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Kochikame Manga Gets Memorial Hall in Tokyo
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Tokyo's Katsushika Ward announced on Monday that it will build a memorial hall for Osamu Akimoto's Kochikame manga in the ward's Kameari neighborhood, where the manga is set. The local government has set a budget of 89 million yen (about US$770,000), and plans to finish the hall in 2024.
The hall will be constructed a few minutes from Kameari Station, in a 193 square meter plot of land. Eiji Aoki, the mayor of Katsushika Ward, noted that the project has consulted with Akimoto, saying that the hall will "feel like stepping into [the manga's] world."
The local Kameari Station on the Joban Line already houses statues of some the manga's characters. Some characters also feature on manhole covers all over the neighborhood.
Kochikame ended in September 2016 after 40 years of serialization, although Akimoto has published several extra chapters for the manga since then. The manga series had approximately 150 million copies in print as of June 2016 when the 199th volume shipped. The manga's 201st volume shipped in October 2021.
The manga has inspired a television anime series, anime films, anime specials, live-action films, a live-action series, and several stage plays.
Source: Asahi Shimbun (抜井規泰) via Game Yoridori Subcul Midori Park
