Kawagoe at Night
First off, I walked towards the cram school again. On the way I passed by the Kumano Shrine again, so I snapped this shot right outside the shrine, looking towards Crea Mall.
Following the street, I eventually got to the cram school to take the night shots I wanted to take.
Next I turned right and grabbed a shot of hon-kawagoe station just round the corner. It wasn’t as vibrant or well lit as in the anime though. I had to wait for a green man to take this shot in the middle of the road.
Next I went back past the cram school and headed towards Crea Mall. It took me a long time, walking up and down the street a few times until I finally found the shot. It’s not exact but it’s as close as I was gonna get. Also, excuse the crap quality. My camera doesn’t take good night shots.
After that I headed out of the centre of town to the railway bridge that crosses the single-track Kawagoe Line. This is where Akane and Kotarou meet in episode 10 after cram school to talk about Akane leaving to Chiba. I even checked the train times and waited for a train to pass to take a shot, but the result was a lot less dramatic than in the anime.
After that I headed back to the city area to Toki no Kane. This means the “Bell of Time”. It’s a clock tower that’s over 100 years old, and the first iteration of the building (before being destroyed a few times over by fire) is around 400 years old.
This is where Kotarou calls Akane to after Takumi’s failed confession.
After that, I walked a couple blocks away to the spot where Akane cries after getting ditched by Kotarou (what a meanie). It’s a very emotional moment and I swear I didn’t tear up, honest. Definitely didn’t. No way.
Bonus points for the same white car being there 3 years later.
It was getting late, so I headed back to the guest house which was just around the corner. Due to the whole corona virus thing, I was the only one in the dormitory. It was the same case at my previous hostel in Tokyo in Ginza, and there was only one other person at Ueno. Pretty sure she was a hikkikomori.
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