Anohana: Chichibu, Where the Friends Meet Again

Hitsujiyama Park is the anime's postcard view. Its northern overlook is the panorama of Chichibu seen in the opening credits, while the southern hill shows up in episode 2, when Menma stands in a field of broccolini flowers. Nothing in the real town looks more like the friends' secret base than this park, which is near Seibu Chichibu Station. The hill is famous for its moss pink, and the peak flowering season runs from April to early May.

Visitor guidance: Near Seibu Chichibu Station; the moss pink is at its best between April and early May, when it draws visitors from around Japan and the world.

Not every scene needs a landmark. On the road that runs beside the tracks from Chichibu Station, the anime staged some of its most memorable scenes. This is where Menma, the ghost who appears to Jinta one summer day and asks for a wish to be granted, hops again and again on the fence next to him.

Location precision: The guide describes a stretch of road beside the tracks, not a single spot; the pin marks Chichibu Station.

Visitor guidance: An ordinary public street beside the railway north of Chichibu Station.

The old Chichibu Bridge appears many times in the anime, and the city's anime officer names it his favourite pilgrimage site. In the show the friends' secret base seems to lie just beyond the bridge, though in real life that area is only a small residential zone. The old span is now a pedestrian walkway and park with a lovely overlook of the Arakawa. Visitors are tempted to copy Menma on the guardrail; please don't. The road bridge beside it dates from 1985, the third since 1885.

Location precision: The pin marks the Route 299 bridge; the old pedestrian bridge that appears in the show stands close by.

Visitor guidance: The old bridge is open to walkers as a park with a view of the Arakawa; keep off the guardrail.

If the anime has a home base, it is Jōrinji, the 17th stop on the Chichibu 34 Kannon pilgrimage and the home of an Eleven-Faced Kannon. The main characters played here as children and reconnected here as teens, and much of their homemade firework was built on the grounds. In episode 9 Yukiatsu consoles Anaru in the park behind the temple, which in reality takes a walk past houses and small farms to reach. Fans leave votive woodblocks with drawings of the characters; the temple has a bigger variety of them than Chichibu Shrine.

Visitor guidance: The 17th temple on the Chichibu pilgrimage; please be respectful.

West of Jōrinji, the Arakawa is crossed by a modern bridge known as the Chichibu Harp Bridge, or simply the Park Bridge. Episode 9 sends Menma over the edge into the river and this is the bridge where it happens. From the span you can look down at the water running beneath it.

Visitor guidance: West of Jōrinji, across the Arakawa.

The friends' great project is a firework: they build it and launch it from the scaffold of the Ryusei Rocket Festival, held at Muku Shrine. The series makes the scaffold look close to the centre of Chichibu, but in reality it stands quite a distance away in a secluded area. It is used only during the festival, on the second Sunday of October, so there is little to see the rest of the year. The Ryusei Kaikan way station, 700 metres away, has a museum.

Location precision: The scaffold stands near Muku Shrine in Shimoyoshida; the pin marks the shrine, not the scaffold.

Visitor guidance: The scaffold is used only at the festival on the second Sunday of October; the Ryusei Kaikan way station, 700 metres away, has a museum.