Today I visited several places related to anime, especially to Gundam history.
No, I wasn’t visiting the Odaiba Gundam (soon…), I went instead at the Suginami Animation Museum, in Suginami-ku, where are located approx 70 of the over 400 companies involved in anime production in Japan.
At the entry, you’re greeted by a Gundam RX-78-2 statue, scale 1/12, with remote control:
The museum includes an anime theater, an anime library, a digital workshop, a history of the Japanese anime section…Follow up:
… and a section dedicated to how anime is made, where I could admire a sketch with Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost In The Shell).
Not far from the museum, in front of the Seibu Kamiigusa railway station, it is located the Gundam statue built by the citizens of the Suginami city.
The statue, 3 meters tall, is amazing:
A pleasant equilibrium between details and stylization, the statue is made to satisfy both an otaku and an art lover:
Gundam is considered a representation of the Hachiman God, so at the statues’ feet there is an offering box!
An image from inside the station:
Many buildings in the area are decorated with Gundam themes:
On the same street there is the Sunrise studio, the place where the first Gundam was made:
The Gundam effigy decorates the entry to the studio: