For those wanting to get away from the concrete jungle of Tokyo and want to visit a place that’s not too country and more of a seaside town, will surely want to take the trip to Ibaraki prefecture and visit Oarai.
Granted, unlike seaside towns (using California as an example) where people want a small town live, be closer to the ocean and pretty much retire when they get older, Oarai has that feeling but unlike those areas in California, Oarai is the home to many nuclear research reactors.
Nuclear reactors aside, the location is known for its agriculture in producing rice, sweet potatoes and Japanese radish. But the ocean is where whitebait, sardines, flounder and clams are found. Also, a marine food processing plant which produces salted and dried horse mackerel, smelt, sardines and boiled octopus.
But it’s a place where people come to relax at Oarai and Sun beach. In fact, these beaches were first to introduce barrier-free bathing beaches for the disabled in Japan.
But I will talk about more about Oarai in another post, this post is primariy about Oarai Station and town’s love for the anime series, “Girls Und Panzer” (which is set in Oarai).
The one thing travelers to the area will ask themselves at first, “Am I on the right train?”. Each station you visit, seems like it’s taking you to the countryside. And when you get off the train (which is operated by the Kashima Rinkai Railway), the first thing you’ll notice is the station is old school.
The building inside looks like it’s made before the 1940’s but in reality, the whole station opened in 1985.
When you are inside the station and even outside, the first thing you’ll notice is “Girls Und Panzer” posters and cardboard cutouts. In fact, for a 2017 campaign, one of the trains had “Girls Und Panzer” promotions for the animated film.
But once you get to the gate, you will quickly notice that there is no IC Card entrance but you will see a ticket window. There will be an employee who will take your ticket or take your IC card and run it on a machine. According to a British teacher in the area, Oarai Station is the only one that does this in the area.
But the area has an automatic ticket vending machine and a store, information corner. The place averages 2,690 daily and on the way back to Tokyo, I had to purchase my ticket to get back to Mito Station.
Immediately when you head out the gate, you are greeted with a dolphin and a sword fish monument. And of course signs to go to Aqua World Oarai or Oarai Beach and the other to Oarai Sun Beach and Oarai Marine Tower.
Prepare to ride the bus to get to these locations and one awesome thing about Oarai buses, in my experience, there was one flat fee to pay in order to get to different areas. So, no need to worry about higher fares to get to any of these locations.
And outside of the station is a “Girls Und Panzer” welcome sign. Which leads me to discuss the anime series, “Girls Und Panzer”.
“Girls & Panzer” takes place where various high school academies compete in sensha-do (Tankery) competitions and one of the families that have dominated the Tankery scene are the Nishizumi family.
But for Miho Nishizumi, she has transferred to Oarai Girls Academy because the school doesn’t offer Tankery classes and for her, to get away from it is the best thing she can only hope for. Despite her practicing and being involved in Tankery at her previous academy.
Miho immediately makes friends with Saori Takebe, a girl who loves to read women’s magazines on how to attract guys. Also, Hana Isuzu, a refined teenager who practices ikebana (flower arrangement).
But as the group try to find out what club to join for the year, Miho is called by the President, Vice President and PR spokesperson of Oarai High School in regards to their selection for club activities and because of her experience, the president tells Miho that if she doesn’t choose Tankery, she and her friends will be kicked out of Oarai High.
Upset about what the President has said, Miho notices Saori and Hana arguing on her behalf and if anything, she is very happy to have friends behind her. Not wanting to see them kicked out of school because of her, Miho decides to join Tankery if it keeps her and her new friends out of trouble.
But the real reason why the President of the school has put their hopes on Miho to join the Tankery club is because if Oarai Academy does not win the Tankery competition, their school will be closed down.
So, popular the series is that many anime fans especially “Girls Und Panzer” fans come to Oarai to watch the film premiere but also visit the locations featured on the animated series. In fact, while I was coming back from the beach, I was amazed to see many storefronts promoting “Girls Und Panzer”, and I realize that this animated series was much more than I anticipated. This is a animated series that promotes tourism and also characters that promote other services around the city. So, the town of Oarai is really supportive of the anime series and vice versa.
Inside Oarai Station, you can’t help but see the numerous “Girls Und Panzer” autographed signs and posters.
But I do recommend visiting Oarai if you are in Japan. It’s one of those locations unlike other locations you may visit and as a seaside town, the place does offer numerous areas to visit, which I will blog about more in the near future.
