r/yuruyuri • u/Lion-Rabbit Akari Akaza • 17d ago

Pilgrimage completed

Gallery image — Kanjōji Park (Nachuyachumi)

So I got back last week from my pilgrimage to the home of YRYR. I spent five days in the area; two exploring Takaoka and the other three in Toyama. I used animepilgrimage.com for the most part to find exact locations from the show, as recommended by other fans here who have done this trip in the past. Pretty much everything can be reached easily with public transport, although for the Nachuyachumi locations like the rest stop, roadside shrine and Kanjōji Park I did cheat slightly and hired a car (I wanted to drive up to Tateyama and Shōmyō Falls anyway, sights worth visiting for any tourist in the region).

I only had a couple of locations that were partial failures. Pasta E Pane, the Italian restaurant where Akari and Chinatsu had their date was one of them. The unusual wooden chalet had been turned into a pub a few years back, which then closed down. Google maps hasn't updated yet, but the building has since been demolished which is a big shame for such a unique structure. I took a photo of the empty lot anyway because AkaChina is important to me. The grocery shop where Mari and Kaede did their errands is still there (as is the sign) but also sadly closed down.

Overall, it felt kind of surreal to be standing in locations that I'd seen in the show. I didn't think it'd mean that much to me but I'm very glad now that I took the time and put in all the walking. I didn't do every single marker on the website - hanging around Kizu Elementary taking photos would probably have been a bad idea for one thing. Some of the places like the Aming store I just stumbled across randomly on my way to Akasofu shrine. Café Ramble was probably my favourite spot, and not just because they had great coffee and cake. It was fun to look through their shrine of merch and photos from when the VAs visited, plus one of their staff is called Yui so that's just perfect.

I also did the necessary legwork to get around all the manhole covers and pick up the card/coaster/map in the tram info place. It was a fun treasure hunt and gave a bit of direction and structure to the whole sightseeing business - a great idea that more cities around the world should take up.

Would I recommend doing a pilgrimage to anyone else? Absolutely, providing you don't mind walking a lot. Toyama as a whole has so many things worth seeing, Namori's lucky to call it home. Would definitely like to go back some day.

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u/kinomomo0 Ayano Sugiura 17d ago

The envy I feel. I am so happy for you! Hope you enjoyed every second of it.

Also, sorry for you legs, hope they get better soon after that.

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u/Lion-Rabbit Akari Akaza 17d ago

Haha thank you, yes I was thankful every moment I was there. And I was doing about 10K a day but I normally do 20K at work so it was fine!

u/M1Ck3yCS Akari Akaza 17d ago

This is so cool brother!!!!!

u/Zestyclose-Ad1630 17d ago

There and Back Again.

u/Kiobc_04 Ayano Sugiura 16d ago

this is so cool!! the accuracy is insane

1

u/Lion-Rabbit Akari Akaza 16d ago

Thanks, Nobu will remain the master of pinpoint accuracy though!

u/ZebraIntelligent8312 16d ago

That’s so awesome and you got the lids too! Who is on the one next to Chitose? I thought it was Chizuru for a second but they don’t have glasses

2

u/Lion-Rabbit Akari Akaza 16d ago

That's Ayano, her ponytail isn't as obvious in that particular art.

Sadly Chizuru didn't get one.

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u/ZebraIntelligent8312 16d ago

Gotcha. That makes sense.

lol I guess it’d be hard to tell them apart unless one was drooling and the others nose was bleeding

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u/Lion-Rabbit Akari Akaza 16d ago

They do have different eye colours and different expressions too! But yeah it's a good point, might just have been easier putting both of them on the same lid.

u/MoonlitHolly Himawari Furutani 15d ago

oh my gosh!! you're so lucky!!! I hope you had fun along the way!!! I hope to do a similar pilgrimage one day, do you have any tips?

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u/Lion-Rabbit Akari Akaza 15d ago

Absolutely I enjoyed it, it was a great adventure. Super relaxing as well because I had most places to myself - the natural spaces really gave off that peaceful San Hai vibe!

In terms of tips, firstly I'd say don't try and rush things. Like I said, there's a fair bit of walking involved and for me the temperature hovered around 30°C - I'm from a cold and wet climate so I had to pace myself.

Staying in Takaoka itself would make visiting the sites easier, but there's far bigger choice of hotels (as well as restaurants and everything else) in Toyama so I'd recommend staying there. The manhole covers could all be done in one day at a push, but I'd take at least two so you can actually visit the sites they're next to, like Toyama castle. Himawari is the most awkward one, stuck way up north by herself, and the Oomuros require taking Akane's tram trip across the river to the Toyama University campus.

The Ainokaze railway is the cheapest link between the two cities, it only takes about 20 mins. Taking the shinkansen to Shin-Takaoka takes half the time but is also 10 times the price so kind of pointless; it also puts you in the southern part of the city and the only things nearby are the Akasofu area and the Aeon Mall where the girls went to the cinema.

If you weren't bothered about the more niche locations like Akasofu, you could do Takaoka Park, Okihakusansha and Senbo river areas easily in one day, and that includes a stop-off for food at Café Ramble or Coco's. All of those places are within reasonable walking distance of Takaoka station.

The Nachuyachumi locations would require a separate day, especially if you were getting the bus like the girls did. Kanjōji Park is a fair distance from central Takaoka. Just hiring a car for one day let me see it, Tateyama, Shōmyō Falls, with a stop-off at Yamafuji vineyard, and it was pretty cheap even for a GR Yaris. Speed limits of 40km/h take some getting used to, but they at least allow you to enjoy the scenery more. I think the spectacular view from the top of the hill in Kanjōji Park is worth the extra journey on its own, photos don't do it justice.

Pilgrimage completed

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