{"id":40244,"date":"2023-04-02T22:12:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T05:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=40244"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T23:11:44","slug":"50thexhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/50thexhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"50th Anniversary Complete Records Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It’s hard to imagine a more comprehensive, more inspired, more lovingly curated presentation than what fans in Tokyo got to see from March 15 to 31. Presented here is a simulated walkthrough of the entire exhibition, made possible by the many fans who shared their photos on social media.<\/p>\n

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\nTrain station advertising<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s hard to imagine a more comprehensive, more inspired, more lovingly curated presentation than what fans in Tokyo got to see from March 15 to 31. Produced by ATAC<\/a> (Anime Tokusatsu Archive Centre) and directed by uberfans Hideaki Anno and Ryusuke Hikawa, it surpassed the expectations of even the most hardcore among us.<\/p>\n

Held at the Seibu department store in Shibuya, Tokyo, it offered the largest collection of original Series 1 production materials ever seen outside the pages of a book (in fact, the exhibition was named after the best Yamato<\/em> books ever published). And even better, it was entirely camera-friendly. This means those of us who couldn’t be there in person can still see what the visitors saw.<\/p>\n

Presented here is a simulated walkthrough of the entire exhibition, made possible by the many fans who shared their photos on social media (with a special thank-you to friend-of-the-website Minoru Itgaki).<\/p>\n

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Promotion at the department store would have been hard to miss for anyone walking into Shibuya from the local JR train station; two giant billboards planted on the two neighboring structures that form Seibu department store.<\/p>\n

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At street level, twin video kiosks constantly flipped between animated scenes culled from Series 1. See a video clip here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Signs inside the store directed visitors to the main exhibit space on the 7th floor of the “A” building, but there was a lot more to be seen including a themed cafe on the 4th floor, a second exhibit on the 2nd floor, a store on the 7th floor, a model display on the bridge passage connecting the two buildings, and decor to be seen in certain stairwells.<\/p>\n

Let’s head up to the main event on the 7th floor and make our way down from there, shall we?<\/p>\n

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If you took the escalators, you were treated to the posters that accompanied the 50th anniversary selection screenings back in December and January.<\/p>\n

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But if you took the stairs, other treats were in store for you. Three of them had been outfitted with clever “vantage points” that let you pretend you were on board Yamato<\/em>. A couple of drinking buddies were found between the 2nd and 3rd floors.<\/p>\n

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Aihara was managing the comms room between the 4th and 5th floors.<\/p>\n

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And just before you reached the exhibit floor, you could “spy” on Kodai and Yuki on one of their first “dates.”<\/p>\n

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And here we are. Entrance to the right, exit at the left. This is how the space looked on “preview night” just before the event opened to the public. You can tell by the square white board to the left of the logo.<\/p>\n

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Over the course of the two-week span, that white board filled up with autographs and sketches to the point where a second board had to be added. This wasn’t the general public; they were left by special guests who worked on the exhibit or on Yamato itself in some capacity from writers to designer to directors and animators and more, all offering their congratulations.<\/p>\n

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From here, everything inside the main exhibition space is divided up into individual photo collections. You can access each of them separately, or click from one to the next for continuous viewing.<\/p>\n

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Gallery 1: The Birth<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> began with producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s image of a ship flying through space, and many creators gathered to bring this vision to life. The wisdom, sensibilities and efforts of the creators gave shape to a single dream, and produced a work that changed the history of Japanese anime.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this area, we look back on the history of Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> through various image boards, design drawings and settings that were created from the earliest planning stages up to the TV broadcast.<\/span><\/p>\n

Entrance<\/a> | Part 1<\/a> | Part 2<\/a><\/div>\n

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Gallery 2: Take Off<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

On October 6th 1974, the TV series Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> began broadcasting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first episode made a big impact on children and young people watching TV with its powerful imagery and story, including the overwhelmingly powerful enemy enemy, Juzo Okita who does not despair even in the face of defeat and humiliation, the Earth which has dried up and turned bright red, and the battleship Yamato<\/em> which is rusted and broken. Resurrected as a space battleship, Yamato<\/em> begins its grueling voyage with the fate of the Earth at stake.<\/span><\/p>\n

This area retraces the voyage from Episodes 1 to 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

Episode 1<\/a> | Episode 2<\/a> | Episode 3<\/a> | Episode 4<\/a> | Episode 5<\/a><\/div>\n

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Gallery 3: Trial<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

From the battle on Saturn’s moon to the fierce battle on Pluto, Yamato<\/em> and its crew overcome numerous challenges and continue their voyage from the solar system into the galaxy and beyond. Gamilas, the powerful enemy that attacks Yamato<\/em>, is depicted with many unique characters, mecha designs, and detailed settings that seem to create an entire world, enhancing its presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

This area follows Yamato<\/em>‘s journey from Episodes 6 to 15.<\/span><\/p>\n

Precision Cut Model<\/a> | Episode 6<\/a> | Episode 7<\/a> | Episode 8<\/a> | Episode 9<\/a> | Episode 10 & Gamilas<\/a>
\nEpisode 11<\/a> | Episode 12<\/a> | Episode 13<\/a> | Episode 14<\/a> | Episode 15<\/a><\/div>\n

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Gallery 4: Fierce Battle<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

The strategies of Gamilas General Domel put Yamato<\/em> in one crisis after another. Yamato<\/em> barely survives the fierce battle with Domel. The variety of stories that unfold on unknown stages such as imaginary planets resonated with fans as if they were real experiences rather than fiction, and spread support for the work.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this area, we follow Yamato<\/em>‘s journey from Episode 16 to Episode 22.<\/span><\/p>\n

Episode 16 | Episode 17<\/a> | Episode 18<\/a> | Episode 19<\/a> | Episode 20<\/a> | Episode 21<\/a> | Episode 22<\/a><\/div>\n

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Gallery 5: To Victory<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

The Magellanic Galaxy is finally reached. With the planet of hope, Iscandar, just days away, the final battle between Yamato<\/em> and Gamilas’ leader Dessler begins. The dramatic developments up to the final episode, when Yamato<\/em> finally ends its long voyage, left a particularly strong impression on many fans. Although the viewer ratings were slow to grow at the time of the original broadcast, the enthusiasm of the fans, mainly teenagers, gradually spread and eventually led to an unprecedented anime boom.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this area, we trace Yamato<\/em>‘s journey from Episode 23 to Episode 26 (the final episode).<\/span><\/p>\n

Episode 23<\/a> | Episode 24<\/a> | Episode 25<\/a> | Episode 26<\/a> | Exit<\/a><\/div>\n

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Side stop: Model display<\/a><\/div>\n

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Side stop: 365 Cafe<\/a><\/div>\n

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2nd Floor exhibit: A 50 Year Voyage<\/a><\/div>\n

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Last stop: The store<\/a><\/div>\n

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Attendance was high throughout the entire run of the exhibition with tickets being sold out for the first several days. On the tenth day, ATAC posted the photo above left on Twitter of the 10,000th guest to walk in the door on March 25th. On the final day (March 31), they posted the photo above right to mark 14,800 guest.<\/p>\n

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Video footage<\/h2>\n

Pro tip: when watching on Youtube, turn on closed captions and autotranslate to English.<\/p>\n

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Opening day walkthrough with Hideaki Anno
\nClick here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hideaki Anno and Ryusuke Hikawa tour part 1
\nClick here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hideaki Anno and Ryusuke Hikawa tour part 2
\nClick here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ryusuke Hikawa gallery talk
\nClick here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Walkthrough by “Mafia Kajita,” includes Yutaka Izubuchi
\nClick here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Photos and video by “Yoko Channel”
\nClick here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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HUGE thanks to everyone who visited the exhibit and posted their photos on social media for all of us.<\/p>\n

See the original posts on Twitter here<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-1984-now","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40244"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40248,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40244\/revisions\/40248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}