For the 25th Anniversary events for the Shaman King series a return of the “Great Journey in Izumo, the Land of the Gods” tourism campaign will be held in Summer 2023. The previous campaign was held in Izumo in January 2022. This new campaign, hosted by the same tourism board will be held July 20th through August 31st. This new campaign will feature brand new artwork, products, and events.
The event is titled “メラ旅in神々の国出雲” which roughly translated to “Great Journey in Izumo, the Land of the Gods.” The title uses “mera” for “great” which is commonly used by the character Ryu. In the previous event the Shaman King characters were drawn with street clothes and themed after the journey various characters have to visit Yoh’s hometown in Izumo.
For the announcement of this new campaign, a new promotional poster was created featuring 2 new drawings by Hiroyuki Takei.
Stamp Rally and Bus Tour
The first major addition to this tourism campaign is a bus tour that will be held. The tour bus will depart from Osaka and bring fans into and around Izumo. The entire round-trip is 2 days and 1 night, which includes lodging in the price.
Similar to the previous campaign, a Stamp Rally will be held at various locations. The locations for the Stamp Rally will be:
Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum (Featured in the manga)
〒 520 Hamacho, Izumo City, Shimane 693-0054
Izumo City Station (New to this campaign)
〒693-0007 Izumo-city Station premises, 11 Ekikitamachi, Izumo-city, Shimane
Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse (Featured in the manga)
〒 1478 Hinomisaki, Taisha-cho, Izumo-shi, Shimane 699-0763
Izumo Taisha-mae Station (Featured in the manga)
〒699-0711 Taishacho Kizukiminami, Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture
Shinmon Street (New to this campaign)
700 meters stretch of road from the Otorii of Ugabashi to the main gate of Izumo Taisha
Izumo Taisha (New to this campaign)
〒195 Taishacho Kizukihigashi, Izumo, Shimane 699-0701
The itinerary for the bus tour will be the following:
Day 1:
- Depart Osaka around 9:30
- Arrive and visit Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum
- Arrive and walk on foot to hotels near Izumo City Station
- (If traveling on July 29th or August 26th, there is alternate stay and travel to the Hatago Oda Onsen)
Day 2:
- Visit Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse
- Visit Izumo Taisha-mae Station, which includes going next door to the Big Heart Izumo for the exhibition
- Visit Shinmon Street, where a free lunch is included
- Visit Izumo Taisha
- Return to Osaka around 19:30
The price for the bus tour is 38,000 yen, with an additional 3000 yen per person in your party. If you are traveling on July 29th or August 26th, you can optionally stay at the Hatago Oda Onsen, which will increase the cost by 20,000 yen per person. Hotels rooms are for 1 or 2 people, with the exception of the Hatago Oda Onsen which is for 2 to 4 people.
There will be an additional gift for participants of the bus tour.
Reservations open on May 24th and reserved seating on the bus is not available.
You can participate in the stamp rally without being on the bus tour.
New Exclusive Goods featuring art by Hiroyuki Takei
For this tourism campaign there will be a brand new set of drawings by Hiroyuki Takei. These drawings will be at least 8 different characters wearing clothing designs inspired by taking a trip to Izumo. The drawing of Anna for the poster is likely one of the designs that will be used. These drawings will be used in new items that will be for sale in Izumo.
Collab Food and Drinks
Similar to the previous campaign where there was a variety of food/drinks available, new ones will be available at local restaurants in Izumo. More details about these collaborations will be announced in early July, but fans can get a random coaster with the new art on it when purchasing drinks.
The Hatago Oda Onsen has already tweeted that they are looking for to the event and they previously had a collaborative item on their menu:
Exclusive Collaboration Goods
In addition to the exclusive goods that feature art by Hiroyuki Takei, there will be other goods related to this tourism campaign. it’s not clear if this will contain new art styled after the recent anime, or if it will be art used previously.
Details on these goods will be announced in mid-June.
Shaman King (2021) Anime Production Materials Exhibition
A new exhibition will be held during this tourism campaign that will feature production materials from the 2021 Shaman King anime. They mention the “setting materials” of cels would be on display. As the anime was produced completely digitally, no traditional “cels” were created. These will likely be partial breakdowns of the composited shots from the anime. It may also include other production materials such as scripts and original drawings that were shown at previous “Shaman King Exhibitions.” No details have been announced if any production materials for the upcoming “Shaman King Flowers” anime will be at the event.
The exhibition will be held at “Big Heart Izumo Cultural Hall” which is located next to the Izumo City Train Station via the south exit. The space and hours have not been announced yet for the Exhibition. The building features multiple spaces, such as an art gallery and a concert hall.
This exhibition will not be held at the Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum, as it was for previous events. A “Chihayafuru Exhibition” will be held at the Izumo Cultural Heritage Museum during that time. However the venue will still be accessible for Shaman King fans to visit and complete their stamp rally.
Hiroyuki Takei’s editor has also noted on Twitter that he is still working on plans for this tourism campaign and that more news will be announced at a later time.
The official website for the tourism campaign will be held here, but is currently a placeholder until more announcements are made: https://izumo-meratabi.com/
