Anime in Shiga

The 1937 main building by architect William Merrell Vories is the near-exact model of Sakuragaoka High School: the staircase where Yui trips, the corridors, the banisters with bronze rabbits and turtles. Saved from demolition by local residents, it is now one of anime's most beloved pilgrimage sites, with around 50,000 visitors a year.

On the third floor of the main building is an exact recreation of the light music club room: the tea table, each member's cup, the instruments and the blackboard. Fans leave offerings, messages and figures in what is probably the most photographed room in all of anime pilgrimage.

The school complex's auditorium, also by Vories, is the stage for the series' school festival concerts, including the unforgettable performances of 'U&I' and 'Tenshi ni Fureta yo!'. It is still used for events and fan concerts, and every so often real light-music played by fans echoes there.

Small rural station on the Ōmi Railway where most pilgrims arrive, with K-On! decorations and posters welcoming visitors to the town. The ten-minute walk to the school, past fields and low houses along the old Nakasendō route, is part of the ritual.

The shrine dedicated to Emperor Tenji, author of the first poem of the Hyakunin Isshu, is the real venue of the national karuta championships and appears again and again in the series. The finals the leads chase are played here.

The great vermilion tower gate at the top of the stone stairway is the series' iconic image: it appears in the opening and in countless shots of the grounds. (Approximate coordinate within the shrine.)

The small Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto line station where the characters arrive for the shrine, about ten minutes on foot from the stairway.

The temple where scenes from all live-action movies (2012–2021) were filmed. The most famous scene: Jin-e (Udo) appears on the bridge in front of the three-story pagoda, and Kaoru is about to be attacked when Kenshin arrives to save her. Features a making-of display.

A historic Edo-period canal in the city of Ōmihachiman, used as an outdoor location in the live-action films. The traditional merchant houses along the canal recreate the Meiji-era Japan perfectly. Considered one of the most beautiful canals in Japan.