Photo/Illutration An artist’s rendering of NEC Corp.’s new tourism guide service at Zentsuji temple (Provided by NEC Corp.)

NEC Corp. has created an augmented-reality (AR) tour service that uses anime and other fictional characters to guide visitors around sightseeing spots.

The company plans to charge about 1,000 yen ($9.60) per use.

“The service gives users a sense of immersion (in a world created by AR technology),” said an NEC official in charge of developing the dedicated app for the project. “We hope many hard-core anime fans will use the service.”

The company expects the service to cater to the demands of anime fans who make pilgrimages to the settings of their favorite works.

When visitors enter a certain area, the smartphone app will automatically run. When they hold up their smartphone camera over a bronze statue, building or other structure, the characters will appear on the screen and start talking through the connected earphones.

The company held a demonstration experiment in February at Zentsuji temple in Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture, the head temple of the Zentsuji school of Shingon Buddhism and the birthplace of famed priest Kukai (774-835).

Users rent the smartphone-earphones set and receive a guided tour from a character, such as Kukai or an animal dressed up as a Buddhist pilgrim.

Actors, including Isao Hashizume and Atsuko Takahata, as well as voice actors provided the voice-overs for the characters.

“We are hoping that the service will help turn hidden tourism resources of each region into a source of entertainment and generate repeat visitors,” the NEC official said.

The company plans to offer the service in at least one site of each of the country’s 47 prefectures by the end of this fiscal year that starts in April.