The real places that inspired Demon Slayer

Koyoharu Gotouge set her story in a precise Japan, that of the early Taisho era, in the 1910s. The country is modernising at great speed: electricity lights up the cities, trains link the provinces, Western suits mix with kimonos. Meanwhile, in the mountains, villages live as they did in the previous century. Demon Slayer constantly plays on this contrast, and its places show it.

Some are invented, others existed or still exist. This article presents the real places that inspired the series, then those fans visit today, with a few tips for a trip to Japan. Our article on the Taisho era, the period of the series tells about this moment in Japanese history, and our page on the Demon Slayer universe covers the whole series.

Does Demon Slayer take place in real places?

The series mixes both. The main settings of the action are often invented: Mount Sagiri, where Tanjiro trains with Urokodaki, Mount Fujikasane of the Final Selection, Mount Natagumo of the spider demons, the hidden Swordsmith Village, Muzan’s Infinity Castle. They have no address, but they draw on very Japanese landscapes: forest-covered mountains, mists, villages clinging to the slopes.

Other places are real and named. Tokyo, and in particular the Asakusa district. Yoshiwara, the Entertainment District of season 2. The railway lines on which the Mugen Train runs. And the Kamado home itself: according to information given in the series’ first fanbook, Tanjiro comes from Mount Kumotori, in western Tokyo. The table sums up the main ones.

Asakusa, the modern city of the Taisho era

Asakusa is the first major real place in the series. Tanjiro arrives there in the middle of the night, and discovers what he has never seen: streets full of people, shop signs, trams, and above all the electric light that brightens the night. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Asakusa is Tokyo’s great entertainment district, with its theatres, its attractions and its cinemas. Japan’s first permanent cinema opened there in 1903.

The district then had a famous tower, the Ryounkaku, twelve storeys high, one of the first buildings in Japan equipped with an electric lift. It was destroyed by the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. The streets of the anime, with their lanterns, signs and trams, recall that period. It is there that Tanjiro crosses paths with Muzan, blended into the crowd, and meets Tamayo and Yushiro.

Today, Asakusa remains one of the most visited districts of Tokyo. Senso-ji temple, its great gate with the red lantern and the shopping street leading to it keep an old-world atmosphere, and many visitors stroll there in rented kimonos. Our article on the Asakusa arc and the meeting with Muzan tells of these episodes, and our page on Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki presents the demon hiding there.

Yoshiwara, the pleasure district

The Entertainment District of season 2 is a real place: Yoshiwara, Tokyo’s licensed quarter. It was created at the beginning of the seventeenth century, then moved after the great fire of 1657 near Asakusa, where it remained until the middle of the twentieth century. It is a world closed off by walls and gates, with its courtesan houses, its lantern-lit streets and its oiran, the high-ranking courtesans with spectacular hairstyles and processions on tall clogs.

The series shows both its glittering façade and its dark underside: behind the silk kimonos, women sold as children, debts impossible to repay, children born and abandoned in the district, like Daki and Gyutaro. The district closed in 1958, with the law banning prostitution in Japan. Almost nothing remains of it today, apart from the names of a few streets, a small shrine and a willow planted where the old entrance stood, at which visitors were said to look back one last time as they left.

It is a place to visit with respect, for its history rather than for the series. Our article on the Entertainment District arc tells of these episodes, and our Tengen Uzui Demon Slayer collection gathers the items of the Sound Hashira.

Mount Kumotori, Tanjiro’s mountain

The Kamado home is an isolated charcoal seller’s house in the mountains, far from the city. According to the first fanbook, it stands on Mount Kumotori, in the Okutama area, west of Tokyo. At 2,017 metres, it is the highest peak in Tokyo prefecture, on the border with Saitama and Yamanashi, covered with forests and often snowy in winter.

The family trade, making charcoal, was common in these mountains at the beginning of the twentieth century: charcoal heated the city’s homes and kitchens, and charcoal-selling families came down to sell it, like Tanjiro in the first episode. Mount Kumotori is climbed today as a hike, most often over two days, with a night in a mountain hut. Our article on the Kamado family tells of Tanjiro’s life before the tragedy.

For a mountain hike, bring good shoes, water and sun protection, as the climb is long and exposed in places. The landscape of cedar forests and ridges opening onto the Tokyo plain gives a good idea of what Tanjiro saw as he came down to sell his charcoal, on a clear day and without the snow of the first episode.

Ittoseki, the split rock of Nara

The rock Tanjiro must cut to finish his training brings to mind a real place: Ittoseki, the “single-stroke rock”, near the village of Yagyu, in Nara prefecture. It is a huge block of granite split in two by a perfectly straight line, as if cut clean. Legend has it that Yagyu Sekishusai, a sixteenth-century sword master, split it while believing he was fighting a tengu, a mountain spirit with a long red nose.

The parallel with the series struck fans: a rock split by a sword, and a tengu, like the red mask worn by Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro’s master. The rock has become a very popular place to visit since the success of Demon Slayer. It stands near the Amanoiwatate shrine, in the middle of a forest. Our article on Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro’s master tells of the training.

The Kamado shrine in Dazaifu

The Kamado shrine, in Dazaifu, in Fukuoka prefecture, has no direct link with the series apart from its name, the same as that of Tanjiro’s family. It stands at the foot of Mount Homan, and it is known for wishes for encounters and good relationships. As Fukuoka is also the author’s home prefecture, the connection was enough to make it a place fans visit.

Visitors have come in large numbers since the success of the series. The shrine is close to Dazaifu Tenmangu, one of the most famous on the island of Kyushu, dedicated to a ninth-century scholar, which makes it possible to see both in the same day. Our article on Koyoharu Gotouge, the author tells her journey.

The giant wisteria of Ashikaga and Kawachi

In Demon Slayer, demons cannot stand wisteria. Mount Fujikasane, where the Final Selection takes place, is surrounded by wisteria in bloom all year round to keep them trapped there, and the wisteria houses take in wounded demon slayers. In Japan, wisteria is one of the most loved flowers, and two gardens have become places fans visit.

Ashikaga Flower Park, in Tochigi prefecture, is home to a giant wisteria more than a hundred years old, whose clusters form a purple ceiling of several hundred square metres. The Kawachi Fujien garden, in Kitakyushu, is famous for its tunnels of wisteria in every colour. Both bloom from late April to early May, and the crowds are very dense at the height of flowering. Our article on the wisteria houses explains the role of the flower in the series.

The Mugen Train and steam locomotives

The Mugen Train is pulled by a steam locomotive that looks a lot like those of the 8620 class, built in Japan from 1914 to 1929, in the middle of the Taisho era. These engines pulled passenger trains across the whole network for decades. A few have been preserved, and one of them long pulled a tourist train on the island of Kyushu.

For fans, it is a chance to see the period of the series up close: the platforms, the wooden carriages, the smoke of the locomotive. Japan’s railway museums display several locomotives from this period. Our article on the Mugen Train, film or series helps you choose the version of the arc, and our page tracing all the Demon Slayer arcs puts each place back into the story.

The hot springs and the dances of Takachiho

The hidden Swordsmith Village is built around hot springs, where Tanjiro crosses paths with Mitsuri and Genya. The place is invented, but it recalls Japan’s mountain spa villages. Ginzan Onsen, in Yamagata prefecture, gives an idea: its multi-storey wooden inns, most of them built in the Taisho era, line a river lit with lanterns in the evening.

The Dance of the Fire God, which Tanjiro’s father performs every New Year, recalls kagura, the sacred dances offered to the deities in shrines. In Takachiho, in Miyazaki prefecture, villages still dance kagura all night, from November to February, in homes and shrine halls. A short version is performed every evening for visitors. Our article on the Dance of the Fire God tells about the dance in the series.

Preparing a trip in the footsteps of the series

These places are scattered all over Japan. Asakusa, Yoshiwara and Mount Kumotori are around Tokyo, Ittoseki near Nara, the Kamado shrine and Kawachi Fujien on the island of Kyushu, along with Takachiho. A trip that aims to see everything therefore takes time and trains. Choose the season according to what you want: the wisteria blooms at the end of April, the Takachiho kagura are danced in winter, the Mount Kumotori hike is best done in summer or autumn.

Be discreet in shrines, which are places of worship before being places for photos, and find out about the rules of each site. For the trip itself, a suitcase cover in the series’ colours helps you spot your luggage on airport carousels and on trains. Our guide to the Demon Slayer suitcase cover helps you choose the size, and our Demon Slayer suitcase covers, our Demon Slayer backpacks and our Demon Slayer caps go with you on your journey.

For those who are not travelling, the series can also be visited through its items: the prints, the waves and the mountain landscapes can be found on posters and tapestries. Our page on Tanjiro Kamado, the hero of the series tells of the hero’s journey, from his mountain to the Infinity Castle.