Suwako
Have you ever watched the anime movie “Your Name.”? Released in 2016, “Your Name” became extremely popular, making $3.6 million in worldwide box office sales. This is the highest worldwide grossing movie for Japanese animated films and Japanese films.
The above picture is of Suwako (Suwa lake) in Nagano Prefecture, the stage of the movie. Suwako is the hometown of Shinkai, director of this movie. The photo is taken from Tateishi Koen, a spot is known as one of the superb views in Japan that recognizes “The top 100 sunset points in Shinshu”, ‘’The top 3 new Japan night view・the top 100 Japan’s night view” and “The hill where you can see the hometown in Shinshu”. You can access Tateishi Koen by a short taxi from Kamisuwa Station.
Suwa Taisha
Near Suwa Lake is Suwa Taisya (Suwa grand shrine), the head shrine of more than 1 million Suwa Shrines and one of the oldest shrines in Japan. Suwa Taisha has 4 shrines Kamisha-Honmiya (main Shrine), Kamisha-Maemiya (former Shrine), Shimosha-Akimiya (Fall Shrine) and Shimosha-Harumiya (Spring Shrine). The architecture on Suwa Shrine is very unique. Typically, shrines have Honden (Main Hall) that keeps the body of the god. Suwa Taisha worships the trees and mountain, therefore they do not have the typical Honden. It’s called Suwa-dukuri and designated as an important cultural property of Japan.