The aquarium on Katase beach, facing Sagami Bay across the road — strong on the bay's own creatures, with a large jellyfish hall and a Sagami Bay tank recreating the deep water off this coast. It appears throughout the series, and the beach in front of it is where several of its key scenes are set. Admission charged; the sunset from the terrace is free.
The aquarium on Katase beach, facing Sagami Bay across the road — strong on the bay's own creatures, with a large jellyfish hall and a Sagami Bay tank recreating the deep water off this coast. It appears throughout the series, and the beach in front of it is where several of its key scenes are set. Admission charged; the sunset from the terrace is free.
The Enoshima Electric Railway halt on the shoreline, whose single platform faces the open sea across Route 134 — routinely described as one of the stations with the finest views in Japan. The level crossing beside it draws large numbers of photographers, and the operator and the town have both had to post notices asking people to stay off the road and out of the residents' way. Worth reading before you arrive.
The tourism office beside Iwami Station that has handled the Free! pilgrimage since the series began — location maps, collaboration goods, and a visitors' notebook that has run to many volumes. Iwami is a town of about 10,000 people, and the association is frank about which spots are working harbours or private homes and how to behave at them. Worth calling in first.
The tourism office beside Iwami Station that has handled the Free! pilgrimage since the series began — location maps, collaboration goods, and a visitors' notebook that has run to many volumes. Iwami is a town of about 10,000 people, and the association is frank about which spots are working harbours or private homes and how to behave at them. Worth calling in first.
The tourism office beside Iwami Station that has handled the Free! pilgrimage since the series began — location maps, collaboration goods, and a visitors' notebook that has run to many volumes. Iwami is a town of about 10,000 people, and the association is frank about which spots are working harbours or private homes and how to behave at them. Worth calling in first.
The tourism office beside Iwami Station that has handled the Free! pilgrimage since the series began — location maps, collaboration goods, and a visitors' notebook that has run to many volumes. Iwami is a town of about 10,000 people, and the association is frank about which spots are working harbours or private homes and how to behave at them. Worth calling in first.
The tea house in the old town district that appears as Kissa Hifumi, where Oreki and Irisu meet in episode 10. A converted traditional building serving matcha and warabi-mochi in a hushed, tatami-floored room — the contrast with Bagpipe's Western interior is exactly as the anime drew it. Small and often full; mornings are the safest bet.
The coffee house at the foot of Ikada Bridge that appears in the series as the café Pineapple Sand — and one of the friendliest pilgrimage stops in Takayama. Stained glass, carved pillars and a proper Showa-era kissaten atmosphere; the blend coffee and Vienna cocoa from the show are both on the menu. Open from morning, no parking, and busiest at weekends.
The information office near the old town that stocks the Hyouka location map — the walking guide most visitors use to trace the bridges, shrines and cafés of the series. Staff are well used to anime travellers, and the office also covers the practical side: bus times to Hirayu, cycle hire and seasonal opening hours.
A local produce market near the port stocked with Oarai seafood, dried fish and Ibaraki specialities, with a corner of Girls und Panzer goods among them. It works as a rest stop on the walk between the station and the waterfront, and it is the practical place to pick up souvenirs that aren't merchandise.
A collaboration café on the second floor of Oarai Marine Tower, open since March 2015 and still where fans gather over food and drinks themed on the series. Character panels and displays fill the room, and the tower's observation deck upstairs looks out over the whole town, the port and the Pacific beyond it.
A branch of the Ibaraki coffee roaster on the ground floor of Oarai Seaside Station, known among fans for recreating the oversized Mont Blanc cake that Marie of BC Freedom eats on top of her tank. The coffee itself is what brings locals in, so the cake arrives with an unexpectedly serious cup beside it.
On the second floor of Oarai Seaside Station, this is the town's central Girls und Panzer space — merchandise, display panels tracing how the series and the town grew up together, posters and signed boards from the voice cast. It opens daily from around 10:00 to 19:00, which makes it the natural first or last stop on a day spent walking Oarai.
The old shopping street at the heart of town, where 19 of its 24 shops keep a life-size character panel standing by the door. The habit began with a 2013 event that hid 54 panels around Oarai, and the street went on to adopt Saori Takebe as its official poster girl, holding a sale every year on her birthday, 22 June.
The anime shop a short walk from Numazu Station's south exit, functioning as the hub of Love Live! Sunshine!! fandom in the city — character goods, event tie-ins and a steady rotation of birthday displays for the Aqours members. Most pilgrimage routes through Numazu begin or end here, and the staff are used to visitors arriving with maps.
The aquarium on the uninhabited island of Awashima, reached by a short ferry crossing. It closed in February 2024, then reopened that July under new ownership after a fan-backed rescue — a rare case of a pilgrimage site literally saved by its audience. Frog house, sea lion shows and Fuji views from the shore.
The small information office for the Uchiura and Nishiura coast, run with open enthusiasm for the series — fan noticeboards, character displays and local walking maps. Staff can point out every model location within cycling distance, and the building itself appears in the show.
The aquarium on Uchiura Bay that appears throughout the series, and one of the friendliest facilities toward visiting fans — collaboration events, themed displays and Aqours panels have run here continuously since the anime aired. Its walrus and dolphin shows face the open bay, with Mt Fuji behind on clear days.
The Meiji-era inn on the Mito seafront that served as the model for Chika's family home. It embraces its role — themed rooms, displays and messages from fans fill the building — while remaining a working ryokan with seafood dinners and sea-view baths. Author Dazai Osamu also stayed here in 1948; his room is preserved.
The only shrine in Japan dedicated to the weather, standing in the grounds of Koenji Hikawa Shrine. It began as the guardian shrine of an Imperial Army meteorological unit, survived the postwar abolition of state shinto by an administrative oversight, and now takes petitions for fine weather on wedding days and sports days — its votive tablets are shaped like the paper teru-teru-bozu dolls hung out to stop the rain.
The 58-hectare garden that gives the film its setting — laid out as an imperial garden in 1906 on the site of a daimyo residence, opened to the public in 1949. It holds three distinct gardens (French formal, English landscape, Japanese traditional), around a thousand cherry trees of some sixty-five varieties, and the wisteria arbour and pond pavilion the film draws so closely. There is an admission charge, opening hours vary by season, and alcohol is not permitted inside.
Hida City Tourist Information (Hida-Furukawa Station)
The information desk beside the station that has handled the film's pilgrimage traffic since 2016, issuing the location map that covers the station, the library and Ketawakamiya Shrine. Hida takes visitor etiquette seriously — several of the locations are ordinary homes and working shrines — and the staff will tell you plainly which spots are fine and which are not.
The confectioner on Minobu's temple-town street that makes the minobu manju Rin eats at the bus stop in the series — steamed fresh each morning and sold until they run out. The shop leaned into its fame gently, with character panels and a visitors' notebook, and a warm manju eaten on the bench outside remains the cheapest, best pilgrimage ritual in the region.
The small information office by Lake Motosu that handles the Yurucamp side of Minobu tourism — location maps, stamp rallies and the town's collaboration goods. Staff know which campsites are open in which season and how the roads are behaving, which matters more here than in most places. A sensible first stop before circling the lake.
The reception building of the lakeside campsite where the whole series begins. It doubles as a shop selling the curry noodles from episode 1, camp goods and a wall of series merchandise, and the staff have welcomed pilgrims since the first broadcast. Check in here for a pitch on the shore where the 1,000-yen-note view of Fuji rises straight across the water.
The public bath at the head of the Hayakawa valley that appears in the series as the 'Queen's Bath'. Its name honours Empress Koken, who is said to have bathed here; the water is slippery-soft and alkaline, and the building looks out over the gorge. The village beyond is the last settlement before the Southern Alps close the road.
The outdoor-gear store beside the Michi-no-Eki Fujiyoshida, on the route the characters take toward Lake Yamanaka. It carries the sleeping bags, stoves and lanterns the series treats so lovingly, and its terrace looks straight up at Fuji — a practical stop for anyone who arrived under-equipped for a mountain night.
The confectioner near the Kanzanji temple street whose strawberry daifuku, sold only in the colder months, is the sweet Nadeshiko eats in the series. The shop is small and the daifuku sell out, so mornings are safest. A neat pairing with the unagi restaurants up the street for a one-stop taste of Kanzanji.
The tiny eel restaurant beside Hamanako-Sakume Station, grilling Hamana lake eel over charcoal a few steps from the platform where the black-headed gulls gather in winter. It appears in the series alongside the station, and the pairing — kabayaki indoors, gulls on the railing outside — is exactly what the episode promised. Small, popular, and worth arriving early for.
The confectioner on Minobu's temple-town street that makes the minobu manju Rin eats at the bus stop in the series — steamed fresh each morning and sold until they run out. The shop leaned into its fame gently, with character panels and a visitors' notebook, and a warm manju eaten on the bench outside remains the cheapest, best pilgrimage ritual in the region.
The confectioner on Minobu's temple-town street that makes the minobu manju Rin eats at the bus stop in the series — steamed fresh each morning and sold until they run out. The shop leaned into its fame gently, with character panels and a visitors' notebook, and a warm manju eaten on the bench outside remains the cheapest, best pilgrimage ritual in the region.
The local supermarket that appears in the series as the girls' shopping stop, now keeping a dedicated Yurucamp corner of merchandise and displays beside the groceries. It is also simply the practical place to buy camp food before heading up to the lakes — which is, after all, exactly how the characters use it.
The lakeside lodge and campsite on tiny Lake Shibire where Rin and Nadeshiko take their first trip together. The family-run lodge handles camp reception, rents boats and serves food, and its walls carry years of fan art and messages. The lake has no through road, so the quiet the episode drew is still exactly what you get.
The reception building of the lakeside campsite where the whole series begins. It doubles as a shop selling the curry noodles from episode 1, camp goods and a wall of series merchandise, and the staff have welcomed pilgrims since the first broadcast. Check in here for a pitch on the shore where the 1,000-yen-note view of Fuji rises straight across the water.
The separate building to the left of the main school block, built as the school's library and now holding the Toyosato tourist information desk on the ground floor and a community gallery above. Its Art Deco handrails and fittings are worth the detour on their own, and a small café opens here on Sundays serving waffles and coffee. Staff can point you to everything else in town before you set off.
The separate building to the left of the main school block, built as the school's library and now holding the Toyosato tourist information desk on the ground floor and a community gallery above. Its Art Deco handrails and fittings are worth the detour on their own, and a small café opens here on Sundays serving waffles and coffee. Staff can point you to everything else in town before you set off.
The tower rising directly beside the Electric Town exit, ten floors of character goods, trading cards, figures and idol merchandise gathered under one roof. Several tenants run dedicated corners for currently airing series, and the upper floors are a reliable stop for second-hand goods and gacha capsules when the newer stores have sold out.
The tourism office in the centre of Takachiho, which handles everything a visitor to the town needs — the shuttle situation for Takachiho Gorge, the boat-hire waiting times, the schedule for the night kagura performed at Takachiho Shrine, and which of the outlying shrines can be reached without a car. The town's sites are scattered across a wide area of mountain road, so planning the day here first saves a great deal of driving.
A multi-floor anime and manga store a few minutes' walk up Chuo-dori, and the most dependable place in the district to find [Oshi No Ko] merchandise — acrylic stands, figures and character goods — alongside in-store fairs for currently airing series. Stock turns over fast, so limited
Novice Pioneer
