Tokyo in pop culture

As the largest city in Japan and the location of the country's largest broadcasters and studios, Tokyo is frequently the setting for many Japanese films, television shows, animated series (anime), and comic books (manga). The best-known outside Japan may be the kaiju (monster movie) genre, in which landmarks of Tokyo are routinely destroyed by giant monsters such as Godzilla. Many comic books and animated series set in Tokyo, such as Sailor Moon or Ranma ½, have become popular across the world as well. Futuristic manga and anime like Akira often depict Tokyo as a sprawling metropolis in a post-apocalyptic setting, in which the city is often named "Neotokyo" (a term that even appears in the computer game, Civilization III). Some go so far as to have numbers designating different Tokyo's.

Some Hollywood directors have turned to Tokyo as a filming location. Well-known examples from the postwar era include Tokyo Joe, My Geisha, and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice; well-known contemporary examples include Kill Bill, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Lost in Translation.

Finally, Tokyo's place in popular culture has even inspired tours in the city on the subject. Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan is known internationally for its youth style and fashion.

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