Hitoyoshi travel reports
Hi everyone!
Are you all excited for the fifth season of the anime!? I sure am!
To get in to the mood, last week I traveled to Hitoyoshi city, in Kumamoto prefecture, which is the area where the mangaka, Midorikawa Yuki, is from, and where Natsume Yuujinchou takes place. Many locations which appear in the anime are based on real-life locations there. So for four days (the longest I could get off work =_=; ) , I went around looking for these locations, exploring them and taking photos. If anybody is interested, you can read my reports about this on my blog here:
Day 1: Setoishi station
Day 2: Amemiya Shrine and Hitoyoshi City
Day 3: Matsutani Valley and Okoba station
Day 4: Ichifusa Dam
As to what these locations represent...
Setoishi station is the station used as the model for the "Moriguchi station" in episode 5 of the first season (an anime-original episode), where the youkai Santo was waiting for Reiko to come back. I stayed at a traditional inn with hot springs near this station for the duration of my trip.
Amamiya shrine functions as the model for two locations in the series: The shrine of Tsuyukami, the dew god, and the shrine which Natsume uses as his 'secret base' when he was little, and where he got caught up in a thunderstorm. In real life, it's turned somewhat into a 'sacred site' for fans to visit, and there's an actual "book of friends" left in the shrine, in which visitors can write their names.
Hitoyoshi city contains many locations that were featured in the series, like not just the station itself, but also the shrine where Natori was shown sitting in the opening of the second season, the place where the swallow youkai Tsubame was reunited with her beloved Mr. Taniozaki, and "Tengu bridge", a red arched bridge near Natsume's house which appears in many episodes.
Matsutani valley is an area with beautiful rice terraces, where Kogitsune, the little fox youkai, is pictured to live.
Okoba station, a bit further away, was used as the model for the train station where Kogitsune lives, and the 'sacred rock' from which he looked out on the train tracks waiting for Natsume can be found there too. Okoba station is also the model of the other station appearing in the anime-original episode 5, where Santo's friend Mikuri lives. The shrine where Natsume played the shadow-stepping game with his youkai friends in episode 13 of season 3, is also located near there.
Ichifusa dam is the model for "Futaba dam", where the swallow youkai, Tsubame, comes from, and where a village is said to be submerged. Near it, the bridge used as the model for the bridge near Tanuma's house can also be found.
Besides these, I also took photos of lots of other scenery that looks like it could come straight from the series!
Of course I can't take credit for actually 'finding' these locations in real life, because I mostly used these two Japanese blogs, and a guide map that was available at the Hitoyoshi station tourist information center, for reference. You can check those blogs for comparison screenshots between the anime and the real-life locations (I don't have the time to find and add screencaps to my posts ^^; ). But I thought maybe some of you here would be interested in reading a report in English about it.
I will also be visiting the Natsume Yuujincho Go pre-screening event tomorrow, and I'll probably write up a little report about that too soon after. So feel free to keep an eye on my journal if you're interested to find out a little about the new anime before it officially airs. >w<
...I'm not sure what to tag this post as, other than 'fanworks'... But oh well... I hope some of you will enjoy looking at my travel reports! ^^
Are you all excited for the fifth season of the anime!? I sure am!
To get in to the mood, last week I traveled to Hitoyoshi city, in Kumamoto prefecture, which is the area where the mangaka, Midorikawa Yuki, is from, and where Natsume Yuujinchou takes place. Many locations which appear in the anime are based on real-life locations there. So for four days (the longest I could get off work =_=; ) , I went around looking for these locations, exploring them and taking photos. If anybody is interested, you can read my reports about this on my blog here:
Day 1: Setoishi station
Day 2: Amemiya Shrine and Hitoyoshi City
Day 3: Matsutani Valley and Okoba station
Day 4: Ichifusa Dam
As to what these locations represent...
Setoishi station is the station used as the model for the "Moriguchi station" in episode 5 of the first season (an anime-original episode), where the youkai Santo was waiting for Reiko to come back. I stayed at a traditional inn with hot springs near this station for the duration of my trip.
Amamiya shrine functions as the model for two locations in the series: The shrine of Tsuyukami, the dew god, and the shrine which Natsume uses as his 'secret base' when he was little, and where he got caught up in a thunderstorm. In real life, it's turned somewhat into a 'sacred site' for fans to visit, and there's an actual "book of friends" left in the shrine, in which visitors can write their names.
Hitoyoshi city contains many locations that were featured in the series, like not just the station itself, but also the shrine where Natori was shown sitting in the opening of the second season, the place where the swallow youkai Tsubame was reunited with her beloved Mr. Taniozaki, and "Tengu bridge", a red arched bridge near Natsume's house which appears in many episodes.
Matsutani valley is an area with beautiful rice terraces, where Kogitsune, the little fox youkai, is pictured to live.
Okoba station, a bit further away, was used as the model for the train station where Kogitsune lives, and the 'sacred rock' from which he looked out on the train tracks waiting for Natsume can be found there too. Okoba station is also the model of the other station appearing in the anime-original episode 5, where Santo's friend Mikuri lives. The shrine where Natsume played the shadow-stepping game with his youkai friends in episode 13 of season 3, is also located near there.
Ichifusa dam is the model for "Futaba dam", where the swallow youkai, Tsubame, comes from, and where a village is said to be submerged. Near it, the bridge used as the model for the bridge near Tanuma's house can also be found.
Besides these, I also took photos of lots of other scenery that looks like it could come straight from the series!
Of course I can't take credit for actually 'finding' these locations in real life, because I mostly used these two Japanese blogs, and a guide map that was available at the Hitoyoshi station tourist information center, for reference. You can check those blogs for comparison screenshots between the anime and the real-life locations (I don't have the time to find and add screencaps to my posts ^^; ). But I thought maybe some of you here would be interested in reading a report in English about it.
I will also be visiting the Natsume Yuujincho Go pre-screening event tomorrow, and I'll probably write up a little report about that too soon after. So feel free to keep an eye on my journal if you're interested to find out a little about the new anime before it officially airs. >w<
...I'm not sure what to tag this post as, other than 'fanworks'... But oh well... I hope some of you will enjoy looking at my travel reports! ^^