Seichi junrei means stepping into the story yourself

Stand in a station, shrine, shop or seaside spot that appeared in a work, and the scenery you saw on screen becomes your own memory. Seichi junrei (聖地巡礼, literally "sacred-place pilgrimage") is a kind of tourism, but it is also fan activity: you relive the characters' point of view and introduce the work to other people.

These places are also where residents live, and once they get popular, crowds, litter and filming problems follow. A pilgrimage site is not a backdrop to consume; it is someone's everyday life. Knowing that is the starting point.

Before a visit, official guidance can tell you more than whether you can recreate a shot from the work. It can tell you whether the spot is public, when filming is allowed, and what the conditions are for entering shops or private land. If you can't find the same view on site, there's no need to block people's daily paths looking for it. Accepting that the work's memory and the place today are different things is part of visiting a real town.

Communities and rights holders can do more than list prohibitions. They can gather into one guide the places where filming is safe, how to get there by public transport, shops worth stopping by, and the hours that get crowded. That keeps lost fans from drifting into problem behavior, and it gives them more ways to touch the community's daily life. Putting the welcome and the limits on the same screen gives visitors and residents an entrance they can both understand.

SACRED PLACE DESIGNThe path from a work to a pilgrimage community
  1. Watch the workLearn the scenery and story
  2. Research the placeCheck official guidance
  3. VisitRespect people's lives
  4. Explore aroundSpread to shops and culture
  5. ProtectLeave it for the next person

Growing visitor numbers isn't enough; you need a path that keeps the relationship with the community going over the long term.

Behavior gets clearer when maps, reservations, etiquette and introductions to local shops come out together as one package.

It matters not to measure the value of a pilgrimage site by visitor numbers alone.

Washinomiya Shrine and Numazu show the power of persistence

At Washinomiya Shrine, the setting of the anime Lucky Star, New Year's visitors rose from roughly 130,000 before the broadcast to as many as 470,000, and the economic ripple effect over ten years was estimated at about ¥3.1 billion (roughly $21 million). The local chamber of commerce and the rights holders worked together and kept the community's efforts going after the broadcast ended.

In Numazu, fans of Love Live! Sunshine!! joined festivals and took part in cleanup activities. By welcoming fans not as tourists but as people who help carry the community, the town makes sure the relationship doesn't end after a single visit.

If success is judged only by big numbers, we overlook the burden on places where visits piled up and the shops the benefits never reached. What Washinomiya really shows is not a one-time draw during the broadcast, but a chamber of commerce and rights holders that kept the relationship going and kept points of contact with the work in local events. For fans, too, the more they learn about local events and everyday shops instead of only buying limited goods, the more reasons they have to come back.

Even when fans join festivals or cleanups as they do in Numazu, goodwill doesn't make them the community's representatives. They need to follow the organizers' guidance and keep to the same roles and safety standards as local participants. The community side makes clear what help it wants and where watching is enough, and says thank you. Because the boundaries of each role are clear, fans' initiative doesn't take work away from residents and turns into cooperation that lasts.

CYCLEThe cycle that keeps a pilgrimage site and its fans going
  1. Get to know the workThe scenery starts to look familiar
  2. VisitConfirm it in person
  3. Be welcomedMeet local people
  4. Spread the wordPhotos, impressions, introductions

Organized by The Oshi Lab. If any one link is missing, the cycle stops after one round.

The Kamakurakokomae crossing: giving the fever a place to land

The Kamakurakokomae railroad crossing, known as a setting of the basketball manga and anime SLAM DUNK, has drawn many fans, including from overseas. A filming area set up by the city of Kamakura in September 2025 was used by a total of 9,490 people over four days, and the city put in place a guidance system to deal with crowding, litter and trespassing on private land.

Popularity itself isn't the problem. Friction with residents comes from a shortfall in design: no guidance, no place to stand, and no alternative place to enjoy. The bigger the passion, the sooner you need to build a place to receive it.

Shirakawa-go's responsible tourism campaign showed concrete behaviors, such as parking, open flames and night-time sightseeing, with photos. Instead of a vague "please mind your manners," it explains why the rules matter.

When you're unsure on site, decide by official signs, traffic safety and whether residents have enough room to pass, not by whether other people are taking photos. Giving up a shot or avoiding busy hours doesn't weaken your feelings for the work. On the organizing side, the burden shouldn't fall only on the staff who give warnings. Combine signs, waiting positions and alternative filming spots so that behavior that's easy to follow is shown first.

Designing a pilgrimage site people want to come back to

Scenery drawn faithfully from the setting, local shops displaying fans' illustrations, the chance to join the community's festivals. The closer a work and reality are, the stronger a pilgrimage site's charm becomes.

On the other hand, simply concentrating people on a rare location puts a burden on both the work and the community. Combining dispersal, reservations, touring around, and online alternative experiences lets you keep the value of a visit while easing the crowds.

SUSTAINABLE PILGRIMAGEFour designs that protect a pilgrimage site

  • Publish official directions and prohibitions
  • Separate filming from residents' paths
  • Make it possible to tour local shops and culture
  • Create alternative experiences for fans who cannot come

Read the official information before you go, choose where and when to stop once you're there, and give thanks back to the community after you get home. Small actions add up to protect a pilgrimage site.

Can you keep loving the shops and scenery that remain in the community after a work's popularity settles down? Thinking beyond the boom is the condition for making seichi junrei a culture.

Summary: a pilgrimage means backing the story and the community at once

  1. Step into the storyVisit the setting and make the scenery of the work your own memory.
  2. Continue together with the communityThe official side, residents and fans divide up the roles.
  3. Protecting is also supportGood manners and a well-designed welcome make the next visit possible.

A pilgrimage site is where fans carry a work they love out into a real town. That's exactly why we must respect the time of the people who actually live there.

I'm glad I came, I want to come again, I want to bring someone. If we build a system in which those feelings flow back to the community too, a pilgrimage site can outlast a passing boom and become a culture.

When fans plan a pilgrimage, they look not only at the one spot they want to photograph, but at the official guidance, ways to get there, crowded hours, and places to spend time in the community. If you choose other enjoyments in advance, such as an exhibit or a local shop, in case you can't get the shot you want, you can avoid forcing your way in or lingering too long. Conditions change with weather and events, so check the guidance on the day of your visit instead of relying only on past personal posts. Bringing home photos is not the only result of a pilgrimage. Learning the community's rules and leaving things in a state where the next visitor can enjoy the same place counts too.

Communities and rights holders also check the changes that lie outside visitor numbers and economic effects. They ask whether residents' passage was protected, whether the burden is concentrated in particular places, and whether shops that don't know the work could choose how to take part, and then they update guidance and routes. If they sort the complaints they receive by which time, which place and which behavior was a burden, rather than dismissing them as hostility toward fans, they can turn them into measures for continuing to welcome visitors. In crowded periods, use reservations and dispersal, and for fans far away, prepare online alternative experiences. What protects a pilgrimage site is setting up conditions in which both sides can carry on, without pitting the right to visit against the right to live there.