Where Does mono Take Place? Real Locations
Location Guide · 5 min read
Published October 8, 2026
mono takes place in Kofu, Yamanashi, the prefectural capital where the Cinephoto Club spends most of its time chasing a missing camera. We have verified 181 real locations across 37 towns and cities, the largest single-title inventory on this site. Most of the map sits in Yamanashi and neighboring Nagano, with smaller clusters reaching into Gifu, Shizuoka, Toyama, Kyoto, Mie, and even Hokkaido.
Kofu: the club's home turf
Twenty-six confirmed spots sit in Kofu, the biggest single cluster on the map. Kofu Station anchors the area, with the ruins of Kofu Castle (Maizuru Castle Park) a short walk north, including the Tenshodai keep base and the old Tetsumon gate. The statue of Takeda Shingen outside the station's north exit doubles as a real photo checkpoint: it is the start and finish line for the manga's fictional "Yamanashi Manpuku Photo Rally." The Yamanashi Prefectural Library, the Yamanashi Prefectural Science Museum, and its rooftop observation deck round out the cluster, the last of which the club uses for a sunset timelapse shoot.
Minobu: a temple town built for a food walk
Minobu carries 25 confirmed spots, nearly matching Kofu, and almost all of it clusters around two things: Lake Motosu and the pilgrim town at the foot of Mount Minobu. Near the lake, our catalog confirms Motosuko Lodge and Motosuko Observation Park. Up at the mountain, the monzenmachi shopping street leads to Kuon-ji, the temple whose Sanmon gate anchors the whole town, and to a run of small shops, inns, and noodle counters that the anime turns into a walking food tour. Minobu is also the largest single cluster in Laid-Back Camp, the earlier manga Afro set in the same lake country, so the two maps overlap here more than anywhere else.
Hokuto and the Kiyosato highlands
Nineteen confirmed spots sit in Hokuto, north of Kofu on the way to the Yatsugatake mountains. Kiyosato Station is the hub, with Moegi Village and its forest merry-go-round nearby, Sun Meadows Kiyosato running as a summer terrace in the off-season, and the Shichiken sake brewery drawing a stop for its rice-koji sweets. Road Station Hakushu, a roadside rest stop, shows up for a shaved-ice run built around Yatsugatake's natural ice.
Matsumoto and the Norikura highlands
Nineteen more spots split between Matsumoto in Nagano and Takayama across the prefecture line in Gifu, both anchored on the same Norikura highlands. Matsumoto Castle covers the city itself. Further up, Kamikochi and the Norikura Tatamidaira plateau sit right on the Nagano-Gifu border, with the Honokidaira bus terminal serving the Gifu side.
The rest of Yamanashi
Fifty-two more spots spread across a dozen smaller Yamanashi towns. Amariyama in Nirasaki gives a viewpoint over the Kofu basin; Yashajin Pass in Minami Alps City is where a ghost-story arc plays out across several chapters; Hottarakashi Onsen and Oodarumi Pass in Yamanashi city drive a curry-chasing road trip into Nagano. Otsuki's Fukashiro Dam stands in for a different dam entirely: the manga staged its mockumentary shoot at Kofu's Arakawa Dam, but the anime swapped in Fukashiro for episode 12. Katsunuma's Budou no Oka wine hill covers Koshu, and two opening-credit frames, Arakurayama Sengen Park in Fujiyoshida and Tenka Chaya in Fujikawaguchiko, both overlook Mount Fuji from the Lake Kawaguchi side of the prefecture.
Nagano's other stops
Thirty more spots scatter across Nagano prefecture outside Matsumoto. Togakushi Shrine, its soba museum, and its ninja-themed museum sit in Nagano city itself. Kouzenji Temple covers Komagane, Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium covers Hakuba, and the Kirigamine highlands cover Suwa. Most of these are single-episode stops rather than returning locations, the kind of backdrop the show uses once and moves past.
Kurobe Dam, and the far edges of the map
Ten spots sit well outside the Yamanashi-Nagano core. Kurobe Dam, Japan's tallest, sits across the prefecture line in Tateyama, Toyama, reached by the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. From there the map gets stranger: Cape Soya in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, the northernmost point in Japan, gets a single-episode cameo, as do Horin-ji temple in Kyoto and an interchange on the Ise Expressway in Tsu, Mie. Fumotoppara Campground in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, adds one more site at the foot of Mount Fuji.
Is Kofu Arakawa High School in mono a real place?
No. Kofu Arakawa High School, where the Cinephoto Club meets, is the school name used in the story. The manga is said to be modeled on Kofu Municipal Maizuru Elementary School, but the anime's own first-episode map swapped in the building of Yamanashi Prefectural Kofu Joseishi High School instead, and our catalog has no site under either name. Photograph the station, the park, and the river; leave the actual campuses alone.
Which anime shares mono's creator?
mono is written and illustrated by Afro, who also created Laid-Back Camp, largely set in the same Minobu lake country. The connection runs deeper than the shared prefecture: in mono's third episode, at Utsubuna Station in Nambu Town, one of the main characters takes a photo in the same pose as Nadeshiko's key visual from Laid-Back Camp's first season. Studio Soigne produced the twelve-episode television adaptation, which aired between 13 April and 29 June 2025. The official site tracks collaborations and event updates as they happen.
Getting around the mono map
Kofu Station is the practical hub for most of the map. JR East's Chuo Main Line runs through it toward Tokyo on one side and Hokuto on the other, while JR Central's Minobu Line starts at the same station and runs south to Minobu. Matsumoto and the Nagano side trips need a transfer further up the Chuo Main Line, and the Toyama and Hokkaido outliers are their own separate day trips. Pick one area and build a route around it instead of chasing all 181 spots at once.
Keep exploring
- Which Prefecture Has the Most Anime Locations? See how Yamanashi and Nagano compare to every other prefecture on the map.
- Open the anime map. Every verified location in Japan, searchable by title.