Love Live! Sunshine!! Real Locations in Numazu

Love Live! Sunshine!! (ラブライブ！サンシャイン！！, Sunrise, 2016) is one of the clearest cases in anime tourism: there’s no “is this really the place?” guessing game here. The show is explicitly set in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Numazu’s city government has run a large, long-running official collaboration with the franchise for years — banners, stamp rallies, murals, and tie-in campaigns are a normal part of the city’s landscape now, not a one-off promotion.

Numazu is often mentioned alongside Ōarai (of Girls und Panzer fame) as one of the genuine success stories of anime-driven tourism in Japan — a mid-size city that leaned into a fandom and saw real, sustained visitor numbers as a result. But that success has a less comfortable side: a franchise this popular, running this long, in a city where several key locations are ordinary residential streets and a real, active school, has produced real friction. Fans photographing private homes, wandering into places that aren’t part of the tourism route, and treating a working town like a theme set — these are documented problems, not hypotheticals, and the city and franchise have had to address them publicly. That’s exactly why this guide spends as much time on etiquette as it does on directions, and why one well-known location associated with the show is deliberately left out of the “how to get there” business entirely. More on that below.

Awashima Shrine (淡島神社) — S034 Official

Photo: K醬(s092077), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source.

What it is: A shrine on Awashima, a small island just off Numazu’s Uchiura coast, that appears in the show and has become one of the most recognizable Aqours-associated spots for visiting fans. This is squarely on the official side of the map — Numazu’s status as the real-world setting is confirmed, not inferred, and this is one of the locations the city’s own tourism materials point visitors toward.

Where it is: Uchiura Shigeji, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture (35.033083, 138.887639).

How to get there: From JR Numazu Station, take a bus or taxi toward the Uchiura area to reach Awashima Marine Park on the mainland shore. From there, a short ferry crosses to Awashima island itself. Once you land, you’ll walk an approach path up to the shrine. Budget roughly 50 minutes round trip for the walk alone, on top of the ferry crossing and the bus/taxi ride from the station — this is a half-day outing, not a quick stop.

Etiquette — please read this one carefully: The approach to the shrine is a set of steep stone steps, so wear comfortable, sturdy footwear — this isn’t a spot for sandals or dress shoes. More importantly: the city and franchise’s official materials have specifically and publicly asked visitors not to trespass on private property or schools, and not to photograph local residents without their permission. This isn’t boilerplate politeness — it reflects real incidents of fans overstepping in the Uchiura area, and it’s worth taking seriously rather than treating as a suggestion. If you’re on Awashima for the shrine, stay on the approach path and shrine grounds and leave residents’ homes and daily life alone.

Uchiura Fishing Cooperative’s “Ikesuya” restaurant (内浦漁協直営 いけすや) — S035 Official

What it is: A real, working seafood restaurant run directly by the Uchiura fishing cooperative — not a tie-in cafe built for tourists, but an actual fishing-harbor business that happens to sit in the show’s setting and has become a stop on the fan pilgrimage circuit. This is an officially recognized part of the Numazu/Love Live! connection.

Where it is: Uchiura Koumi 30-103, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture (35.027799, 138.8951).

How to get there: From JR Numazu Station, take an Izuhakone Bus or Tokai Bus heading toward Uchiura or Mito Sea Paradise, and get off in the Uchiura area near the restaurant.

Etiquette: Ikesuya is a functioning business tied to an active fishing cooperative — it’s not a museum piece, so don’t treat it like one. Be a normal, considerate customer: don’t linger past your meal to take photos if there’s a wait, and don’t get in the way of staff or fishermen actually working. The surrounding area is also a residential fishing harbor, with private homes and working harbor facilities right next to the restaurant. Stick to the public areas around the restaurant itself and don’t wander onto private docks, boats, or house lots nearby.

The school believed to have inspired Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy — S036 Official

You’ll see this location mentioned constantly in Love Live! Sunshine!! fan discussion: Numazu Municipal Nagaizaki Elementary-Junior High School, widely believed among fans to be the visual model for the show’s fictional Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy.

Here’s the thing, though, and it’s important: this is a real, currently operating public school with active students attending it right now. It is not a tourist facility, it was never built or designated for visitors, and this guide is not going to help you find it.

We’re not providing coordinates, walking directions, or bus routes to this school, beyond saying that it’s located in the Uchiura area of Numazu. That’s a deliberate choice, and it’s the whole point of this section.

Our recommendation is simple: don’t visit. There’s no version of “respectfully visiting” an operating school full of children that actually works — even a quiet, well-meaning fan standing outside taking photos is disruptive to a school and unsettling for the students and staff there, and there’s no route to the campus that doesn’t involve walking through the surrounding residential neighborhood past people’s homes.

This isn’t just a stance this guide is inventing on its own. Numazu’s own official tourism and franchise partners have, in the past, had to explicitly ask fans not to trespass on school grounds or private property, and not to photograph residents or private homes without permission. The fact that the official partners — the people who benefit most from this collaboration — have had to make that request publicly tells you something: this has genuinely happened, repeatedly enough to need an official statement. If the organizations running the collaboration are asking fans to stay away from the school and its surroundings, that request deserves to be followed, not worked around.

The story matters to Numazu — it’s part of why the city and the franchise’s partnership has lasted as long as it has, and part of why locals are proud of the connection. But being proud of a connection to a fictional school is not the same as inviting strangers to show up outside a real one. Please don’t go.

FAQ

Is Numazu really the official setting of Love Live! Sunshine!!? Yes. Unlike a lot of anime pilgrimage spots where the connection is fan speculation, Numazu is the explicit, confirmed real-world setting, and the city has run a major, long-running official collaboration with the franchise.

Can I visit the real Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy? No — please don’t. The school believed to be the visual model for Uranohoshi is a real, operating public school with actual students. The city and franchise’s own official materials have explicitly asked fans not to trespass on school grounds or private property and not to photograph residents or homes without permission. This guide deliberately does not include directions or coordinates for that reason.

How do I get to Awashima Shrine from Tokyo? Get to JR Numazu Station first (via Tokaido Shinkansen or JR lines), then take a bus or taxi toward Uchiura to Awashima Marine Park, and cross by ferry to Awashima island, followed by a walk up to the shrine. Plan for a half-day round trip once you factor in the ferry and the approach walk.

Is Ikesuya a real restaurant, or a tie-in cafe built for fans? It’s a genuinely real, working restaurant operated by the Uchiura fishing cooperative. It draws pilgrimage visitors because of its role in the show, but it functions as an ordinary seafood restaurant serving the local community, not a themed attraction.

Why doesn’t this guide have exact directions to every Love Live! Sunshine!! location? Most locations, yes — Awashima Shrine and Ikesuya both have full access details above. The one exception is the school associated with Uranohoshi Academy, which we’ve intentionally kept vague at a regional level only, because it’s an active school and precise directions would encourage the exact behavior the city has publicly asked fans to avoid.

Is it okay to take photos anywhere in the Uchiura area? Photograph the shrine, the harbor, and public tourism spots freely, but avoid photographing identifiable local residents, private homes, or school grounds without permission. This has been a specific, named request from the city and franchise’s own official materials, not just general travel etiquette.

(Lodging and tour affiliate links will be added here once partner programs are active.)

Sources: Numazu City and Love Live! Sunshine!! official tourism collaboration materials, including public statements addressing fan conduct around private property, residents, and schools in the Uchiura area. Location addresses and coordinates for Awashima Shrine and Ikesuya verified against public location data. As with any pilgrimage guide, verify current bus and ferry schedules before traveling, and treat the etiquette guidance here — especially regarding the school — as a firm boundary rather than a suggestion.