Shingashi River 2
After stopping off in the middle of town to get some lunch, I headed back up north to the Hikawa Shrine. But after poking around a bit I realised it would be best if I came at dark to get better comparison shots. So I followed a road round the back of the shrine which took me straight to the most iconic bridge of the anime. It’s shown several times with cherry blossom in full bloom, and without too. During episode 10, the day after the festival, Akane and Kotarou clear up their misunderstandings here. Again, didn’t tear up I swear.
I followed the river along the right bank to a spot labelled “hagu~” on my map. Yeah you can guess why. Wholesome moment. It’s after they meet at the dam to give each other Christmas presents. And have a smooch.
Next stop was the dam. This is another spot where a few of the main characters meet throughout the season. It’s almost 80 years old. During cherry blossom season the blossoms create a nice contrast against the rustic nature of the bridge. But, as you can probably already tell, the blossoms aren’t blooming. I’m a couple of weeks too early. I’ll be in Minobu to catch the start of the Sakura Season (yuru camp wink wink).
The next bridge along is where we see Akane and Kotarou on their walk together in episode 11.
This one was harder than usual to find because the bushes on the left of the second shot don’t exist anymore, due to more buildings being built.
And at the next bridge along, is a bench the two sit on at the start of the last episode. Yeah I couldn’t get a cap without the text so deal with it.
Following the river, I get to the pavilion. This is another meeting spot throughout the season, and it’s where Akane and Kotarou adorably give each other Christmas presents during their walk in episode 11. There are some more shots from inside the pavilion in episode 5, but I had another case of many toddlers running around, and an old dude in the exact spot Akane was supposed to be sat. So you’ll have to make do with these far-away shots.
And last but not least, Takazawa bridge, the one I said I missed by accident on my first walk by the river. Only one shot to take though, the rest are at night, which I’ll cover later. And yeah, the bank has been completely replaced with concrete. Like I said before, I think it looks veeeery ugly.
And that concluded the location hunting for that day. I headed into town for dinner, where I had this ramen that had soup which was basically gravy. It was ridiculously delicious.
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