The figure skating anime that’s definitely not a yuri anime, Yuri!!! On ICE, has captured the hearts of ladies (and yes, a few gentlemen too), but did you know that some of the settings featured in the anime can also be found in real life?

An example would be in the anime’s opening scene, which takes place in Sochi, Russia, the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and in particular, the Iceberg Skating Palace, a 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena in the Sochi Olympic Park.

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Thanks to Google Street View, we can now take a look at a few areas featured in the anime, like Hasetsu Station, or Karatsu Station as it’s known in real life.

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Another location is the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, which is currently being renovated for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic games.

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Other areas featured in the anime are Karatsu Castle and Takashima Island.

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There is also that shopping arcade near Karatsu Station.

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There are a few scenes in the anime that happened outside of Japan, and one of them is  a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand, called Imperial World, which features the only Olympic-size rink in the country.

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The anime is also known for its Russian connection, with a few scenes happening in St. Petersburg, Russia. Also featured is the city’s own Pulkovo International Airport.

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Now that’s a lot in the travel itinerary just for one anime, but for us here in South East Asia, maybe the one in Thailand may be the easiest/cheapest to go to for now.

Source: Crunchyroll