Otaku tourists out of Japan : fictionality, shared memories, and the role of national branding in the Japanese pilgrimages of anime fans in the United Kingdom

The article explores the reasons and narratives behind the anime pilgrimage experiences of Japanese tourists in the UK. Anime or otaku (fan) pilgrimages are a phenomenon widely studied by Japanese and foreign academics in relation to seichi junrei (“pop culture tourism”) and activities such as collecting of snapshots from media (butaitanbou). The article establishes a typology for the study of Otaku Tourism that can be eventually transferred to other media pilgrimages and examines a significant case of anime pilgrimage in England (the Cotswolds)