The setting for Figure 17 is the Biei/Furano region of Hokkaido, a rural area outside the island’s second largest city of Asahikawa known for its rolling hills and flower farms. Iowa with mountains, basically. It’s a popular spot for photographers and producers of television commercials, and attracts tourists year-round.

Many locations in Figure 17 are actually found in the small village of Bibaushi. Tsubasa and Hikaru’s school, for example, is modeled after Bibaushi Elementary School, made famous by celebrated Japanese landscape photographer Maeda Shinzo. The school in Figure 17 lacks the distinctive tower of its real life counterpart, but shares the same general design and aesthetic.

Geography geek that I am, I decided to fire up Google Earth and go searching for the school. There was one little problem, however: I wasn’t quite sure where Bibaushi was located. I knew it was near the town of Biei, but I couldn’t find any maps that illustrated both locations in relation to each other. I did, however, have a tourist map of Bibaushi proper, so it was a simple matter of matching that with the satellite presentation of each unmarked village in the area. The first village I examined turned out to be Bibaushi (lucky!), and, within a few seconds, I had located the school.

Hopefully, I’ll some day have the opportunity to visit the area. When I was last in Japan, I tried to wrangle myself a trip to Hokkaido (under the guise of work), but didn’t succeed. Next time…