Anime is Not Just in Tokyo: Part 4!

Tokyo might seem like the center of all things anime and Japanese, but far from the bustling mega city where over 35 million people and quite a few anime characters call home there is a string of small islands stretching out into the sea. Once upon a time these islands were home to a tiny but thriving ancient kingdom. Now they enjoy a slower pace of life with anime characters that bask in the constant sunshine, frolic in the tropical flowers, and take pride in their unique heritage. We started our journey across Japan on the snowy Northern island of Hokkaido and continued to head south from Yokohama to Enoshima island, and at last we finally end our trip in the sunny tropical islands of Okinawa! Along the way we learned about Hokkaido’s difficult past, Yokohama’s international friendliness, Enoshima island’s heavenly origins and that there is so much more to anime’s Japanese locations than just Tokyo! So let me welcome you to the final destination in this four part blog series highlighting wonderful places outside of Tokyo Japan and the thrilling, heart warming, and fun anime that happen there.

Okinawa

A tropical paradise abundant with flowers and sunny beaches with weather similar to Hawaii, Okinawa isn’t a single place, but rather a string of islands that stretch southward from Japan’s main island towards Taiwan. And much like Japan’s Northern most island of Hokkaido, Okinawa wasn’t part of Japan hundreds of years ago. Once upon a time the Okinawa islands were their own kingdom called Ryukyu with it’s own unique architecture, textiles, music, food, and trading treaties. The Ryukyu culture was more similar to Southern Chinese cultures than Japanese. The red castle of Okinawa is an important symbol of the Ryukyu culture and it’s stood for centuries. Unfortunately because it was severely damaged a few years ago due to a massive fire, though it is painstakingly being rebuilt to be historically accurate, visitors can’t see the whole castle at the moment.

Sk8 the Infinity

The anime Sk8 the Infinity takes place in Okinawa and is a rare anime about skateboarding! The story begins when a high school boy named Reki meets a new transfer student from Canada named Langa. Reki is a huge skateboarding fan and even works at a skateboard repair shop. Langa just happens to be looking for a part-time job and there is a job opening at the skateboard shop were Reki works. So the two classmates become co-workers. One night Reki has a special delivery, and Langa tags along. The delivery is to the starting line of the “S” race, a high speed and a bit dangerous down hill skateboarding race along a winding road at an old abandoned mine. The race is quite popular with the local skateboarding community and even Reki has participated in the past, in fact he was still recovering from a broken arm from his last “S” race. One thing leads to another and it ends up that Reki grabbed the wrong skateboard to deliver. To make up for the customer not getting their skateboard and losing a bet, Reki is forced to participate in the race with the broken skateboard he mistakenly delivered. Langa seeing that his new friend Reki is still clearly injured from his last race, volunteers to take Reki’s place in the race. And so Langa takes his first wobbly steps into the world of down hill skateboarding!