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Kochikame Memorial Hall Will Have Comic Exterior

Tokyo's Katsushika Ward plans to make its Kochikame memorial hall pop out. The ward office presented its outline for the tourist facility's design on February 20, revealing that the building will feature a colorful exterior comprised of manga panels. The first floor will also feature a recreation of the series' iconic police box.

The facility will be highly interactive in ways true to the manga's original comedic tone. Apparently, the facility only exists because the manga's protagonist Kankichi Ryotsu (Ryo-san) is incredibly full of himself. The middle-aged policeman has built the facility on top of the neighborhood police box without permission, just to honor himself. His boss Ohara is asking visitors to "chase after" Ryo-san. The idea is to first head to the fifth floor, explore the interactive displays, and then walk around the Kameari area.

The displays will include objects that move or produce smells at the touch of a button. The facility will also be quite tech-y, using digital technology that makes it easier to change exhibits around.

The ward hopes to attract repeat visitors and encourage people to explore the surrounding area, where much of Kochikame's story takes place. Emiko Nakajima, chief of the ward's tourist section, said, "We'd like to make it into a facility where people of various ages can have fun and want to go out into the town."

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 team has consulted with manga creator Osamu 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 of 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: The Mainichi