Hanasaku Iroha: Yuwaku Onsen

Hanasaku Iroha is set in a fictional Ishikawa spa town, and the town behind it is Yuwaku Onsen in Kanazawa. In the story, Ohana arrives at her grandmother's country estate and learns that she is the owner of a Taishō period hot spring inn called Kissuisō. The real resort is a hot spring town in Kanazawa with nine small inns, reached by bus from Kanazawa Station. It was chosen from among Ishikawa's small spa towns as the one that best matched the image the makers had in mind.

Location precision: The anime renames the town Yunosagi; the pin marks the centre of the real resort.

Visitor guidance: Reached by bus from Kanazawa Station; the nine small inns are close together.

Kissuisō is where Ohana starts working at her grandmother's request. It is the inn run by her grandmother Sui, and Ohana lives and works there. The inn is said to be modelled on Yuwaku's Hakuunro Hotel, which opened in 1932, went bankrupt in 1999 and was fully demolished in 2006. The hotel no longer stands, so there is nothing to visit, only the hillside spa town around where it stood.

Location precision: The model is only 'said to be' the demolished Hakuunro Hotel, whose site the sources don't locate, so the stop is left unpinned.

Fukuya is the famous old inn of the anime's spa town, and it outdoes Kissuisō in both size and history. Its real model was Yuwaku's Shuhokaku inn, which closed on 17 March 2018. The old Shuhokaku was then refurbished and reopened in 2018 as Honkan Saishin (Iroha), so the building that inspired Ohana's rival inn lives on in Yuwaku under a new name.

Location precision: Fukuya is invented; the pin marks the former Shuhokaku inn named as its model.

Yunosagi Station is the railway stop nearest to Kissuisō, so the story returns to it again and again at its turning points. Its real model is Nishigishi Station, which served as the inspiration for the anime's station. A symbolic Yunosagi station sign was unveiled there on 29 April 2011, so the fictional name now hangs on a real platform. It is the one stop on this route that is a working railway station.

Location precision: Yunosagi Station is invented; the pin marks Nishigishi Station, its real model.

Visitor guidance: A working railway station; check train times before making the trip.

In the anime, the preparation and celebration of the fictional Bonbori Festival is a major plot point. The real town of Yuwaku then decided to bring the festival to life, with a procession carrying paper bonbori lanterns and the burning of ema plaques bearing wishes. The procession runs about 500 metres from the town entrance past Yuwaku Inari Shrine to Gyokusen Lake. It is held yearly around October, and recent editions have drawn more than 15,000 people.

Location precision: The procession covers about 500 metres; the pin marks Gyokusen Lake, where it ends with the burning of the ema.

Visitor guidance: Held yearly around October; check dates with the local tourism association.