Just before 5pm, the evening sunlight on Sagami Bay is picture perfect. Joshua Li, poised on the pavement in a three-piece suit, starts his run past a security guard to the middle of the road. His fiancée follows, a stylist hoisting the folds of her gown on the way.
A crowd of dozens of tourists, spilling into the traffic, gives the Taiwanese couple a respectful 10 seconds for their photos before pouring on to the narrow street for their own pictures against a sought-after backdrop: the Kamakurakokomae railway crossing.
Sited near a heavily concreted stretch of beachfront, it happens to be the opening frame of one of Japan’s most famous manga comics. “We are both huge fans of Slam Dunk, and it’s kind of how we met,” says Li, now safely back on the overcrowded pavement with his bride-to-be. “This is one of 12 different manga and anime scenes we are visiting for the wedding pictures.”