Highlights
- Touken Ranbu’s popularity in Japan presents a unique opportunity for towns to attract tourists using anime.
- Fukuyama City unveiled a life-size statue of character Kousetsu Samonji with a historical connection.
- The real sword behind Samonji’s character is linked to peaceful negotiations, making it a precious heirloom to see.
Japanese history and anime overlap in the popular anime and mobile game series Touken Ranbu, which has continued to gain popularity in Japan over the past several years. Interest in the series, and to some extent, the history connected to it, is at an all-time high. That makes now the perfect time for less-visited areas of Japan to use anime to try to draw in tourists, which is exactly what Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture is doing.
The city’s official X/Twitter account, along with the account for Touken Ranbu itself, both shared a new statue that was unveiled in the city last month. The statue is a “nearly life-size” version of the character Kousetsu Samonji, and it is in front of the beautiful and historic Fukuyama Castle. The character has a real historical connection to the city, so there is a specific reason why Samonji was the one chosen by Fukuyama City.
Touken Ranbu is a Unique Way to Learn Japanese History
If you are unfamiliar with the Touken Ranbu franchise, it is a unique Japanese historical franchise where actual named swords from history are personified as (very beautiful) men. It began as a free-to-play card collecting game for mobile phones back in 2015 in Japan, and due to its popularity, an international version was released in 2021. It has also inspired 3 anime series, a live-action film, and several stage plays.
In the original game, you take the role of a “sage” who can travel back in time with the power to reanimate historical swords into these beautiful men. All the characters in the franchise are based on real swords, many of which still exist in Japan today in museums. Touken Ranbu has sparked renewed interest in the swords, and according to Nijimin, fans even campaigned to get one sword restored and placed in a shrine when it had been all but forgotten.
Touken Ranbu‘s Connection to Fukuyama City
You can probably guess the reason why the new bronze statue of Kousetsu Samonji was built in Fukuyama City of all places. That’s right; the real sword that the character is based on is housed there. The sword has a fascinating history, having been forged by the protégé of one of the most famous historical blacksmiths, Masamune. This swordsmith’s name was Samonji, and the sword passed through several owners before becoming a family heirloom. It is currently on loan to the Fukuyama Art Museum
The character of Kousetsu Samonji hates to fight, and prays a lot to try to overcome his sorrow. As reported by AnimeNewsNetwork, this characterization of him is on point for the sword he is based on;
…as Itabeoka Kousetsusai was a negotiator during a meeting between Sengoku Shogun’s Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the real sword was gifted to the Ieyasu family after the fall of the Hōjō clan.
The sword is connected to a peaceful negotiation and then a gift, and it still remains a precious heirloom that is loved and maintained to this day. We are lucky to have the chance to see it while the owner is sharing it with the public at the museum, considering its connection to Masamune’s protégé.
If you want to see the statue for yourself, you will have to head to Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture. Luckily, it is very close to Fukuyama Station, making it accessible to anyone who wishes to visit. The city has not said anything about the statue being only temporary, so hopefully Samonji is here to stay for a long time. Anime can certainly help bring tourism, and thus, money, to towns that are less frequently visited in Japan, and hopefully, Touken Ranbu can do exactly that for Fukuyama City.
Touken Ranbu is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Source: AnimeNewsNetwork
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