Anohana Made Chichibu a Pilgrimage Town, and the Fans Still Show Up With Trash Bags

What you're looking at

Chichibu's bridges are all over the key visuals of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011). The city itself calls the 1931 Old Chichibu Bridge a seichi spot, and the staircase under the newer bridge beside it is the one on the Anohana film poster.

The same team came back to Chichibu for The Anthem of the Heart (2015) and Her Blue Sky (2019), so fans treat the city's spots as a trilogy.

Getting there

Seibu limited express trains run from Ikebukuro to Seibu-Chichibu in about 80 minutes. The Chichibu Railway's Chichibu Station is the other gateway. There's no official walking time to the bridge, so check a map app, or take a taxi from the station.

Before you go

• There's no parking and there are no toilets at the Old Chichibu Bridge. Plan for both.
• Clean-ups are a tradition. Fans and the city hold an annual "Seichi Chichibu" clean-up around the bridge; this year's was on June 7.
• The temples are extra busy in 2026. It's the once-every-12-years opening of the Kannon images at Chichibu's 34 pilgrimage temples (March 18 to November 30), and weekends bring queues for goshuin.

The 15th anniversary

Anohana turned 15 in 2026, and the city is marking it with events through the autumn, including a steam train, "SL Anohana," scheduled for November 7. At the Ryusei Festival at Muku Shrine, a group called the Super Peace Busters has offered an Anohana rocket since 2011; this year's launch was scheduled for October 11. Dates can move, so check Chichibu City's anime page before you go.

Also nearby

• Jorinji, Chichibu pilgrimage temple No. 17, is an Anohana spot that sells Anohana ema. It's about 16 minutes on foot from Chichibu Station.
• Daijiji, temple No. 10 in Yokoze, belongs to The Anthem of the Heart.
• Chichibu Muse Park's Tabidachi no Oka looks out over the city and Mt. Buko, and appears in Her Blue Sky.