The third season of Chihayafuru is finally premiering this week, and fans are excited. But did you know that a lot of the scenes from the anime, as well as its OP and ED sequences are inspired by actual real-life places? One such example is the Omi Jingu Shrine, which is one of the most prestigious places to play the game of karuta.

Crunchyroll’s Wilhelm Donko recently visited some of these places himself, including the holy land of the anime itself, which is in Otsu, Shiga prefecture. Real-life locations featured in the anime include the Omi Learning Center, an actual place where championship-level karuta matches are held.

Then there’s also Otsuyoku Station, the former Biwako Onsen, the Omi Jingu Shrine steps, Tower Gate, and even more images of the Omi Learning Center.

Madhouse will be animating the project, with Morio Asaka returning from previous seasons to direct. As for its cast, much of them will be returning. In fact, they already confirmed that the main three cast members are going to be back!

  • Asami Seto as Chihaya Ayase
  • Mamoru Miyano as Taichi Mashima
  • Yoshimasa Hosoya as Arata Wataya.

9RadioService will be returning to once again perform the anime’s OP theme song, much like the two previous seasons. This time, the OP’s song’s title is “COLORFUL”, which truly reflects the manga and anime’s themes. Meanwhile, Japanese band, Harassment, is performing the ED song “Hitomebore”. The anime premieres 22nd October.

images via Crunchyroll