Granbelm is not the greatest show ever made, nor is it as picturesque as a Shinkai flick, but it was interesting enough for us to reserve time for a pilgrimage to some of its locations. Scouted by @kai881, we set our course to Lake Biwa, which is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. Tucked into Shiga prefecture and a stone’s throw away from Kyoto makes Biwa a wonderful day trip.

So far, the anime has prominently featured four locations from around the lake:

Otsu City Wani Elementary School district

Shirahige Jinja

Mangetsu-ji

Biwako Ohashi Bridge

Sad to say, we weren’t able to visit all of them. If I were traveling alone – which I wasn’t – maybe I would have powered through one more before suffering a heat stroke. In the land of Japan this year, Summer has been especially unforgiving. The Sun was pressing down with temperatures over 97 degrees Fahrenheit, making any prolonged exposure to it as deadly as Granbelm itself.

The location I wanted to visit the most was Shirahige Shrine, which not only is a fine choice for any anime setting, it also features a torii being erected just off the shore of the Lake. A rarity in Japan and quite an item for Instagram purposes.

In Japan, public transportation is your friend. At Kyoto, board a local train on the Kosei Line for Tsuruga, then get off at Omi-Takashima Station. Rent a bicycle at the station’s tourist information office, then peddle south along the lake to reach your destination. During planning, my biggest worry was that we wouldn’t be allowed to cycle all the way out to the shrine, because it is located just out of Takashima City bounds. An alternative would have been an expensive taxi ride, or a fourty-minute walk under the scorching Sun. Fortunately, bike rental was a go. The ride took us past FURUSATO rice paddies, then along an intimidating motor highway, running right next to the lake’s shore. Luckily, there was a sidewalk.

Judging by the number of people visiting at the hottest hours of the day, Shirahige Shrine seems to be quite popular. There’s the water torii of course, but also it’s a head shrine of its kind. I won’t go into it, however you can read about its neat speculative history on Wikipedia. In retrospect, it was one of the prettier shrines that we saw while in Japan.

Let’s talk about the relevant part of the trip. The torii was quite dangerous to get to, because the highway basically runs across the shrine’s grounds, separating its eleven temples from the torii. Aside from that, we found Kuon’s bench from the second episode, from where she was overlooking a conversation between Ernesta and Mangetsu.

Even though I wasn’t completely satisfied with the photos, I was just glad I unlocked the achievement of visiting the place. After that, we headed back to Omi-Takashima Station the same way we came from, hopping on the train back toward Kyoto and getting off at Katata Station.

The second and last model location that we visited was Mangetsu-ji, which appears to be Kuon’s house in the anime. I didn’t know the name of the shrine until I got to the entrance. I just knew we had to visit something called the Ukimidou, which is the floating temple thingy. It was pretty amusing for a second to think Mangetsu got her name from this shrine, then again naming characters after nearby places is not an uncommon practice. Kamishiro Maiku from Onegai Twins got his last name from the train station north of Uminokuchi.

One feature of the Ukimidou, which is not visible from the outside, is that it is enshrining roughly a thousand small Kannon statues. A part of the structure was undergoing renovation, so even though entering it was allowed we had to be a bit careful around the construction rods. That being said, it might have been one of the more chill places to sit down and enjoy a breeze. Not to mention the view of Lake Biwa.

Leaving the shrine’s grounds to the left and taking a walk through a back alley brought us to a park where I was able to get the best angle of Ukimidou. Kuon seems to sit down at the best photo-op spots. The resting area didn’t resemble the drawings in the show too closely, but it’s not that off the mark either. You also have an opportunity to walk right up to the lake’s shore and take photos there.

There weren’t that many other visitors at the time, likely because they gave up in the middle of the one-mile distance from Katata Station. One mile doesn’t sound like a lot, but let me tell you it was a dangerous round trip to undertake. I suspect I got mild heat exhaustion after that ordeal. My suggestion is to spend the night in Katata, then go sightseeing first thing in the morning. The same goes for Shirahige Shrine. Photos taken during sunset or sunrise there look simply magnificent.

That’s it, folks. I did take a few photos of Biwako Ohashi Bridge from afar, alas for better shots I will have to repeat the trip. In a few years time, perhaps. Granbelm is a pretty neat show, it even convinced my SO to follow it, which almost never happens with her and television anime.

Either way, I recommend this pilgrimage. The locations are close to JR infrastructure, and although you will need a good day or two to work through all of them, I’d say the attractions are worth the expense.

Other images:

Takashima City Shirahige Jinja Shirahige Jinja Shirahige Jinja highway Shirahige Jinja torii JR Katata Station Mangetsuji Ukimido Ukimido Kannon figurines Under construction Biwa Ohashi Bridge