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September 15th, 2008
Shirakawago Trip - my visit to the real life Hinamizawa village
Anime Relations: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Special: Nekogoroshi-hen, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei
As many of you may know, the Hinamizawa village where the story of Higurashi is set is actually based on a real life place - the village of Ogimachi, located within the Shirakawago UNESCO World Heritage site.
During my trip to Japan last year, I made a short visit to Shirakawago. It was a 'pilgrimage' of sorts as I have been a fan of the series ever since the first episode aired in Japan. This beautiful and secluded village deep in the mountains of Gifu seemed like the perfect sidetrip as I made my way from Nagasaki to Tokyo. However, it is overrun by (nearly all Japanese) tourists every weekend, so I decided to go during the week and avoid the crowds. I was really inspired by this Tomitake cosplayer's travel log and decided to brave the rural bus system and booked the bus tickets with my poor Japanese. I stayed in a minshuku, which is a budget version of ryokan (more like a B&B), for three nights and left on the Saturday when the big tour groups started to pour into the village.
Some of the Higurashi locations you may be able to recognise from my photos are: Furude shrine, its main gate and warehouse, Irie clinic, Sonozaki estate, Rika and Satoko's house, the suspension bridge, various gassho style houses and the panoramic view of the village from the anime opening sequence.
I've uploaded my photos from the trip to flickr. The full size images are only available for viewing by other flickr members (but it's free to sign up!)
You can find the set HERE. Below are the thumbnail previews.
During my trip to Japan last year, I made a short visit to Shirakawago. It was a 'pilgrimage' of sorts as I have been a fan of the series ever since the first episode aired in Japan. This beautiful and secluded village deep in the mountains of Gifu seemed like the perfect sidetrip as I made my way from Nagasaki to Tokyo. However, it is overrun by (nearly all Japanese) tourists every weekend, so I decided to go during the week and avoid the crowds. I was really inspired by this Tomitake cosplayer's travel log and decided to brave the rural bus system and booked the bus tickets with my poor Japanese. I stayed in a minshuku, which is a budget version of ryokan (more like a B&B), for three nights and left on the Saturday when the big tour groups started to pour into the village.
Some of the Higurashi locations you may be able to recognise from my photos are: Furude shrine, its main gate and warehouse, Irie clinic, Sonozaki estate, Rika and Satoko's house, the suspension bridge, various gassho style houses and the panoramic view of the village from the anime opening sequence.
I've uploaded my photos from the trip to flickr. The full size images are only available for viewing by other flickr members (but it's free to sign up!)
You can find the set HERE. Below are the thumbnail previews.
Posted by Meiling | Sep 15, 2008 11:34 AM | 5 comments
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