Where Does Death Note Take Place? Real-Life Locations
Location Guide · 3 min read
Published September 24, 2026
Death Note takes place mostly in Shibuya and Chiyoda, Tokyo, the crossing where Light Yagami first appears and the government district where the task force works the case. One scene breaks east to Kyoto. We have verified 24 real locations from the anime (DEATH NOTE), ten of them in Shibuya alone.
Where does Death Note take place?
The anime, produced by Madhouse, opens and keeps returning to Shibuya, Tokyo's crossing and station district. Our own map of confirmed sites puts Shibuya Scramble Crossing itself in both episode 1 and episode 25, the pedestrian crossing the anime uses to put Light in a crowd. Chiyoda, the ward that holds the national government offices, carries the investigation side of the story: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building appears twice in episode 6, and Nippon Budokan is confirmed for episode 9. Kyoto gets one scene, at the Kyoto District Public Prosecutors Office in episode 32, the story's one confirmed stop outside the capital.
Shibuya: the crossing, Harajuku and the university edge
Shibuya carries ten of the 24 confirmed locations, the largest single cluster. Beyond the crossing and Hachiko Square, the anime uses the Takeshita Street entrance arch on the Harajuku Station side in episode 11, and Aoyama Gakuin University's Aoyama campus in episode 13. Smaller street-level spots round it out: Maison de Musee Omotesando, the MO・MON storefront, Mizuho Bank's Shibuya Central branch, a QB House barbershop near Shinjuku's south exit, and the Tamagawa Josui Greenway. None of this needs a car. Shibuya Station puts a visitor within walking distance of every spot on this list.
Chiyoda: the ministries and Kasumigaseki
Chiyoda holds nine confirmed locations, and almost all of them sit in or near Kasumigaseki, the block of national ministries a short walk from Shibuya's train lines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears in episode 6, alongside Kasumigaseki-zaka, the slope that runs past it. The National Public Safety Commission (episode 5), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (episode 7), and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry building known locally as Keizaisangyo-sho (also episode 7) all sit within the same government district. Nippon Budokan, the arena better known for concerts and martial arts, and the Imperial Hotel Tokyo round out the ward's cluster. A reader walking Kasumigaseki sees most of Chiyoda's confirmed spots on one loop.
Is the University of Tokyo in Death Note a real campus?
Yes. Our catalog matches three scenes, in episodes 9, 10 and 15, directly to the University of Tokyo's Hongo campus in Bunkyo ward, including its main gate. Bunkyo is the smallest confirmed cluster in the anime, three locations against Shibuya's ten, but it is a real, visitable campus rather than an invented set.
The one scene in Kyoto
Kyoto appears once, at the Kyoto District Public Prosecutors Office in episode 32. It is the only confirmed location outside the Tokyo area in the entire series, which is why this guide names Kyoto alongside Tokyo in its title even though the story otherwise stays in the capital.
Which studio animated Death Note?
Madhouse animated Death Note, 37 episodes that premiered 4 October 2006 and ended 27 June 2007. The manga it adapts, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2003 and finished in May 2006, both English and Japanese Wikipedia agree on that window. The anime's own broadcast record puts its 20th anniversary at 4 October 2026, a day later than the date circulating in some listings; confirm the exact day against a second source before treating it as fixed.
Keep exploring
- Where Does Jujutsu Kaisen Take Place? Another Shibuya-anchored series, for a second walk through the same ward.
- Open the anime map. Every verified location in Japan, searchable by title.