Sailor Moon: Azabu-Jūban and the Hikawa Shrine

The story is set in the real Azabu-Jūban district of Minato ward, where Takeuchi once lived. The shopping street is Usagi's home turf and the main setting across the series; in the older anime it appears as the Jūban-chō shopping street. Apart from the fantasy elements, most places in the story are modelled on real facilities around here. The district has long been known for a downtown atmosphere amid the upscale residential streets of Azabu.

Location precision: The story uses the whole shopping district as a setting; the pin marks the shopping street area, not one shop.

Visitor guidance: Walk the shopping street from Azabu-Jūban station.

A real park in Azabu-Jūban that proves fairly important across the series: characters use it as a meeting spot and for teleporting. In volume 2 of the manga it is the setting of a love scene between Usagi and Mamoru, not a fight. Today the Metropolitan Expressway's Ichinohashi Junction runs overhead and the Furukawa river below.

Visitor guidance: A public park a short walk from the shopping street.

In the story, the Hikawa Shrine is where the priest is Rei Hino's grandfather. For the manga, the model is the Hikawa Shrine in Moto-Azabu. The real shrine, which tradition dates to 942, appeared in the 1990s anime under the story's name for it, and fans are said to have crowded in while the series aired. The story spells its shrine 火川, the real one 氷川, but both are read Hikawa.

Location precision: The story's shrine is fictional; the pin marks the real shrine that served as the manga's model.

Visitor guidance: An active shrine; visit quietly and respectfully.

The older anime used a different real model for Rei's shrine, the Akasaka Hikawa Shrine. There it replaced the command room as the Sailor Guardians' gathering place, used for strategy meetings, study sessions and teleporting. The real shrine was moved to its present site in 1730 on the order of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune. The present shrine buildings date from that move and are designated Tokyo metropolitan cultural property.

Location precision: The story's shrine is fictional; the pin marks the real shrine that served as the older anime's model.

Visitor guidance: An active shrine in Akasaka; visit quietly and respectfully.

Tokyo Tower, the TV broadcasting tower in Shiba Park, also stars in the manga and in Sailor Moon Crystal. There the villains used it to collect the large amounts of energy stolen from people. The real tower is officially 333 metres tall, the tallest landmark in this corner of Minato ward, and it is easy to spot from the streets around Azabu-Jūban.

Visitor guidance: Open to visitors in Shiba Park, Minato.