Miraikan
Miraikan
Odaiba, Tokyo
The science museum that opened an exhibit of the sound of AKIRA in 2021. Check its site for hours, tickets and what is on now.
See the museum
Animation · 1988 · no set to visit
Akira
The film used more than 160,000 cels and was drawn, not shot. Here are eight real places that touch it. In the photograph: the 1964 Olympic gymnasium at Yoyogi.
Sources
The animation desk
Lay the cels
Each film frame was built from sheets of acetate laid one on another. Lay eight, one for each real place, and see what each says.
Sources
0 of 8 cels on the desk · the film used more than 160,000
The desk is empty.
Lay the first cel.
Choose a cel to lay on the desk.
Nothing on the desk yet.
No page here shows a film frame. Every place is a photograph, with what its sources say.
Sources
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Tokyo anime and pop culture tours
Tokyo
Live marketplace results for anime and pop-culture tours of Tokyo. Check which routes pass Shibuya and Yoyogi. Pictured: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, 2012.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
See toursTwo stadiums
One under construction, one built
In the film
In the film Akira is kept in cryogenic storage beneath the Olympic Stadium’s construction site.
One architecture blog presents Neo-Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium as a reinterpretation of the demolished Tokyo National Stadium, built in 1958 for the Asian Games and expanded for the 1964 Olympics.
Sources
In Tokyo
The new stadium, by Kengo Kuma with Taisei Corporation, opened on 21 December 2019. Its capacity is listed as 67,750.
The earlier National Stadium on the site was demolished in 2015 and is listed among the 1964 Summer Olympic venues.
The manga references the 1964 Games and takes a critical view of them.
Sources
Plans for the original Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony featured Akira, including Kaneda riding into the stadium. They were dropped when the Games were postponed.
The guide
Go and find the sheets
The stadium, the gymnasium, PARCO and Miraikan are open to visit. The studio office is seen from the street, and 3331 Arts Chiyoda has closed. None of them is a filming location: the film is animation.
Sources
Where it is now
6 places in Tokyo, Fuchu and California, each with what its sources say.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A science museum on the Odaiba waterfront; hours and tickets are on its own site. The Akira sound exhibit opened in 2021, so ask the museum whether it is still shown.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A shopping complex, open to walk through. The 2019 hoarding wall belonged to its two-year renovation and is not a fixture.
The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), Odaiba, June 2013. Guilhem Vellut · CC BY 2.0 Made and shown · 2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Miraikan, Odaiba
An exhibit of the sound of AKIRA opened on 29 March 2021 in Miraikan’s permanent “Creating the future” zone, on the third floor.
A science museum on the Odaiba waterfront; hours and tickets are on its own site. The Akira sound exhibit opened in 2021, so ask the museum whether it is still shown.
Sources
Shibuya Parco, January 2020, after its reopening. Dick Thomas Johnson · CC BY 2.0 Made and shown · Shibuya, Tokyo
Shibuya PARCO
The original Akira Art Wall Project wall outside Shibuya PARCO was 63 metres long. It came from a two-year renovation of the mall.
A shopping complex, open to walk through. The 2019 hoarding wall belonged to its two-year renovation and is not a fixture.
Sources
Stay
A room on the bay.
A hotel in Odaiba, on the waterfront where the story builds its city.
Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba
Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba
Odaiba, Tokyo
A hotel in Odaiba, on the bay where the story builds Neo-Tokyo. Pictured: Miraikan, Odaiba, 2013.
Check roomsGo there
Start at the museum.
Miraikan on Odaiba, and live results for anime tours of Tokyo.
Miraikan
Miraikan
Odaiba, Tokyo
The science museum that opened an exhibit of the sound of AKIRA in 2021. Check its site for hours, tickets and what is on now.
See the museumViator · Ad / affiliate
Tokyo anime and pop culture tours
Tokyo
Live marketplace results for anime and pop-culture tours of Tokyo. Check which routes pass Shibuya and Yoyogi. Pictured: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, 2012.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
See toursWhat’s on
No dates yet.
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The archive
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
8 of 8 places · 12 of 12 stories
TMS Entertainment, Nakano
3-31-1 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo
Cels
More than 160,000 animation cels are drawn and painted for the film.
Japan National Stadium
10-2 Kasumigaoka-machi, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Under the site
In the film Akira lies in cryogenic storage beneath the Olympic Stadium’s construction site.
The old stadium, redrawn
One architecture blog reads Neo-Tokyo’s stadium as a reinterpretation of the 1964 National Stadium.
The ceremony that was planned
Plans for the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony featured Akira, including Kaneda riding into the stadium.
Yoyogi National Gymnasium
Beside Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Tokyo
The striped roof
One blog matches the gymnasium’s striped roof to the roof of Lady Miyako’s Temple in the manga.
Miraikan, Odaiba
2-3-6 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Islands in the bay
In the story Neo-Tokyo is built on artificial islands in Tokyo Bay.
The sound module
Miraikan opens an exhibit of the sound of AKIRA, played through six speakers.
Shibuya PARCO
Shibuya, Tokyo
The 63-metre wall
A 63-metre hoarding wall outside Shibuya PARCO starts the Akira Art Wall Project.
Art Wall at the museum
The project moves indoors to PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO with original drawings and posters.
3331 Arts Chiyoda
Chiyoda, Tokyo
The drawings
Otomo’s original drawings go on show in the 1F Main Gallery.
Tokyo Racecourse, Fuchu
Fuchu, Tokyo
On the big screen
An Akira image appears on the jumbotron during a race, and the photograph becomes a back cover.
Point Arena, California
Point Arena, Mendocino County, California
Colouring week
Otomo works with colorist Steve Oliff for several days.
