Based on a seinen manga by Kikuchi Naoe and Yokomi Hirohiko, serialised in IKKI.
The "story" is that a manga artist is asked by her boss to accompany him and a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and draw a manga about it.
The kicker though, is that it's completely non-fiction —the creator really did go on all these trips, and the manga simply records what happened, with no embellishment. There's a little disclaimer at the front that says "This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama," and indeed, it mostly is just about them riding trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc.
The "travel writer" turns out to be a super train-otaku who has vast knowledge of the train network, but also micro-manages all their trips, planning every detail down to the second. He cares mostly about following the schedule and successfully achieving his planned goals (e.g. visiting all stations on a line in a completely bizarre order to accomodate infrequent trains). The mangaka doesn't really care about trains; she's cynical, sarcastic, and rather lazy (she mainly just looks forward to the next eki-ben); he's completely gung-ho as long as he's following the schedule, and the inevitable conflicts are pretty entertaining.
Throughout, though, it feels real —if you've travelled by train in Japan it will all seem very familiar, not just the scenery, but also the atmosphere and feel— and the artist does a great job of pacing and applying little tweaks to keep it consistently entertaining. In an additional bit of recursiveness, some of the characters who show up in the manga (who of course are real people, who really did show up) do so because they (really) read previous episodes of the manga!
In addition of course, you can learn about various out of the way and interesting Japanese train lines and stations; some of them really do look cool. There's always this vague sense of surreality about it however, the trips are all planned by the train-guy (goal: visit all 9,843 stations in Japan) who seems to consider everything as part of a checklist rather than an experience to be enjoyed. You learn a bit about train-otaku culture too; there's really only the one guy in the story, but train-otaku culture is a sort of constant peripheral presence.
Tetsuko no Tabi has finished airing and it has 13 Episodes. It is also Known as: 鉄子の旅, Tetsuko's Travels, Tetsuko's Trip
Genres: Japan , Earth , Asia , Comedy , Absurdist Humour , Countryside , Present , Slice of Life
Try our anime quiz: Anime Characters Guessing Quiz/Game
Top 5 Anime Like Tetsuko no Tabi [2026 List]
- 5. Sankarea
- 4. Barakamon
- 3. Hotarubi no Mori e
- 2. Wolf Children
- 1. My Neighbor Totoro
5. Sankarea
Chihiro Furuya likes zombies. There’s something about the shambling corpses and blood that appeals to him on a visual level, and since childhood he longed to enter into a romantic situation with one. He gets his wish when he encounters Rea Sanka—the daughter of the school director—at the abandoned building he uses in an attempt to resurrect Baabu, the family cat, with a resurrection potion. Hoping to escape her awful home life, Rea consumes the potion and falls to her death, only to come back as a zombie?! Could this possibly be Chihiro's dream come true, or will it be a rude awakening?
Sankarea: Undying Love has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: さんかれあ, Sankarea
4. Barakamon
Seishuu Handa is an up-and-coming calligrapher: young, handsome, talented, and unfortunately, a narcissist to boot. When a veteran labels his award-winning piece as "unoriginal," Seishuu quickly loses his cool with severe repercussions.
As punishment, and also in order to aid him in self-reflection, Seishuu's father exiles him to the Goto Islands, far from the comfortable Tokyo lifestyle the temperamental artist is used to. Now thrown into a rural setting, Seishuu must attempt to find new inspiration and develop his own unique art style—that is, if boisterous children (headed by the frisky Naru Kotoishi), fujoshi middle schoolers, and energetic old men stop barging into his house! The newest addition to the intimate and quirky Goto community only wants to get some work done, but the islands are far from the peaceful countryside he signed up for. Thanks to his wacky neighbors who are entirely incapable of minding their own business, the arrogant calligrapher learns so much more than he ever hoped to.
Barakamon has finished airing and it has 12 Episodes. It is also Known as: ばらかもん, Barakamon
3. Hotarubi no Mori e
Intrigued by the tale of a mountain god, six-year-old Hotaru Takegawa loses her way in the ancient forest while visiting her uncle. Exhausted and desperate for help, Hotaru is thrilled to find a masked forest spirit named Gin. She learns the hard way that she should not touch the boy, or he would disappear. In spite of this, Gin leads Hotaru out of the forest and warns her never to return when she promises to come again with a gift.
Paying no heed to his cautionary words, and despite being separated by both distance and planes of existence, Hotaru and Gin become close friends as she visits him every summer. However, their relationship and resolve are put to the test, when romantic feelings conflict with the one and only rule.
Based on Yuki Midorikawa's manga of the same name, Hotarubi no Mori e is a tale of friendship and compromise of two people who should never have crossed paths, as their lives become hopelessly intertwined.
To the Forest of the Firefly Lights has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: 蛍火の杜へ, Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light, The Light of a Firefly Forest
2. Wolf Children
Hana, a hard-working college student, falls in love with a mysterious man who attends one of her classes though he is not an actual student. As it turns out, he is not truly human either. On a full moon night, he transforms, revealing that he is the last werewolf alive. Despite this, Hana's love remains strong, and the two ultimately decide to start a family.
Hana gives birth to two healthy children—Ame, born during rainfall, and Yuki, born during snowfall—both possessing the ability to turn into wolves, a trait inherited from their father. All too soon, however, the sudden death of her lover devastates Hana's life, leaving her to raise a peculiar family completely on her own. The stress of raising her wild-natured children in a densely populated city, all while keeping their identity a secret, culminates in a decision to move to the countryside, where she hopes Ame and Yuki can live a life free from the judgments of society. Wolf Children is the heartwarming story about the challenges of being a single mother in an unforgiving modern world.
Wolf Children has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, おおかみこどもの雨と雪, The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki
1. My Neighbor Totoro
Follow the adventures of Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in the countryside. To their delight they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totoro who can be seen only through the eyes of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary characters, including a cat that doubles as a bus, takes them on a journey through the wonders of nature.
My Neighbor Totoro has finished airing and it has 1 Episodes. It is also Known as: Tonari no Totoro, となりのトトロ, My Neighbour Totoro
