if you couldn't go on the tour for a few years. All feedback will be welcomed with open arms!

Thanks.

lastresort

[lastresort]

Unfortunately, the Bandai Museum will soon bite the dust...
http://www.animaxis.com/en/zine/newsletter/view.asp?id=N001638

Doh!

Now removed from the list.

lastresort

[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

[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

[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

[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