Screen Pilgrimage Real places behind anime and film, across Japan

TV drama · 2023

What Will You Do, Ieyasu? — filming locations

10 places you can visit, in Aichi, Shizuoka, Kyoto. Every entry gives the nearest station, how long the walk is, and what to mind when you get there.

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Many of these are shrines, schools and people’s streets. Read the conduct note before you go.

Locations · 10

Okazaki Castle

Aichi Start here

Where Ieyasu was born, and where the drama begins.

Getting there
Okazakikōen-mae Stn · 9 min walk
Before you go
  • Admission fee required
  • Very crowded — expect queues
  • Keep your voice down
Sources
岡崎城 · どうする家康

Hamamatsu Castle

Shizuoka

The castle Ieyasu held through his hardest years, including the rout at Mikatagahara.

Getting there
Enshubyoin Stn · 13 min walk
Before you go
  • Admission fee required
  • Keep your voice down
  • A real trail — wear shoes you can climb in
Sources
どうする家康

Nagashino Castle Ruins

Aichi

The siege and the battle that broke the Takeda cavalry, with the ruins and the museum on the site.

Getting there
Nagashinojo Stn · At the station
Before you go
  • Keep your voice down
  • Remote — a car or long bus ride is needed
  • Unstaffed station — buy tickets in advance
Sources
どうする家康

Daijuji Temple

Aichi

The Matsudaira family temple where the young Ieyasu was talked out of killing himself. The sight line from its gate to the castle is protected by city ordinance.

Getting there
Daimon Stn · 16 min walk
Before you go
  • Worshippers come first
  • Keep your voice down
  • Residential area — people live here
Sources
大樹寺 · どうする家康

Nijo Castle

Kyoto

Ieyasu's Kyoto seat, built when he took the shogunate — and where it was handed back 264 years later.

Getting there
Nijojo-mae Stn · 5 min walk
Before you go
  • Admission fee required
  • Very crowded — expect queues
  • No photography indoors
Sources
どうする家康

Inuyama Castle

Aichi

One of the twelve original keeps, above the Kiso river the drama's campaigns cross.

Getting there
Inuyama-Yūen Stn · 12 min walk
Before you go
  • Admission fee required
  • Narrow passage — do not stop to shoot
  • Very crowded — expect queues
Sources
犬山城

Rinnoji Temple, Nikko

Tochigi

Nikko, where Ieyasu was enshrined as a god after his death — the endpoint of the drama's story.

Getting there
Tobu-Nikko Stn + 10 min by bus · 5 min walk
Before you go
  • Admission fee required
  • Worshippers come first
  • Very crowded — expect queues
Sources
輪王寺

Okehazama Battlefield

Aichi

The 1560 field where Imagawa Yoshimoto fell and the drama's Ieyasu is set loose.

Getting there
Chukyo-keibajo-mae Stn (Meitetsu) · 18 min walk
Before you go
  • Keep your voice down
  • Residential area — people live here
Sources
桶狭間の戦い · どうする家康

Fushimi Castle site

Kyoto

Hideyoshi's last castle, and the one Ieyasu holds through the year before Sekigahara.

Getting there
Momoyama Stn (JR Nara Line) · 13 min walk
Before you go
  • Keep your voice down
  • Do not enter private property
Sources
どうする家康

Honshoji

Aichi

The moated Mikawa temple at the centre of the 1563 Ikko revolt that nearly breaks the young Ieyasu.

Getting there
Minami-Sakurai Stn (Meitetsu Nishio Line) · 16 min walk
Before you go
  • Worshippers come first
  • Keep your voice down
  • Residential area — people live here
Sources
どうする家康

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