Real Life Scenery from Anime: Encouragement of Climb

Today, October 22nd, is Anime Day in Japan, so I've been sharing a few anime-related posts in honour of the occasion. It also seemed like the perfect day to highlight a place where anime and real life overlap. The photos in this post show a location that appears in Episode 20 of the second season of Yama no Susume (Encouragement of Climb), an anime series set in and around Hanno City in Saitama Prefecture.

The quirky building in this post looks like something that belongs in an anime itself, but it is actually a real building in Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture. It can be found in Tove Jansson Akebono Children's Forest Park, a whimsical park inspired by the world of the Moomins, the beloved characters created by Finnish author Tove Jansson. That gives this location a double anime connection: not only does it appear in Yama no Susume (Encouragement of Climb), but the Moomins were also adapted into a popular Japanese anime series.

Even without knowing anything about Yama no Susume, Akebono Children's Forest Park is a delightful place to explore. Its fairytale-inspired buildings and peaceful setting make it feel like a world of its own. For anime fans, it offers a chance to step into a scene from the series, while for everyone else it's simply one of Saitama's most unusual and photogenic parks.