Is This Your Name.'s Lake? No. Go Anyway

What you're looking at

Itomori, the lakeside town in Your Name. (2016), is fictional, and director Makoto Shinkai has named the Hida region as his image basis. But after the film came out, the view of Lake Suwa from Tateishi Park, a small park on the hillside above Kami-Suwa, became a talking point for how much it looks like Itomori's lake. We list it as a lookalike, not a confirmed model.

It's lovely on its own terms. The park has a lookout and a playground, and its night view over the lake is listed among Japan's 100 best.

Getting there

From Shinjuku, most JR Limited Express Azusa trains stop at Kami-Suwa, between about 2 hours 20 minutes and 3 hours away. The park sits on the hill above town; check a map for the walk, or take a taxi.

Before you go

• It's a neighborhood park. Kids play here, and people live on the slope below. Keep the evening crowd friendly and quiet.
• Come for dusk. That's when the view does its best impression.
• In very cold winters, look for omiwatari, the ridges that form when the lake ice cracks and pushes up.

Also nearby

• Hida-Furukawa, the film's documented countryside stop, is a long train trip away. See our guide.