It’s fun when we see our favorite shows come to life.
If you’re fond of animes, you’ve probably seen the Japanese romantic animated movie Kimi no nawa (Your Name). The story revolves around the life of a high school girl in rural Japan and a high school boy in Tokyo who swap bodies. Therefore, the movie featured many locations in Japan.
Yui Mendoza spent an entire day on a pilgrimage to see the real-life locations of this animated movie.
He posted photos of his travel on Facebook. He said:
Since anime world does not exist, I spent the whole day on a pilgrimage(seichi junrei) to the real-life locations of Kimi no Nawa! Challenging, nakakapagod maglakad. But thanks to Google maps, some approachable Japanese, and Musubi, I eventually found my way to meeting Taki and Mitsuha! #kiminonawa #yourname #seichijunrei
Shinjuku Pass – used in the opening and in the first trailer
Location: Nishi-Shinjuku
NTT Docomo, Shinjuku’s landmark – seen during Mitsuha’s first arrival in Tokyo
Location: Shinanomachi, photo taken near Shinomachi station
Taki/Mitsuha finding his/her way through Shinjuku to his high school
Location: Shinjuku, Lumine 2 building
Shinjuku – Taki walking with the crowd of people
Location: Shinjuku, Lumine 2 building
Tokyoooo-yaaa!
Location: Shinjuku, within walking distance from Shinjuku Station South Exit
Taki’s commute route
Eeee-toooo..
Location: Yotsuya Station, within walking distance from Suga Shrine
Still somewhere in Shinjuku
Location: 〒160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku, 3 Chome−23−7
Recreating Taki and failing — haaaay.
Mitsuha headed to Tokyo in hopes of finding Taki. Plot twist: there’s no way he could know her yet as the switching (dream possession) was experienced by him 3 years later.
Location: Minamimotomachi
How can you reach out to her when she’s already .. dead?
Location: Minamimotomachi
What the mind forgets, the heart remembers.
Location: 5-6 Sugacho, Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, 10 minute walk from Shinanomachi station
We all have that feeling of instantly liking the person for no reason, a spark, an emotion that makes us wonder: “Have I met you before?”, “You look familiar”, “Somewhere in the past or in my dream, I’m certain I’ve met you.”
Location: 5-6 Sugacho, Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, 10 minute walk from Shinanomachi station
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Location: 5-6 Sugacho, Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, 10 minute walk from Shinanomachi station
Shinkai stirred a lot of human emotions and answered existing phenomena about life. The characters, landscapic settings, scoring, and a mixture of old-modern, rural-urban Japan blended perfectly. Taki and Mitsuha are fictional characters but their existence is meant to teach us lessons: to fight for love, to be bold and fearless, to treasure every experience before they escape us, and to never forget the people we love no matter how excruciating that would cost. A fitting conclusion to my pilgrimage is a line from obachan:
“Connecting people is Musubi. The flow of time is Musubi … The braided cords that we make are the god’s art and represent the flow of time itself. They converge and take shape. They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, and then connect again. Musubi – knotting. That’s time.”
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