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| Cute pic right at the Toyosato Station |
Nearly two months ago I was backpacking through Japan alone, and being an anime fan I feel the need to make an anime pilgrimage, as promised in the final post in my previous blog. So... not much to talk about, enjoy the photos.
Toyosato Station. Took the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Maibara (1 stop, covered by JR rail pass) and transferred to the Ohmi Main line that took me to Toyosato. Ticket cost me 700+ yen I think.
Left: A helpful map to help fellow otakus get to Toyosato Elementary School.
Right: Outside the station. The rabbit and tortoise seems to be a trademark of this town, as it's also seen inside the school
K-ON placards that leads you to the school. The design is based on similar placards depicting children, also common around the town.
It's a small and quiet town, and many shops leading to the school made use of K-ON advertising, or some sort of other moé posters.
ARG, I failed as a K-ON fan because the shirt is so familiar yet I can't remember when I've seen it. Yes, this is one of the shops along the way to the school from the station.
I haz arrive! The school plaque.
The front of the school. I guess from an fan's point of view, this is an really amazing moment.
FYI: The school doesn't actually function as a school anymore. The school is really old if you take a close look from the inside, but the people here does kept the exterior well maintained. One of the rooms on the first floor functions as gallery for the school's or town's history, and a couple of rooms on the second floor is used as a nursery. Only the top floor and canteen contains anything K-ON.
Is this shown in the anime before? Can't remember.
Furukawa Tetsujiro da man. Often got dressed up in the anime, and the girls "prayed" to it in OP Utauyo! Miracle, lol.
Each level actually has only one corridor. Here you see two shots taken from the same spot right after the entrance... that's how small the school is.
And... there's nothing behind the classroom, so it's actually way too small to be a high school, realistically. The building on the left is the canteen, and the one on right is the hall where the gang plays the concert. Or is it the other way around?
The famous set of stairs where many scenes took place.
The trademark hare and tortoise, as seen in the anime and around Toyosato.
I figured you'd realize the relation to the hare and tortoise storyline, so the sleeping hare here should have an obvious meaning. Pretty interesting way to teach something, though kind of out of place in a high school...
At the top of the stairs... welcomed by Yui's frog doll.
I don't understand... please be quiet for?
Some sort of K-ON related activity going on the Saturdays...
There's only two rooms on the top floor, and both a related to K-ON... the "preparation room" to the left is the actual K-ON clubroom, while the "music room" to the right is empty except for a stage...
Cleaning in progress. Or something.
Remember the guitars were stolen not too long ago? Well they recovered it, but it seems like they don't really bother to keep it in a safer place... This tiny space joins the K-ON clubroom to the back of the stage.
You can't see it, but the strings are rusting...
This one is in really poor shape.
Some of "Mugi's" tableware, and signatures of the girls.
Someone somehow left a recent copy of the megami here.
The K-ON Clubroom
The spoilt fan that appeared in a summer episode.
Azusa's personal cup! So cute~
Plastic desserts.
Sawa-chan forgot her wig.
Unfortunately, Ton-chan in reality is born from nuclear waste.
I dunno how one of Mitsudomoe's characters got here. OH wait, is that a Mitusdomoe version of Yui?
Mugi's, Nodoka's, Ritsu's and Yui's slippers. The red ones in the previous pic belong to Azusa's year.
Cute! This shirt was hung amongst the cosplay costumes on the rack.
Some guy left these DVDs here for fellow otakus... despite the Azusa's pic, it's actually not related to K-ON. It contains only a video taken on a handheld about a trip to the Washinomiya Shrine... the Lucky Star shrine.
Pretty pointless.
Artwork, notes, drawings, sketches, screenshots, etc... about K-ON.
The lobby at the top of the stairs infront of the clubroom and music room creaks very badly... probably already rotten beneath.
A room on the second floor that's converted into a nursery or kindergarden... there are actually kids in there, so I gotta take this shot from this angle... lest I get arrested.
One of the classrooms on the second floor.
Alright, since the school is preserved for the exhibit on the first floor in the first place... There's something from that gallery.
A library on the second floor... locked, though.
The canteen. The K-ON cafe is open several days a month, and unfortunately it was not one of those days...
Half the canteen also functions as a K-ON merchandise shop. Bought a 3000 yen shirt here... ouch.
Towards the back of the canteen is some sort of fan-made gallery I guess. It's full of figures and books and stuff, and most of it are not for sale.
Oh my... is that a K-ON rubix cube?
No fear, I am here.
