Japan’s favorite 100 yen shop helps solve an otaku problem (two if you count leaving us with more cash to buy new figures).

Anime figures are a fun way to bring your favorite characters into the real world. The drawback, though, is that sometimes the real world doesn’t match the coolness of the characters, and they can look a little underwhelming just sitting on an ordinary shelf or desk.

As with many of life’s problems, though, there’s a solution waiting at Daiso.

On our most recent trip to the 100 yen store chain, we found these background boards from Osaka-based company Karinpia. Called the Wood Craft Background Board series, they’re fold-out backdrops depicting traditional and dramatic Japanese scenery.

Each pack comes with two backgrounds, printed on alternate sides of the fold-out panels, and a rectangular floor/base.

We decided to pick up two packs, the first of which is the ethereally beautiful Moonlit Night/Wisteria set. One side has the nighttime sky and a flock of glowing butterflies, while the other has the springtime flowers that feature prominently in the lore of smash hit Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Having a proper base and two walls essentially gives you a little photo studio to work with, and with proper positioning you can create some impressively immersive compositions. We started off by inserting some of our “cats in kimono drinking beer” capsule toy figures so they could enjoy an open-air drinking session.

And because we have an extensive supply of cat figures at SoraNews24 headquarters, we let another one dance under the stars.

▼ We didn’t use any filters or editing for these photos, just pointed our cellphone camera and hit the shutter button.

The other set we picked up has two versions of a street in a samurai quarter, one in the afternoon and one at sunset.

The package says it’s for staging feudal era fight scenes, but there’s nothing stopping you from using it for more peaceful scenarios, and with certain preserved historical districts in Japan still looking like this today, it’d also work with characters in modern clothing.

▼ Or clown clothing

These are far from the only Wood Craft Background Board packs at Daiso, and on our shopping trip we also spotted ones with Japanese castles, teahouses, shrine torii gates, and bathhouses, all priced at just 100 yen (US$.90) for a double-sided board. The only drawback is that with a height of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches), they don’t work well with larger figures, but if you’ve got some compact favorites who could use a more dramatic environment, maybe for some slick photos, these work great and won’t eat into your new figure budget.

Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]