Week after week, SING "YESTERDAY" FOR ME continues to impress as one of the strongest romance-drama anime of recent memory. Above all stands the show’s stellar character acting, but it’s also Doga Kobo’s carefully and meticulously crafted background art — which really nails that somber, weighed down atmosphere — that so perfectly manages to capture all of the four protagonist’s mental states. And also the depicted locations play their part in creating that mood. Because at the end of the day, Rikuo always finds himself wandering down the gloomy and run-down side streets and back alleys of Tokyo. So, in today’s installment of Anime vs. Real Life, check out almost 50 new real-world locations of SING "YESTERDAY" FOR ME.
*All images were taken with GOOGLE STREET VIEW
Let’s start this off with a quick rundown of all of Rikuo’s workplaces; after all, he does get around quite a bit on his journey of self-discovery. Like I already detailed in my first post, the little convenience store where he jobs around at the start of the show is modeled after a 7-Eleven convenience store next to Matsubara Station in the west of Tokyo.
Through his connection with Fukuda, he then scores a side gig at a little art gallery, working with the exhibits and also doing part-time office work. The anime’s Koga gallery was modeled after the gallery Bauhaus, a small art gallery close to Akihabara, which also has a focus on photography in real life. The small gallery is still closed until the end of June due to the Covid-19 situation but will reopen soon with an exhibition on the father of photography, Nicéphore Niépce.
The gallery is only a short 10-minute walk from either Akihabara or Ochanomizu Station.
Pursuing his passion for photography, he then moves on to work at this little photo studio called Intania, which is located in the Shinjuku area. There is not a lot of info available on the place, but it’s also a photo studio in real life.
Haru often picks up Rikuo here at the corner of the studio.
One of the most frequented locations in the show is the Kitazawa River Green Way, which basically all of the main characters use to get home. The 4km-long walkway is one of Tokyo’s many “green roads” that follow the course of old rivers and streams, which in this case was just diverted underground. You can spot those all around Tokyo, usually arranged a bit like a small park, lined with lots of trees and benches.
And in Spring, the Kitazawa River Green Way is also a good cherry blossom viewing spot.
This is still part of the Kitazawa River Green Way.
And you guessed it, the Your Name.-esque stairs here also lead down to the walkway. It gets used a lot in the show, but the long and dark pathway really makes for some nice-looking, gloomy backdrops.
The same can be said about the little pedestrian bridge near Seijogakuen-mae Station, which is where Shinako often passes by on her way home. Shinako, Rikuo, and all the other main characters are just ordinary people, and SING "YESTERDAY" FOR ME is an extremely down-to-earth show, so it’s only natural that most of the showcased locations are simple everyday places that don’t stand out too much. Unfortunately, that also means that there’s not a whole lot to write about them, but I hope it’s still cool to see their real-life counterparts side by side.
Gotokuji Station is one of the main hubs for all the main characters in the show, as they all live in the west of Tokyo, which is also where you’ll find the majority of the show’s locations.
The anime changed the name of the St. Marc Café to Bismarck Café.
You’ll find this little bar, where Rikuo went drinking with his old college classmate Takanori, in one of the side streets near Nishi-Ogikubo Station.
Speaking of Takanori (who is a great wingman by the way), his wedding took place at the Jiyu Gakuen. The complex was designed by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and was opened in 1921 as an all-girls school, but is now being used as a venue for weddings, concerts, and other events.
This probably won’t come as a surprise anymore, but also the art school that Rou attends exists, and is also an art school in real life. The official school account even tweeted about its little cameo.
Yokohama’s Yamashita Park, which is where Haru and Koichi go for their date in Episode 5, is one of the very few tourist spots shown in the anime. The park stretches along Yokohama’s waterfront, and one of its main attractions is the Hikawa Maru, an old Japanese ocean liner turned into a museum, which you can see in the picture below. The same exact spot has also been featured in numerous other anime like Flying Witch, Oreimo, Alice & Zoroku, or Bungo Stray Dogs.
Rou seems to be living close to the Kitazawa Hachiman Shrine, which is the main shrine of the Shimokitazawa Area.
And finally, this little crosswalk might seem relatively mundane, but it’s actually the place where Rikuo and Haru had their fateful first encounter!
In case you still haven’t seen enough Yesterday wo Utatte real-life locations, check out Anime vs. Real Life: The Somber Real-World Locations of SING "YESTERDAY" FOR ME.
Who do you think should end up with whom in the end? Tell us in the comments!
Wilhelm is an anime tourist, who loves to search for and uncover the real-world spots he sees in anime. You can talk with him on Twitter @Surwill or on Instagram wilhelm_donko.
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