Conan Town (Hokuei Town)

This is the last post to share the photos of my trip to Hokuei Town (aka Conan Town) from LAST year. Yep, it is late for more than year but it is better late than never. Haha.. I was procrastinating of of organising and taking screenshots of the photos that I want to put up so that I save up space with the photo uploads.

I organise the photos from the start of Conan Street in front of Yura Station to the end of Conan Street which is the Gosho Aoyama Manga Factory (GAMF). I made 2 separate trips (one in noon and one in late afternoon) so some of the pictures may have more sun and exposure.

The first important landmark as we walk along the Conan Street is Hokuei Town Library. Before reaching the library, statues of the Detective Boys group are lining the street. The library has a giant Conan plaster and bronze statue of Shinichi waiting. Apparently there is a complementary Ran waiting statue which is not located along Conan Street. I did not find it because I only know its existence after reading the town guidemaps after the trip. Huhuhu T_T

Hokuei Town Library

Bronze statue of Shinichi waiting

The next landmark after the town library is the Town Hall which has a statue of Conan eating watermelon, one of the town's famous produce.

Close up of the statue

A huge town map in front of the Town Hall

After this, we need to cross a bridge to reach Conan's House / Beika Shopping Street which I would say is the mid-point of the Conan Street. The bridge has a nice view and it also has Conan decorations.

Left side of the bridge.  The house further up is Conan's House. Its side is lined with sakura trees which will definitely look amazing in spring.

The view of the right side of the bridge

Metal plates of Gosho Aoyama's illustrations at the bridge railings

 Conan bronze statues at the 'ends' of the bridge

Even the lamp post has Conan's skateboarding statue

Conan's House Beika Shopping Street has a few things to see: Shinichi's house, Conan Department Store, Bakery, Cafe, Gelato Shop, and statue of Shinichi and Ran dating. Conan Department Store carries some unique merchandises that cannot be found elsewhere be it in GAMF or the souvenir shops around Tottori. Unfortunately I did not have the time to try any of the food stuff.

Bronze statue of Shinichi and Ran

Shinichi's house is not an attraction to enter. We can only press at the door bell and there is a reply from the intercom as if it was Shinichi answering.

Past Conan's House Beika Shopping Street is a toilet, another Shinichi bronze statue, and a bus stop with Conan and sleeping Kogoro.

Another town map

You may wonder why the toilet gets special mention. That is because it is also themed with Conan decorations.

Shinichi at door

Bus stop with Conan and sleeping Kogoro

After the bus stop, the attraction will be the GAMF although it still quite a distance. However, remember to walk past GAMF to the rest area since there is another statue of Conan that I missed during this trip. Sigh...

While the above are the 'major' attractions, there are still plenty of things to see along the street. There are small stone tablets at the road side with the cover of the manga. The cover for volume 1 is in front of GAMF while the one in front of Yura Station is volume 23. Perhaps, we are supposed to enjoy the street from GAMF? Haha.. Anyway with the manga almost reaching volume 100, they can even decorate more of the town.

Yeah I missed the volume 22

Manhole covers and directional stickers along the road are decorated with Conan.

Manhole covers

 The whole stretch of Conan street is about 1.3km long

The Daiei Elementary School, where the statue of Conan and Ran is, needs a detour from Conan Street

3 of the road markings which are still in relatively presentable condition for me take photos

I also saw taxis and buses plastered with Conan decoration. I was actually worried if I did something 'illegal' when taking photo of the taxi as it was after operating hours so perhaps this was the depot or the driver's garage. Anyway there was no gate or anything and the taxi location was just outside the station.

The bus was operating so this was definitely legal hahaha

I would definitely love to return here someday because I have not fully explored the town. One thing for sure: I will definitely spend one day here to enjoy taking photos of the town, the street, GAMF, and trying food at the Beika Shopping Street.

Phew.. Finally done with this which is my longest post ever with 63 photos and more than a year to complete. Hahaha...