Image credit: Real Estate Japan - KaeKochiKame manga
[Source: Wikipedia]
Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen Mae Hashutsujo (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所, literally “This is the Police Station in Front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward“), often shortened to KochiKame (こち亀), is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station (kōban) in the downtown (shitamachi) part of Tokyo, and revolves around the misadventures of middle-aged cop Kankichi Ryotsu (Ryo-san). The official English title is KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops.
It was continuously serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump for 40 years, from September 1976 to September 2016.
As of 2014, the series had sold over 157 million tankōbon copies, making KochiKame one of the best-selling manga series in history. In 2005, TV Asahi named the anime number 36 on its list of the Top 100 Anime. The series was awarded a Guinness World Record for “Most volumes published for a single manga series.”
And here’s what the statues look like from the front:
Katsushika
The very northeast corner of Tokyo’s 23 wards, Katsushika Ward are a far cry from the skyscrapers of Shinjuku. This area, along with the surrounding wards of Adachi, Sumida, and Edogawa are all considered shitamachi (lit. “lower city” referring to the historical distinction between higher city center areas and the lower surrounding areas). Katsushika offers a quieter, slower kind of Tokyo lifestyle.
