Oarai Is the Rare Anime Town That Said Yes to Everything, Tanks Included

What you're looking at

Girls und Panzer (2012) makes Oarai the home port of its heroines' school ship, and recreates the town's streets, facilities and transport almost faithfully, some of them under their real names. Few anime towns are this easy to match frame by frame.

Getting there

From Ueno, take the JR Joban Line limited express to Mito, then the Kashima Rinkai Railway to Oarai. The town's tourism association puts the trip at about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Before you go

• The character panels are fragile. Don't touch them, don't step into the road to photograph them, and don't park on the street to grab a shot. Some panels go indoors on days the shop is closed.
• Event rules are strict about costumes. At town events, the commerce association bans cosplay of present-day military, police and fire uniforms (GuP costumes are fine), realistic replica weapons, and tripods, selfie sticks and drones.
• The Kamiiso torii rocks are sacred ground. Oarai Isosaki Shrine treats the rocks under its seaside torii as no-entry, and drownings have been reported there. Admire it from the shore.
• Ankou Festival: no camping or overnight place-holding at the venue.

Also nearby

• Garupan Gallery, on the second floor of the Oarai Seaside Station shopping complex, is a free goods shop with exhibits about the show and the town.
• Oarai Marine Tower, 60 m tall, houses the free-entry GuP cafe Panzer Vor, and its plaza hosts the Ankou Festival.
• Oarai Isosaki Shrine and its Kamiiso torii, about 40 minutes on foot from the station.

For how the town and the show found each other after the 2011 tsunami, read our Oarai feature.