Light novels (or ranobe for short, a portmanteau of raito and noberu) are popular in Japan as short, cheap reads for young adults. They often come with manga-style illustrations and feature many tropes from popular anime. This makes the transition between genres easy, and many light novels have been adapted into popular anime such as Ore no Imōto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (There’s no way my little sister’s this cute!) and the currently airing Date-A-Live.
And now, Book Off–Japan’s brilliantly-named used bookstore chain–has added to the the recent spate of interactive maps with their new “Light Novel Pilgrimage Map”.
The Light Novel Pilgrimage Map has been launched as part of Book Off Online’s light novel corner. You can check it out here, although it’s only available in Japanese for the time being. Hover your cursor the stars on the map, and you can see both the place name and the name of the light novel for which it is famous. Clicking on a star will jump you down the page to further details about the author, work, and area. The map also features some places from manga and anime, and ranges from the brand new to the old-school.
Altogether there are nearly 170 stars on the map at the moment, so if you plan to visit them you’d better clear your calendar for the next year or so! Japan is known for its, shall we say, dedicated fans though, so I’m sure there’ll be at least one devout ranobe lover who manages the entire pilgrimage.
Start planning your next trip now!
Source: Netorabo (Japanese)
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