聖地巡礼
せいちじゅんれい
seichi junrei
= anime pilgrimage; visiting real-world locations depicted in anime, manga, or games
聖地巡礼 (seichi junrei) literally means ‘sacred site pilgrimage’ — a word borrowed from religious practice and repurposed to describe fans visiting the real locations depicted in their favorite anime, manga, or games. Standing at the actual spot where a scene was drawn or animated gives fans a unique connection to fictional worlds they love.
Seichi junrei (聖地巡礼) originally referred to religious pilgrimage to holy sites (Jerusalem, Mecca, Shikoku’s 88 temples). In fandom usage from the 2000s onward, it means traveling to locations that served as the models or settings for anime, manga, drama, or games. The 聖地 (seichi — sacred site) is the real-world location; the 巡礼 (junrei — pilgrimage) is the fan’s act of visiting. Famous seichi include: 大洗 (Ooarai, Ibaraki — Girls und Panzer), 鷹の爪 (Matsuyama — Yowamushi Pedal), 秩父 (Chichibu — AnoHana / Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day). Tourism boards now actively market seichi to attract fan visitors.
Seichi junrei has transformed regional tourism in Japan. Towns that appear in popular anime often see dramatic visitor increases: Washinomiya Shrine (Lucky Star) reported a 10x increase in visitors; Ooarai (Girls und Panzer) attributed a major economic revival to anime tourism. The practice is sometimes called アニメ聖地巡礼 (anime seichi junrei) to distinguish it from religious pilgrimage. Fans typically photograph the same angle as the anime scene for a 聖地巡礼 photo — called 聖地ショット (seichi shotto).
聖地巡礼 combines 聖 (sei — sacred, holy) + 地 (chi — land, place) + 巡 (jun — to go around, to patrol) + 礼 (rei — ceremony, respect, courtesy). 聖地 = holy land. 巡礼 = the act of making the rounds of sacred sites with reverence. The fandom use borrows all four characters’ gravity — a fan’s pilgrimage is treated with the same earnest devotion as a religious one.
Everyday use
夏休みに大洗まで聖地巡礼に行ってきた。アニメと同じ角度で写真撮れてよかった。
Natsuyasumi ni Ooarai made seichi junrei ni itte kita. Anime to onaji kaku de shashin torete yokatta.
I went on an anime pilgrimage to Ooarai over summer break. I was glad I could get a photo from the same angle as the anime.
Casual / Social Media
鬼滅の聖地行ってきた！！ 竹林の感じ本物すぎて泣けた 聖地巡礼最高
Kimetsu no seichi itte kita!! Chikurin no kanji honmono sugite naketa seichi junrei saikou
Just did the Demon Slayer pilgrimage!! The bamboo forest felt so real I nearly cried. Anime pilgrimages are the best
Formal / Cultural context
聖地巡礼は2000年代以降に日本のアニメファンの間で定着した観光行動であり、地方自治体・観光協会との連携によるアニメツーリズムとして制度化されつつある。アニメツーリズム協会（2016年設立）は毎年「訪れてみたい日本のアニメ聖地88」を選定し、地域振興策の一環として活用している。
Seichi junrei wa 2000-nendai ikou ni Nihon no anime fan no aida de teichaku shita kankou koudou de ari, chihou jichitai kankou kyoukai to no renkei ni yoru anime tsuurizumu toshite seido-ka sarete iru. Anime tsuurizumu kyoukai (2016-nen setsuritsu) wa maitoshi ‘Otozurete mitai Nihon no anime seichi 88’ wo sentei shi, chiiki shinkousaku no ikkan toshite katsuyo shite iru.
Seichi junrei is a tourism behavior that has become established among Japanese anime fans since the 2000s, and is being institutionalized as anime tourism through collaboration with local governments and tourism associations. The Anime Tourism Association (established 2016) annually selects ’88 Anime Sacred Sites in Japan to Visit’ and utilizes them as part of regional revitalization strategies.
The transformation of ordinary locations into fan destinations is one of the most tangible impacts of anime on Japanese regional geography. Washinomiya Shrine in Saitama, depicted in the anime Lucky Star (2007), saw its annual visitor count surge from around 100,000 to over 450,000 after the show aired. The shrine, once a minor local landmark, became a landmark of anime pilgrimage. Local businesses adapted with themed merchandise, collaborating with the anime’s publisher and the town’s commercial association in what became a model for anime-tourism partnerships.
The Japanese government has recognized seichi junrei as a cultural export and tourism driver. The Cool Japan strategy and the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ anime tourism promotion programs cite seichi junrei as both a form of soft power and a genuine economic stimulus for rural communities. For fans, the experience is described as a form of ‘reality collision’ — the moment when a fictional space they know intimately becomes physically real. This emotional intensity is precisely why pilgrimage — a word reserved for the most sincere religious journeys — feels appropriate to fans.
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