MIHARU, Fukushima Prefecture--In a twist for anime fans, the production company of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is coming to the assistance of a rural area recovering from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster with a new museum and studio here.
MIHARU, Fukushima Prefecture--In a twist for anime fans, the production company of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" is coming to the assistance of a rural area recovering from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster with a new museum and studio here.
The opening event for the anime museum was held here on March 28 by a subsidiary of Gainax Co., which established the facility to convey anime from Fukushima Prefecture to the world. Attendees got a glimpse of the anime production process and original drawings in the museum, which the company hopes to draw about 30,000 visitors annually.
“By releasing our works from here to the world, I want people (around the world) to know the good points of Fukushima Prefecture and Japan,” said Fukushima Gainax President Yoshinori Asao, who is originally from the city of Fukushima.
The facility is named, “Kuso to Art no Museum--Fukushima Sakura Yugakusha” (Museum of fantasy and art--Fukushima Sakura Yugakusha).
It was built on the site of the former Sakura Junior High School, which was closed in fiscal 2012 due to the dwindling number of pupils. "Yugakusha" literally means “a place for playing and learning.”
The museum will officially open on April 1. The anime studio will also be set up on the same site in June, where employees of Fukushima Gainax will produce anime.