Kyoto Anime Pilgrimage Guide: Spots by Series and a 2-Day Route
Info checked 2026-10-25 · 50 spots · Detective Conan · K-On! · Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba · Jujutsu Kaisen · Sound! Euphonium
Photo: KeraKera55 / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Of the 50 anime pilgrimage spots in Kyoto (京都), 19 are settings from the movie Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital (2003), while K-On! appears in everyday scenes of Sakyo Ward such as Demachi and Shugakuin. Uji (宇治), a train ride south of Kyoto Station, has 22 spots from Sound! Euphonium. Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen get one spot each: the Arashiyama bamboo grove, known as the model for a training scene, and Kyoto Tower. The city spots are spread widely, so we recommend splitting them over two days and adding half a day for Uji.
At a glance
- Series: Detective Conan (the movie Crossroad in the Ancient Capital, plus some from The Crimson Love Letter), K-On!, Sound! Euphonium, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen
- Day 1: Kyoto Station → Shijo → (subway) Keage and Nanzen-ji → Ninenzaka → Kiyomizu-dera → Gojo Ohashi Bridge. Leaving Kyoto Station around 9 a.m. is recommended. You follow the city scenes of Crossroad in the Ancient Capital on foot
- Day 2: Demachiyanagi and Shimogamo Shrine → Eizan Electric Railway (叡山電車) to Kurama → over the mountain to Kifune → Shugakuin → Matsugasaki. This covers the climax of Crossroad in the Ancient Capital and K-On!'s school-commute scenery
- With another half day: go to Uji (Sound! Euphonium) on the JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station and walk around. Arashiyama (Togetsukyo Bridge, bamboo grove), Kitano Tenmangu and Ichijo Modoribashi, and Fushimi Inari are also separate trips
- Budget (per person): the basics are ¥880 in single Eizan tickets on day 2 plus the ¥500 Kurama-dera entry fee, with subway and bus fares and Kiyomizu-dera admission on top. On the day you go to Uji, add the JR Nara Line round trip
- How this was checked: official fare tables and maps (as of October 2026)
Getting there
- From Tokyo, the Tokaido Shinkansen takes about 2 hours 15 minutes to Kyoto Station; from Osaka, the JR Special Rapid takes about 30 minutes
- Demachiyanagi Station, the starting point for day 2, is the terminus of the Keihan Line and about a 20-minute walk east of Imadegawa Station on the Karasuma subway line
Spots by area
Kyoto Station (Conan, K-On!, Euphonium, Jujutsu Kaisen)
1
2 · 20 min walk
3 · 5 min walk
The Karasuma exit, where Conan and his friends arrive in Kyoto, and Kyoto Tower from the opening sit right in front of the station. Umekoji Park, where Heiji fights the culprit with a wooden sword, is about a 20-minute walk west of the station. The grand staircase on the 4th floor of the station building is where the Kitauji High School band holds its "station building concert" in Sound! Euphonium Season 2, Episode 7.
Shijo and Sanjo (Conan)
4
5 · 13 min walk
6 · 7 min walk
7 · 8 min walk
8 · 9 min walk
This is the stretch where Heiji and Conan visit places linked to Yoshitsune. Start at Gojo Tenjingu Shrine, about a 23-minute walk north of Kyoto Station's Karasuma exit, then head north to Bukko-ji Temple, the Shijo-Karasuma intersection, Rokkaku-do (六角堂) and the Benkei Stone, each about 10 minutes apart on foot. The "Gyokuryu-ji ruins" stone marker outside Bukko-ji's gate was invented for the film and does not actually exist.
Higashiyama and Gojo Ohashi Bridge (Conan, Euphonium)
9
10 · 17 min walk
11 · 6 min walk
12
13 · 10 min walk
14
From Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station near the Benkei Stone, take the Tozai subway line. Get off two stops later at Higashiyama Station and ROHM Theatre Kyoto, the Kansai competition venue in the Sound! Euphonium movie (Our Promise: A Brand New Day), is about a 10-minute walk; from there it's about another 16 minutes on foot to the Keage Incline. To go straight there, ride three stops to Keage Station (蹴上駅). There you find the Keage Incline, where Heiji starts talking about his first love, and Nanzen-ji's Sanmon Gate just to the north. Walk south from here and climb Ninenzaka (二寧坂) to Kiyomizu-dera, which Ran, Sonoko and Kazuha visit, then go down Gojozaka and end day 1 at Gojo Ohashi Bridge (五条大橋), where the two first meet.
Demachi (K-On!)
15
16 · 12 min walk
Day 2 starts at the stepping stones across the Kamo River in front of Demachiyanagi Station. Shimogamo Shrine (下鴨神社), from the New Year's visit scene, is an 11-minute walk away; then return to the station and board the Eizan line.
Kurama and Kifune (Conan)
17
18 · 16 min walk
19 · 7 min walk
20 · 1 min walk
Take the Eizan line from Demachiyanagi to Kurama Station (鞍馬駅), then cross the mountain trail through the Kurama-dera grounds. Pass Sojogatani Fudo-do, where Heiji is shot with an arrow, and descend through the West Gate to Kifune; the lantern-lined stone steps of Kifune Shrine are the composition of the movie poster. The trail has long climbs and takes around an hour and a half, and it may be closed after heavy rain, so check Kurama-dera's notices before you set out. From Kifune Shrine, go down to Eizan's Kibuneguchi Station by bus or on foot.
Shugakuin and Matsugasaki (K-On!, Euphonium)
21
22 · 20 min walk
23 · 18 min walk
From Kibuneguchi Station, ride the Eizan line down to Shugakuin Station to see the station from K-On!'s commute scenes. Matsugasaki Station on the Karasuma subway line is about a 17-minute walk west, and from there the subway takes you back to Kyoto Station. If you have time, get off one stop later at Kitayama Station: Kyoto Concert Hall, the Kyoto Prefecture competition venue in Sound! Euphonium Season 1, Episode 13, is about a 3-minute walk away.
Arashiyama (K-On!, Conan, Demon Slayer)
24
25 · 14 min walk
Togetsukyo Bridge (渡月橋) appears in K-On!'s Kyoto sightseeing scenes and in The Crimson Love Letter, and the bamboo grove path, known as the model for a Demon Slayer training scene, is about a 19-minute walk from the bridge.
Kitano and Ichijo (K-On!, Conan)
26
27
From Ichijo Modoribashi Bridge (一条戻橋), where Haibara reads the information board, Kitano Tenmangu Shrine is about a 30-minute walk west.
Fushimi Inari (Conan)
28
These are the Senbon Torii that close out the end credits of Crossroad in the Ancient Capital. From Kyoto Station it is two stops on the JR Nara Line to Inari Station. The same line runs south to Uji, so you can stop here on the morning of your Uji trip.
Uji (Sound! Euphonium)
29
30 · 8 min walk
31 · 5 min walk
32 · 4 min walk
33 · 7 min walk
34 · 4 min walk
35 · 4 min walk
36 · 2 min walk
37 · 4 min walk
38 · 7 min walk
39 · 4 min walk
40 · 3 min walk
41 · 9 min walk
42 · 1 min walk
Take the JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station and get off at Uji Station (宇治駅). The station front is the meeting spot on the day of the Agata Festival. Walk southeast past Agata Shrine (縣神社), where the festival takes place, and along Byodoin Omotesando to the west end of Uji Bridge (宇治橋). This is the bridge Kumiko runs across in tears in Season 1, Episode 12, shouting that she wants to get better.
Don't cross the bridge. Follow the river south to Kumiko's Bench from Season 1, Episode 1, then cross the river islands over the red Kisen and Asagiri bridges to Uji Shrine. Asagiri Bridge is where Reina tells Kumiko she has failed as club president in Season 3, Episode 9. Take a quick look at Kanryu Bridge upstream, come back, and follow the Sawarabi Path past Ujigami Shrine (宇治上神社) to the Mt. Daikichi trail. The climb leads to the lookout where Reina says she wants to be special in Season 1, Episode 8. There are no streetlights, so go before dark.
Come down and finish at the Ujibashi-Higashizume intersection, where Kumiko and Reina part ways after school, and Keihan Uji Station (京阪宇治駅). The walk is about 6 km, around three hours with photo stops. To get back to Kyoto Station, cross the bridge and walk to JR Uji Station. On the Keihan line, change at Chushojima for Gion-Shijo and Sanjo in the city.
Beyond central Uji (Sound! Euphonium)
43 · 10 min walk
44 · 9 min walk
45
46 · 17 min walk
47
48 · 6 min walk
49 · 4 min walk
50
Ride the Keihan Uji Line north from Keihan Uji Station and you pass the stations from the commute scenes. The riverbank under the water pipe bridge, about 10 minutes on foot from Mimurodo Station one stop up, is where Asuka plays the euphonium for Kumiko in Season 2, Episode 9. From there it's about a 26-minute walk to Obaku Station (黄檗駅).
About 14 minutes west of Obaku Station is Kohata Shrine, Sari's home in Season 3. The hill east of the station is around Todo High School, the model for Kitauji High. Below the school, in the residential area, are the Hadoyama Green Space lookout and the No.3 Children's Park where club members talk through their worries. It's a 15–25 minute uphill walk from the station. Finally, head back by the Tozai subway line or the JR Nara Line from Rokujizo Station, where Kumiko, Hazuki and Midori first talk in Season 1, Episode 1. With all the hills, this stretch alone takes half a day.
Taiyogaoka, the Sunrise Festival venue, and Uji City Culture Center, from the audition scenes, are south of Uji Station and need a separate trip by bus or on foot.
Passes and crowds
On the day 2 route, single Eizan tickets (Demachiyanagi → Kurama ¥470, Kibuneguchi → Shugakuin ¥410) total ¥880, which is ¥1,220 cheaper than the Subway & Eiden Kurama-Kibune One-Day Ticket (地下鉄＆えいでん 鞍馬・貴船日帰りきっぷ, ¥2,100). Single tickets look likely to stay cheaper even with two extra subway rides, so consider the pass only if you will ride the Eizan line up and down several times that day.
- Subway and bus one-day pass: ¥1,100. It covers all city bus and subway lines, so it suits a day spent getting around Arashiyama and Kitano by bus. It cannot be used on the Eizan line (Kurama and Kifune)
- Times to avoid: Kiyomizu-dera, Ninenzaka, Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama are very crowded from 10:00 to 16:00. Go early in the morning (Kiyomizu-dera opens at 6:00) or around dusk. On weekends in the November autumn-leaf season, there are lines for the Eizan trains to Kurama and Kifune too
Etiquette
FAQ
Q. How much does it cost in total?
The basics are ¥880 for the Eizan line on day 2 and the ¥500 Kurama-dera entry fee. On day 1, if you walk, the only cost is Kiyomizu-dera admission. On a day when you get around Arashiyama and Kitano by bus, add the ¥1,100 subway and bus one-day pass. On the day you go to Uji, add the JR Nara Line round trip; Uji itself can be covered on foot.
Q. I only want to see Conan's Crossroad in the Ancient Capital.
Day 1 (Kyoto Station, Shijo, Higashiyama, Gojo Ohashi Bridge) plus Kurama and Kifune on day 2 is all you need. Drop the K-On! spots at Demachi, Shugakuin and Matsugasaki, and day 2 shrinks to half a day.
Q. I only want to see Sound! Euphonium.
Take the JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station to Uji and walk the Uji area: that's half a day. To include the commute-scene stations and the school model, add the "Beyond central Uji" section and plan a full day. The Kyoto Station staircase, ROHM Theatre Kyoto and Kyoto Concert Hall are in the city, so fit them into another day's route.
Q. What if I only have one day?
Walk Kyoto Station → Shijo → Gojo Ohashi Bridge → Kiyomizu-dera in that order. Leaving out Umekoji Park, that covers nine Conan spots with about two hours of walking.