JAPAN Travel Guide

Japan, known as Nihon or Nippon (日本) in Japanese, is an island nation in East Asia. The "Land of the Rising Sun" is a country where the past meets the future. Japanese culture stretches back millennia, yet has also adopted (and created) the latest modern fashions and trends. Japan is a study in contrasts and contradictions. Many Japanese corporations dominate their industries, yet if you read the financial news it seems like Japan is practically bankrupt. Cities are as modern and high tech as anywhere else, but tumbledown wooden shacks can still be spotted next to glass fronted designer condominiums. On an average subway ride, you might see childishly cute character toys and incredibly violent pornography - sometimes enjoyed by the same passenger, at the same time! Japan has beautiful temples and gardens which are often surrounded by garish signs and ugly buildings. In the middle of a modern skyscraper you might discover a sliding wooden door which leads to a traditional chamber with tatami mats, calligraphy, and tea ceremony. These juxtapositions mean you may often be surprised and rarely bored by your travels in Japan.

Climate

The Japanese are proud of their four seasons (and an astonishing number of them are firmly convinced that the phenomenon is unique to Japan), but the tourist with a flexible travel schedule should aim for spring or autumn. Spring is one of the best times of year to be in Japan. The temperatures are warm but not hot, there's not too much rain, and March-April brings the justly famous cherry blossoms (sakura) and is a time of revelry and festivals. In early March, the Japan Meteorological Agency announces predictions about when the blooming will begin. Summer starts with a dreary rainy season (known as tsuyu or baiu) in June and turns into a steambath in July-August, with extreme humidity and the temperature heading as high as 40°C. Avoid, or head to northern Hokkaido or the mountains of Chubu and Tohoku to escape. The upside, though, is a slew of fireworks shows (花火大会 hanabi taikai) and festivals big and small. Autumn, starting in September, is also an excellent time to be in Japan. Temperatures and humidity become more tolerable, fair days are common and fall colors can be just as impressive as cherry blossoms. However, in early autumn typhoons often hit the southern parts of Japan and bring everything to a standstill. Winter is a good time to go skiing or hot-spring hopping, but as some buildings lack central heating, it's often miserably cold indoors. Heading south to Okinawa provides some relief. There is usually heavy snow in Hokkaido and northeast Japan due to the cold wind blasts from Siberia. Note that the Pacific coast of Honshu (where most major cities are located) has milder winters than the Sea of Japan coast: it may be snowing in Kyoto while it is cloudy or sprinkling rain in Osaka, an hour away.

Get around

Japan has one of the world's best transport systems, and getting around is usually a breeze, with the train being overwhelmingly the popular option. Although traveling around Japan is expensive when compared to other Asian countries, there are a variety of passes that can be used to limit the damage. For sorting through transport schedules and fares, Hitachi's Hyperdia is an invaluable companion, with versions available for Windows and PalmOS, and is also usable online. Jorudan and NTT Townpage both provide a useful English-language web versions. The paper version of this is the Daijikokuhyō (大時刻表), a phonebook-sized tome available for browsing in every train station and most hotels, but it's a little challenging to use as the content is entirely in microscopic Japanese. A lighter version that just includes limited express, sleeper and bullet trains (shinkansen) is available from the Japan National Tourist Organization's overseas offices, or the same schedules are available for download at the J.R. website. In Japanese cities, a place's address is useful for mail, but it's nearly useless for actually getting there. Most places are described in terms of the walking distance from the nearest train station, and relative to local landmarks. Business cards very often have little maps printed on the back to make navigation easier (at least if you can read Japanese). In addition, many train stations have maps of the local area that can help you find a destination if it is reasonably close to the station.

Costs

Japan has a reputation for being extremely expensive — and it can be. However, many things have become significantly cheaper in the last decade. Japan need not be outrageously expensive if you plan carefully and in fact, is probably no more expensive than say the United States or Australia. For long-distance travel, in particular, the Japan Rail Pass and Visit Japan flights can save you a bundle. As rough guidelines, you will find it very difficult to travel on less than ¥4,000 per day (but if you plan carefully, it's certainly not impossible), and can only expect a degree of comfort if you double the budget to ¥10,000. Staying in posh hotels, eating fancy meals or just traveling long-distance will easily double this yet again. Typical prices for moderate budget travel would be ¥5,000 for hotel, ¥2,000 for meals, and ¥2,000 again for entry fees and local transport. However, if you find yourself a little short on cash, you can get your essential items in one of the many ¥100 shops (百円ショップ) located in most cities. Daiso is the Japan's largest ¥100 shop chain, with 2,500 shops across Japan. Other large chains are Can Do (キャンドゥ), Seria (セリア), and Silk (シルク). There are also convenience-store-like ¥100 shops such as SHOP99 and Lawson Store 100 where you can buy sandwiches, drinks, and vegetables in addition to selected ¥100 items.
Tips for budget shopping
As noted above, Japan can be expensive. You might feel every item or meal comes with a high price tag in Japan. The main reason for this is that you have chosen an inner-city top-end shopping or eating district. If you wish to buy more reasonably priced items, consider carefully whether you are desperately looking for upmarket products, or just want daily commodities and groceries. The former should try intown premium department stores, boutiques and restaurants in the well-publicized shopping districts such as Isetan in Shinjuku and Matsuya in Ginza, the latter would be better off turn their steps toward suburban shopping malls or supermarkets such as Aeon or Ito-Yokado.

Eat

Japanese cuisine, renowned for its emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients, has taken the world by storm. The key ingredient of most meals is white rice, usually served steamed, and in fact its Japanese word gohan (ご飯) also means "meal". Soybeans are a key source of protein and take many forms, notably the miso (味噌) soup served with almost every meal, but also tōfu (豆腐) bean curd and the ubiquitous soy sauce (醤油 shōyu). Seafood features heavily in Japanese cuisine, including not only creatures of the sea but many varieties of seaweed as well, and a complete meal is always rounded out by some pickles (漬物 tsukemono). One of the joys of getting out of Tokyo and traveling within Japan is to discover the local specialties. Every region within the country has a number of delightful dishes, based on locally available crops and fish. In Hokkaido try the fresh sashimi and crab. In Osaka don't miss the okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) stuffed with green onions and the octopus balls (たこ焼き takoyaki). Japanese food is eaten with chopsticks (箸 hashi). Curry rice and fried rice are eaten with spoons. Eating with chopsticks is a surprisingly easy skill to pick up, although mastering them takes a while.
Some chopstick guidelines to be aware of:
Never place or leave chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, and never pass something from your chopsticks to another person's chopsticks. These are associated with funerary rites. If you want to give a piece of food to someone, let them take it from your plate, or place it directly on their plate.

When you are done using chopsticks, you can rest them across the edge of your bowl or plate. Most nicer restaurants put a small wooden or ceramic chopstick rest (hashi-oki) at each place setting. You can also fold the paper wrapper that the chopsticks come in to construct your own hashi-oki.

Licking the ends of your chopsticks is considered low-class. Take a bite of your rice instead.

Using chopsticks to move plates or bowls is rude. Pointing at things with your chopsticks is rude. (Pointing at people in general is rude; with chopsticks, doubly so.) Spearing food with your chopsticks is generally rude and should only be used as a last resort.

Disposable chopsticks (wari-bashi) are provided in all restaurants as well as with bentō and other take-out foods. It is a myth that you should "whittle" your chopsticks after breaking them apart. Many Japanese dishes come with different sauces and garnishes. Japanese never put soy sauce on their rice, though they do dip their sushi in it before eating, and they pour it on grilled fish as well. Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) comes with a thicker sauce, tempura comes with a lighter, thinner sauce made from soy sauce and dashi (fish and seaweed soup base), while gyōza (potstickers) are usually dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil. Most soups and broths, especially miso, are drunk directly out of the bowl after you've chopsticked out the larger bits. For main-dish soups like ramen you will be given a spoon.

Sleep

In addition to the usual youth hostels and business hotels, you can find several kinds of uniquely Japanese accommodation, ranging from rarefied ryokan inns to strictly functional capsule hotels and utterly over-the-top love hotels. When reserving any Japanese accommodations, bear in mind that many smaller operations may hesitate to accept foreigners, fearing language difficulties or other cultural misunderstandings. This is to some extent institutionalized: large travel agency databases note which (few) hotels are prepared to handle foreigners, and they may tell you that all lodgings are booked if only these are full! Instead of calling up in English, you may find it better to get a Japanese acquaintance or local tourist office to make the booking for you. Alternatively, for cheap Internet rates, Rakuten's English search tool is an invaluable utility. Note that prices are almost always given per person not per room. Otherwise you may have a rather unpleasant shock when your party of five tries to check out.... When checking in to any type of accommodation, the hotel is, by law, required to make a copy of your passport unless you are a resident of Japan. It is a good idea, especially if you are travelling in groups, to present the clerk a photo copy of your passport to speed up check-in. Aside from this, remember that Japan is mostly a cash only country, and credit cards are usually not accepted in smaller forms of accommodation, including, but not limited to, small business hotels. Bring enough cash to be able to pay in advance. One thing to beware in wintertime: traditional Japanese houses are designed to be cool in summer, which all too often means that they are freezing cold inside in winter. Bulk up on clothing and make good use of the bathing facilities to stay warm; fortunately, futon bedding is usually quite warm and getting a good night's sleep is rarely a problem. While accommodation in Japan is expensive, you may find that you can comfortably use a lower standard of hotel than you would in other countries. Shared baths will usually be spotless, and theft is very unusual in Japan. Just don't expect to sleep in late: check-out time is invariably 10 AM, and any extensions to this will have to be paid for. You may have difficulty finding rooms at the busiest holiday times, such as "Golden Week" at the beginning of May; and prices are commonly higher on Saturday nights. But Toyoko-inn business hotels in towns not listed in your guidebook often have vacancies, and their website is excellent.

Respect

Most if not all Japanese are very understanding of a foreigner (gaijin or gaikokujin) not conforming instantly to their culture; indeed, the Japanese like to boast (with debatable credibility) that their language and culture are among the most difficult to understand in the world, so they are generally quite happy to assist you if you appear to be struggling. However, there are few simple things to be aware of to show respect in Japan, many of which boil down to social norms of strict cleanliness and avoiding intruding on others (迷惑 meiwaku).
Things to do:
Learn a little of the language, and try to use it. They will be complimentary if you try, and there is no reason to be embarrassed. They realize that Japanese is very difficult for foreigners and won't scoff at your mistakes; on the contrary, they'll like you for it.

Bowing. Men bow with their hands to their sides. Women bow with their hands together in front. Women's hands look like they are settled in their lap when bowing, not in a prayer position. The exact degree of the bow depends on your position in society relative to the receiver of the bow and on the occasion, the largely unwritten rules are complex but foreigners are not expected to understand them immediately and a "token bow" is fine. Many Japanese will, in fact, gladly offer a handshake instead!

When handing something to someone, especially a business card, it's considered polite to present it holding it with both hands.

When drinking sake or beer in a group, it's considered polite not to fill your own glass, but to allow someone else to do it. Typically, glasses are refilled well before they are empty. To be especially polite, hold up your own glass with both hands while one of your companions fills it.

Gift-giving is very common in Japan. You, as a guest, may find yourself inundated with gifts and dinners. Please be aware, though, that among Japanese, such generosity is implicitly expected to be returned in the future. Foreign guests are, of course, outside of this sometimes burdensome system of give-and-take (kashi-kari) but it would be a nice gesture to offer a gift or souvenir (omiyage), including one unique to or representative of your country. A gift that is "consumable" is advisable due to the smaller size of Japanese homes. Items such as soap, candies, liquor, stationery will be well-received, as the recipient will not be expected to have it on hand on subsequent visits. "Re-gifting" is a common and accepted practice, even for items such as fruit. Expressing gratitude is slightly different from obligatory gift-giving. Even if you brought a gift for your Japanese host, once you return, it is a sign of good ettiquette to send a hand-written thank you card or the like - it will be much appreciated. Japanese guests always exchange photos they have taken with their hosts, so you should expect to receive some snapshots and should prepare to send yours (of you and your hosts together) back to them. Depending on their age and the nature of your relationship (business versus personal) an online exchange may suffice.

The elderly are given special respect in Japanese society, and they are used to the privileges that come with it. Visitors waiting to board a train may be surprised to get shoved aside by a fearless obaa-san who has her eye on a seat. Note that certain seats ("silver seats") on many trains are set aside for the disabled and the elderly.

If visiting a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, follow the appropriate cleansing procedure at the chōzuya (手水舎) before you enter. After filling the dippers with water, first rinse your left hand, followed by your right hand. Thereafter, cup your left hand and fill it with water, then use it to rinse your mouth. Do not touch the dipper directly with your mouth. Finally, rinse your left hand again with the water remaining in the dipper.
Things to avoid:
Japanese people understand that visitors may not be aware of the intricacies of Japanese etiquette and tend to be tolerant of blunders in this regard by foreigners. There are four serious etiquette breaches, however, which will meet with universal disapproval, even when foreigners commit them, and these should be avoided at all costs:
Don't walk on a tatami mat wearing shoes or even slippers. Don't blow your nose in public, even discreetly. This is considered extremely boorish.

Don't leave your chopsticks standing upright in a bowl of rice. This is how rice is offered to the dead.

Don't enter a bathtub without washing up first.
Other things to watch for:
Shoes (and feet in general) are considered very dirty by the Japanese. Avoid pointing them at anybody (eg. when sitting on the train) and try to restrain children from standing up on seats.

Brushing your feet against somebody's clothing, even by accident, is very rude. The Japanese consider hearty hugs or back slaps rude, especially if they're coming from someone they just met.

Point with an open hand, not a finger, and beckon people with your hand facing down, not up.

Avoid shouting or talking loudly in public. Talking on a mobile phone on a train is considered rude. (Sending text messages, however, is considered de rigueur.)

As in Germany, World War II is a touchy and complicated topic.

Contact

By phone

International dialling prefixes vary from company to company. Check with your operator for more details. For international calls to Japan, the country code is 81.

Emergency call

Emergency call can be made from any phone at free of charge: call 110 for police or call 119 for fire and ambulance.

Pay telephones

Payphones (公衆電話 kōshū denwa) are easily found, particularly near train stations, although with the popularity of mobile phones, public pay phones are not as quite as numerous as they once were. Gray and green pay phones accept ¥10 and ¥100 coins, and pre-paid cards. Be aware that not all places with public telephones have phones that accept coins, so it may be worthwhile to buy a phone card for emergency use. Some of the gray phones, as indicated on the LCD display, can make international calls. Pre-paid cards can be purchased at convenience stores, train station kiosk stores and sometimes in vending machines next to the phone. International phone charges from pay phones can be unusually high; third-party phone cards are a reasonable alternative.

Mobile phones

Modern Japanese mobile phones (携帯電話 keitai denwa or just keitai) tend to operate on unique cellular standards not always compatible with the rest of the world. For instance, most Japanese 2G mobile phones operate on the Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) standard, which was developed and is used exclusively in Japan. In a nutshell: 2G phones (GSM, CDMA etc) from the rest of the world do not work in Japan. Even Quad-band GSM phones are useless. 3G phones using the UMTS/WCDMA2100 standard and equipped with a 3G SIM card may work. If your phone is up to spec, double-check with your carrier if they have a roaming agreement with either SoftBank or NTT DoCoMo. If you don't have a 3G phone but you do have a 3G-compatible SIM card, you can rent a 3G phone in Japan and slot in your card, allowing you to keep your home phone number in Japan. Carrier restrictions may apply: for instance, O2-UK (operating in Japan via NTT DoCoMo) requires you to dial *111*#, wait for a callback, then dial the actual number you wish to connect. Be sure to double-check with your network provider before departing.

COSPLAY

Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure), short for "costume roleplay", is a fan labor type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, and the Philippines. Favorite sources include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, and fantasy movies. Role play includes portrayals of J-pop, K-pop and J-rock stars, visual kei, Taiwanese puppet characters, science fiction characters, characters from musical stories, classic novels, and entertainment software. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given an anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa.Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies it to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.

Venues


"Jingūbashi" passes over Yamanote Line south of Harajuku Station, Tokyo, at the Meiji Shrine gate. It is a famous gathering place for cosplayers.





Cosplayers typically come from the ranks of otaku--that is, fans of Japanese comic books, known as manga. They gather at public events such as comic-book and video game trade shows, as well as at dedicated cosplay parties at nightclubs or amusement parks. In Japan teenagers gather with like-minded friends in places like Tokyo's Harajuku district to engage in cosplay. Since 1998 Tokyo's Akihabara district has contained a large number of cosplay cafés, catering to devoted anime and cosplay fans. The waitresses at such cafés dress as game or anime characters; maid costumes are particularly popular. In areas outside of Japan, cosplay is primarily done at manga and anime conventions. The single largest event featuring cosplay is the semiannual doujinshi market, Comiket. This event, held in Japan during summer and winter, attracts hundreds of thousands of manga fans. Thousands of cosplayers congregate on the roof of the exhibition center, often in unbearably hot or cold conditions. The largest event for cosplayers outside Asia is the annual Comics Con held in California, USA. Cosplayers in Japan refer to themselves as reiyâ (レイヤー?); pronounced "player". Those who photograph players are called cameko, short for "Camera Kozo" or "Camera Boy". Originally the cameko give prints of their photos to players as gifts. Increased interest in cosplay events both on the part of photographers and cosplayers willing to model for them have led to formalisation of procedures at events such as Comiket. Photography takes place within a designated area removed from the exhibit hall.Cosplay at fan events likely originated in Japan in 1978. Cosplay nevertheless gets a mixed reception in Japan even today. Events in districts such as Akihabara draw many cosplayers, yet there is no shortage of people in Japan who regard cosplay as a frivolous endeavor.

Cosplay in Western culture

The popularity of cosplay in Japan encourages the misconception that cosplay is specifically Japanese or Asian hobby. The term "cosplay", though Japanese in origin described a phenomenon which was witnessed in the United States. For almost fifty years, costuming has had a widespread following and continues to experience growing popularity in North America and Europe, and has more recently spread throughout South America and Australia.
Western cosplay's origins are based primarily on science fiction and historical fantasy as opposed to animation. Western cosplayers tend to recreate characters from live-action series such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter than it is for Japanese cosplayers. Western costumers also include subcultures of hobbyists who participate in Renaissance faires, and historical re-enactments such as Civil War battles. The increasing popularity of Japanese animation outside of Asia during the late 1990s led to an increase in American and other Western cosplayers who portray Japanese characters. Anime conventions have become more numerous in the West in the last decade. They now compete with science fiction, comic, and historical conferences in attendance. At these gatherings, cosplayers, like their Japanese counterparts, meet to show off their work, take photos, and compete in costume contests. Differences in taste still exist across cultures. Some costumes that are worn without hesitation by Japanese cosplayers tend to be avoided by Western cosplayers, such as outfits that invoke Nazi-era uniforms.

CODE GEASS

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ, Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurūshu), often referred to as simply Code Geass, is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp. "Code Geass" first ran in Japan on MBS from October 5, 2006, to July 28, 2007. Its sequel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2, Kōdo Giasu Hangyaku no Rurūshu Āru Tsū), ran on MBS and TBS from April 6, 2008 to September 28, 2008. Both seasons have won several awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, Animage Anime Grand Prix, and Animation Kobe event.

Plot

The series is set after Japan's conquest by the Holy Britannian Empire on August 10, 2010, a.t.b. with their powerful new robot weapons, the Knightmare Frames, stripping Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renaming the country Area 11. The titular Lelouch is a Britannian prince who was disowned by his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, after his mother was murdered, and has vowed to destroy his father, the Emperor, and Britannia. He gains an ability through the mysterious power of the Geass, becoming the leader of the resistance movement to fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

Setting

Code Geass is set in an alternate universe where three superpowers, the Holy Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the Euro Universe have divided up control of the world (with the exception of an independent Australia) and maintain a tentative balance for the first part of the series. The balance shifts in the second season as the E.U. has much of its territory conquered by Britannia while Lelouch engineers a revolution in the Chinese Federation and creates a new alliance of countries, the United Federation of Nations, reducing the number of superpowers to two.

Reception

When the first episode was shown during a special test screening, which was attended by Ōkawa, other members of the series' staff, as well as several journalists and other media-related personnel in response to the hype surrounding the series' upcoming release, the audience fell into immediate silence after it ended, followed by "tremendous applause."

Since its premiere, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion has collected numerous awards and accolades. At the sixth annual Tokyo Anime Awards held at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair, Code Geass won the best TV anime series award. In noted Japanese anime magazine Animage's 29th Annual Anime Grand Prix, Code Geass won the most popular series award, with Lelouch Lamperouge also being chosen as the most popular male character and "Colors" being chosen as the most popular song. In the 30th Annual Anime Grand Prix, Lelouch won first place again and C.C.(lead female character) was voted most popular female character. At the first Seiyū Awards held in 2007, Jun Fukuyama won the award for best actor in a leading role for his performance as Lelouch Lamperouge in the series, while Ami Koshimizu won the award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance as Kallen Stadtfeld. Furthermore, Code Geass won the award for Best TV Animation at the twelfth Animation Kobe event, held annually in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, with R2 taking the award in the following year. Anime News Network's columnist Todd Ciolek attributes the soaring popularity of Code Geass to "the series hitting every important fan sector," with the audience appeal points ranging from a "complex cast of characters and a fast-paced story, told with Goro Taniguchi's capable direction" for "general-interest fans" to "pretty and just-a-little-broken heroes" for "yaoi-buying female fans." Carl Kimlinger also find that the series "has the skill and energy to carry viewers over the top with it, where they can spend a pleasurable few hours reveling in its melodramatic charms." He also adds that Taniguchi "executes the excesses of his series with care, skillfully intercutting events as Lelouch's plans come together (or fall apart) and using kinetic mecha combat". Columnist Carlo Santos of Anime News Network wrote that the franchise "in a way, reflects the malaise of a generation: the realization that old, rich, powerful people have screwed up the world and that the young are helpless to do anything about it". According to him, Lelouch's actions exemplify the wish to see problems like "economic collapse, class conflict, political instability, radical extremism" solved by "Zero's vigilante methods" but Santos expresses doubt in such an approach and concludes that "the series is at its best when raising questions rather than offering a final solution".

Controversy

On September 14, 2008, the People's Republic of China took action against Youku, one of the largest video sharing websites, ordering the removal of all videos relevant to Code Geass. In addition to the copyright infringement factors, Code Geass seems to be against the censorship regulations in China, as it has been mentioned in an article discussing sex and violence clips on the video sharing websites.

ANIME

Anime (アニメ, an abbreviated pronunciation in Japanese of "animation", is animation originating in Japan. The world outside Japan regards anime as "Japanese animation". Anime originated about 1917.Anime, like manga (Japanese comics), has a large audience in Japan and high recognition throughout the world. Distributors can release anime via television broadcasts, directly to video, or theatrically, as well as online.Both hand-drawn and computer-animated anime exist. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction. Anime, popular in Asian countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia has also become widespread in countries in the Western World such as United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Norway, Russia, and Sweden.

History
Anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques also pioneered in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia. The oldest known anime in existence first screened in 1917 – a two minute clip of a samurai trying to test a new sword on his target, only to suffer defeat. The first talkie anime was Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka, released in 1933. By the 1930s, animation became an alternative format of storytelling to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike in the United States, the live-action industry in Japan remained a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Japan. Animation allowed artists to create any characters and settings. The success of The Walt Disney Company's 1937 feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs influenced Japanese animators. In the 1960s, manga artist and animator Osamu Tezuka adapted and simplified many Disney animation techniques to reduce costs and limit the number of frames in productions. He intended this as a temporary measure to allow him to produce material on a tight schedule with inexperienced animation staff. The 1970s saw a surge of growth in the popularity of manga – many of them later animated – especially of the work of Osamu Tezuka, who has been called a "legend” and the "god of manga". His work and that of other pioneers in the field, inspired characteristics and genres that are fundamental elements of anime today. The giant robot genre (known as "Mecha" outside Japan), for instance, took shape under Tezuka, developed into the Super Robot genre under Go Nagai and others, and was revolutionized at the end of the decade by Yoshiyuki Tomino who developed the Real Robot genre. Robot anime like the Gundam and The Super Dimension Fortress Macross series became instant classics in the 1980s, and the robot genre of anime is still one of the most common in Japan and worldwide today. In the 1980s, anime became more accepted in the mainstream in Japan (although less than manga), and experienced a boom in production. Following a few successful adaptations of anime in overseas markets in the 1980s, anime gained increased acceptance in those markets in the 1990s and even more at the turn of the 21st century.

Influence on world culture
Anime has become commercially profitable in western countries, as early commercially successful western adaptations of anime, such as Astro Boy, have revealed. The phenomenal success of Nintendo's multi-billion dollar Pokémon franchise was helped greatly by the spin-off anime series that, first broadcast in the late 1990s, is still running worldwide to this day. In doing so, anime has made significant impacts upon Western culture. Since the 19th century, many Westerners have expressed a particular interest towards Japan. Anime dramatically exposed more Westerners to the culture of Japan. Aside from anime, other facets of Japanese culture increased in popularity. Worldwide, the number of people studying Japanese increased. In 1984, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test was devised to meet increasing demand. Anime-influenced animation refers to non-Japanese works of animation that emulate the visual style of anime. Most of these works are created by studios in the United States, Europe, and non-Japanese Asia; and they generally incorporate stylizations, methods, and gags described in anime physics, as in the case of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Often, production crews either are fans of anime or are required to view anime. Some creators cite anime as a source of inspiration with their own series. Furthermore, a French production team for Ōban Star-Racers moved to Tokyo to collaborate with a Japanese production team from Hal Film Maker.Critics and the general anime fanbase do not consider them as anime. Some American animated television-series have singled out anime styling with satirical intent, for example South Park (with "Chinpokomon" and "Good Times with Weapons"). South Park has a notable drawing style, which was itself parodied in "Brittle Bullet", the fifth episode of the anime FLCL, released several months after "Chinpokomon" aired. This intent on satirizing anime is the springboard for the basic premise of Kappa Mikey, a Nicktoons Network original cartoon. Even clichés normally found in anime are parodied in some series, such as Perfect Hair Forever. Anime conventions began to appear in the early 1990s, during the Anime boom, starting with Anime Expo, Animethon, Otakon, and JACON. Currently anime conventions are held annually in various cities across the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Many attendees participate in cosplay, where they dress up as anime characters. Also, guests from Japan ranging from artists, directors, and music groups are invited. In addition to anime conventions, anime clubs have become prevalent in colleges, high schools, and community centers as a way to publicly exhibit anime as well as broadening Japanese cultural understanding.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (機動戦士ガンダムSEED [シード], Kidō Senshi Gandamu SEED [Shīdo]), often shortened to Gundam SEED, is an anime television series animated by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. It is a part of the Gundam franchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate universe called the Cosmic Era. The series spans fifty episodes, which broadcast in Japan from October 5, 2002 to September 27, 2003 at 6:00 p.m. on the JNN TV stations TBS and MBS. The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 2002. It was adapted into a manga published by Kodansha on February 17, 2003. Gundam SEED's story continues in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.

Plot

The series is the first set in the Cosmic Era. This series begins with the Bloody Valentine War between Earth and the colonies that is similar to the One Year War of the original Gundam series with certain traditional elements from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and After War Gundam X such as the presence of five multicolored Gundam mobile suits and the threat of an apocalypse. On one side is the Earth Alliance, and on the opposite is the space colonies that form ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty). Mankind is divided over human genetic engineering, with normal humans known as "Naturals" and the genetically altered humans known as "Coordinators". Like the original series, while ZAFT has a head start on mobile suit design, the Earth Alliance quickly catches up with its five prototype Gundams. With ZAFT having stolen four of the prototypes, young Coordinator Kira Yamato pilots the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam and is forced to fight his old friend Athrun Zala. Little do they know that there exist sinister forces working to bring about events that go far beyond their worst nightmares.

Reception

The show has become one of the most popular of the Gundam series in Japan enjoying high television ratings and DVD sales. According to the analyst John Oppliger of AnimeNation, Gundam SEED became the first Gundam series which was widely successful not only among "Gundam fans and hardcore otaku" but also "mainstream, casual Japanese viewers". Gundam SEED is the eighth TV Feature Award winner at the Animation Kobe Awards in 2003, the third Grand Prix award winner at the Japanese Otaku Awards in 2003, the winner of the Tokyo International Anime Fair's animation of the year in 2004, Animage's 25th Anime Grand Prix award winner in 2002, and topped the charts in Newtype magazine reader poll. However, the show was not well received by older Japanese fans. Sunrise's president, Takayuki Yoshii, believes it was because Gundam SEED incorporated elements from popular live-action television dramas. Instead of focusing on the robot action, the show focused more on the characters.

Controversy

In episode sixteen, the main protagonist, sixteen-year-old Kira Yamato, is seen putting on pants after getting out of a bed, where fifteen-year-old Flay Allster lies sleeping naked suggesting a sexual relationship. The Japanese Commission for Better Broadcasting reported that viewers filed complaints regarding the scene because the show was aired at 6 pm when children would be watching. Mecha Anime HQ's review indicated that the scene was the first time a "Gundam hero" ever had sex during the course of a Gundam series and also considered it relevant to the plot. The scene was extended in the special edition.

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