My love for Japanese culture started with watching endless hours of anime. While in Niigata I had to checkout the Manga & Animation Museum which houses the works of some of the popular manga and anime artists born in this prefecture. It was no co-incidence that my very favorite Rumiko Takahasi, creator of Inuyasha, also hails from Niigata. I got lucky as they were also holding an exhibit of the swords of Evangelion!