Manga by Nobuhiro Watsuki set in Meiji-era Japan (1878). Kenshin Himura, a former Bakumatsu assassin, wanders as a rōnin trying to atone for his past. The map gathers the real settings of the 1996 anime (mostly in Kyoto), the Toba-Fushimi battlefield where Kenshin leaves his past behind, and the shooting locations of the live-action films.
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Togetsukyō Bridge (Arashiyama) — the "1/2" openinganime (1996)
location
The Arashiyama bridge is the title backdrop of the second opening ("1/2") of the 1996 anime, which is why many fans associate it straight away with the series.
Source & evidence
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Nanzen-ji (Sanmon gate and Suirokaku aqueduct) — ending 5anime (1996)
location
The great Sanmon gate and the brick Suirokaku aqueduct, built to carry Lake Biwa water to Kyoto, appear in the fifth ending of the 1996 anime ("It's gonna rain!" by Bonnie Pink).
Source & evidence
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Otagi Nenbutsu-ji — the ending 5 statuesanime (1996)
location
This out-of-the-way temple in western Kyoto, with some 1,200 stone statues of the Buddha's disciples (rakan), appears in the fifth ending of the 1996 anime and draws a growing number of foreign fans.
Source & evidence
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Toba-Fushimi — where Kenshin stops being BattōsaiKenshin's past
location
In the story, after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi (January 1868), which began the Boshin War, Kenshin leaves the Restoration side and receives the reverse-blade sword with which he begins his life as a wanderer. The pin marks the monument to the start of the battle.
Source & evidence
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Mii-dera (Onjō-ji) — the film's most-used templelive-action film
location
The temple that appears most in the 2012 film: its bamboo grove was used for the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, and the Hōju-in sub-temple stands in for the Kamiya dojo.
Source & evidence
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Hachiman-bori Canal (Ōmihachiman) — Kenshin by boatlive-action film
location
The Edo-period canal, lined with storehouses and merchant houses, is where Kenshin travels by boat in the 2012 film.
Source & evidence
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Zuishin-in (Yamashina) — the earthen wall and the bamboolive-action film
location
In the 2012 film, the crime scene the police pin on Kenshin was shot by its earthen wall, and in its bamboo grove Kaoru finds Kenshin after a flashback to the murder.
Source & evidence
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Ninna-ji — Kenshin meets Kaorulive-action film
location
In the 2012 film, the Tokyo spot where Kenshin first meets Kaoru was shot between the five-storey pagoda and a teahouse of this World Heritage temple.
Source & evidence
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Ryūkoku University (Honkan) — the Navy Ministrylive-action film
location
The main building of the Ōmiya campus, dating from 1879 and an Important Cultural Property, stands in for the Navy Ministry where Yamagata Aritomo gives his speech in the 2012 film.
Source & evidence
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Jinpūkaku (Tottori) — Kanryū's mansionlive-action film
location
This 1907 French Renaissance-style mansion, an Important Cultural Property, is the residence of the trafficker Takeda Kanryū in the 2012 film.
Source & evidence
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Anraku-ritsu-in (Ōtsu) — the duel with Udō Jin-elive-action film
location
This temple on Mount Hiei, in Ōtsu, is where Kenshin fights Udō Jin-e in the 2012 film.
Source & evidence
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Kōnoike Shinden Kaisho — the Tokyo police stationlive-action film
location
The gate of this Edo-period farmland administration office, a Historic Site and Important Cultural Property, stands in for the Tokyo Fourth Police Station in the 2012 film.
Source & evidence
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Kurashiki-kan (Kurashiki) — the duel with Sanosukelive-action film
location
Beside this Western-style wooden building in Kurashiki's historic quarter is the bridge where Kenshin and Sanosuke fight in the 2012 film.
Source & evidence
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Wakayama Farm (Utsunomiya) — training with Hikolive-action film
location
The bamboo forest where Kenshin trains with his master Hiko Seijūrō in "Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends" (2014) is not in Kyoto but on this farm in Tochigi.
Source & evidence
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