Weathering With You Pilgrimage Guide: Tabata Slopes, Shiba Park, Weather Shrine & Kozushima Ferry

Following first-year high school student Hodaka Morishima—who leaves his remote island home aboard a passenger ferry for Tokyo—and Hina Amano, a girl who can part the clouds and bring sunshine through prayer, Weathering With You unfolds across a rain-soaked Tokyo where the cliffside slopes of Tabata, Tokyo Tower seen from Shiba Park, and the ship terminal linking the islands and the capital frame their meeting and 100%-sunshine-girl business.

Locations connected to the film range from residential public footpaths and steep slopes to active passenger ferry terminals, alongside the Weather Shrine in Koenji where the two lead voice actors prayed for a box-office hit at theatrical release.

Visiting the Slopes of Tabata, the Parks of Tokyo, and the Port Linking the Islands

1Tabata Station South Exit & Fudozaka Slope: The Cliffside Road in Hina’s Neighborhood

The cliffside footpath right outside the South Exit of JR Tabata Station appears in several pivotal scenes of Weathering With You, set near Hina's apartment in the story; climbing southwest from the South Exit along Fudozaka Slope, visitors can see the dramatic topography where the low-lying railway tracks meet the hilltop residential neighborhood.

Visitors can walk the public slope and cliffside footpath outside the South Exit ticket gate, which is open from the first train to the last train daily (unstaffed and equipped with an intercom support system), taking in the sharp elevation drop between the residential bluff and the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku train lines below.

Nearby, the official music video for the theme song 'Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?' (Ai ni Dekiru Koto wa Mada Aru Kai) was filmed on location at the JR East Tokyo Shinkansen Vehicle Center stretching between Tabata and Kaminakazato.

Sources: Kita Ward Central Library — October 2019 Film & Music Feature / Kita Ward Tourism — Fudozaka Slope / Kita Ward Scenery — Slopes of Tabata / JR East — Tabata Station South Exit

2Nozokizaka Slope: Where Sunlight Reflecting in Puddles Mirrors Their First Job Success

Located in Toshima Ward, Nozokizaka Slope appears in the uplifting montage where Hodaka and Hina's 100%-sunshine-girl business begins to take off, as bright sunlight reflects off rainwater puddles on the steep pavement to mirror their brightening spirits.

Stretching roughly 160 meters with an elevation change of about 15 meters and a posted 22% grade road sign, the public road takes its name ('Peering Slope,' also traditionally called Munatsukizaka) from how steep the drop looks when peering down from the top on the Mejiro-dori side toward Shin-Mejiro-dori below.

Situated between 2-17 and 2-18 Takada, Toshima Ward (closest to Zoshigaya Station on the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line or Kishimojinmae and Gakushuinshita stops on the Toden Arakawa Line, or about a 15-minute walk via Chitose Bridge from JR Mejiro Station), Nozokizaka is an active residential street with vehicle traffic, so view the slope carefully from the roadside.

Sources: Tokyo Metropolitan Government — Nozokizaka in the Film & Topography / Toshima Ward — Nozokizaka Location Guide

3Shiba Park: The Bench Scene Looking Up at Tokyo Tower

Overlooking Tokyo Tower, Shiba Park also appears in Weathering With You in scenes where Hodaka and his companions spend time on park benches, and visitors today can enjoy the same clear views of Tokyo Tower from the public paths and open lawns.

Spanning 1-chome through 4-chome Shibakoen in Minato Ward (a short walk from Shibakoen Station on the Toei Mita Line or Onarimon Station), Tokyo Metropolitan Shiba Park is open 24 hours a day with free admission and also encompasses the historic Shiba Maruyama Kofun keyhole burial mound.

First opened on October 19, 1873 as one of Japan's earliest public parks and reconfigured after World War II to surround the grounds of Zojoji Temple, the park also lends its name to the instrumental track 'Shiba Park' (Shiba Koen) on the film's original soundtrack.

Sources: Minato Ward Onarimon Junior High School — September 2019 Shiba Park Feature / Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association — Shiba Park / Soundtrack Tracklist

4Koenji Weather Shrine: Where the Voice Actors of Hodaka and Hina Prayed for the Film’s Release

Situated within the precincts of Koenji Hikawa Shrine in Suginami Ward, the Weather Shrine (Kisho Jinja) is where lead voice actors Kotaro Daigo (Hodaka) and Nana Mori (Hina) visited in person to pray for a box-office hit upon the theatrical release of Weathering With You.

Originally founded in April 1944 on the grounds of the Imperial Japanese Army Meteorological Department in Koenji and relocated to Hikawa Shrine after the war (with its current wooden sanctuary rebuilt in 2003), the shrine enshrines the deity of wisdom and weather Yagokoro-omoikane-no-Mikoto, offers wooden clog-shaped ema plaques and teru-teru-bozu weather charms, and holds its annual Weather Festival on June 1 (Meteorological Day).

Located at 4-44-19 Koenji-Minami, Suginami Ward, Tokyo (a short walk from JR Koenji Station, just to the left inside the main torii gate of Hikawa Shrine), the shrine grounds are open for worship from early morning until the gates close at 17:00, while the shrine office operates in principle from 9:00 to 16:00 with irregular holidays.

Sources: Official Movie Site — Lead Cast Prayer Visit / Weather Shrine — History & Worship Guide

5Takeshiba Passenger Ship Terminal: Where the Salvia Maru Links the Islands and Tokyo

Hodaka first meets Keisuke Suga—the writer who later hires him in Tokyo—aboard the large passenger ferry sailing from his remote island to Tokyo, produced with official cooperation from Tokai Kisen's Salvia Maru, whose Tokyo home port is Takeshiba Passenger Ship Terminal.

When the film opened in theaters in July 2019, the route was served by the 2nd-generation Salvia Maru (commissioned in December 1992 and retired from regular service in June 2020), which has since been succeeded by the 3rd-generation Salvia Maru linking Tokyo with the Izu Islands of Oshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, and Kozushima.

Located at 1-12-2 Kaigan, Minato Ward, Tokyo (a 1-minute walk from Takeshiba Station on the Yurikamome line or an 8-minute walk from the North Exit of JR Hamamatsucho Station), the passenger terminal welcomes travelers with advance ferry reservations and boarding tickets.

Sources: Tokai Kisen — Film Cooperation / Official Movie Site — Meeting Suga Aboard Ship / Transition from 2nd to 3rd Salvia Maru / Retirement of 2nd Salvia Maru / Current Salvia Maru / Takeshiba Terminal Access / Kozushima Arrival Ports

6Kozushima Island: Scenery Connected to the Film on a Remote Tokyo Island

Among the geographical settings of Weathering With You is the remote Tokyo island of Kozushima, where a village-run nature discovery program held guided tours of film-related island locations following the movie's theatrical release.

Depending on daily wind and wave conditions announced around 8:00 a.m. each morning, passenger ships arrive at either Kozushima Port (Maehama Port) on the west coast or Takowan Miura Fishing Port on the east coast; visitors can stop by the Kozushima Tourism Association desk inside the 'Machare Center' at Maehama Port for local sightseeing guidance and luggage storage before exploring the beach and village.

Just south of Maehama Port stretches the white sand of Maehama Beach overlooking the island village and open sea, while Tako Bay opens out beneath the white cliffs at the foot of Mount Tenjo.

Sources: Tokyo Metropolitan Government — Kozushima & Film Settings / Bureau of Environment — Kozushima Nature Program Record / Kozushima Tourism Association — Arrival Ports & Info Center / Kozushima Coastline

Deeper into the Work: Characters and Tokyo in Weathering With You

Here we look closely at the relationships between Hodaka, Hina, and the people around them in Tokyo, followed by how the production team crafted the film's music and hand-drawn rain.

A High School Boy from a Remote Island and a Girl Who Can Clear the Sky by Praying

In Weathering With You, first-year high school student Hodaka Morishima runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo during summer break, finding work writing articles for a small occult magazine publisher before meeting Hina Amano, a girl living industriously with her younger brother in a city of unending rain.

Hina possesses the mysterious ability to clear the sky through prayer; lead voice actors Kotaro Daigo (Hodaka) and Nana Mori (Hina) were chosen from auditions of more than 2,000 applicants and visited the Koenji Weather Shrine together to pray for the film's theatrical release.

Sources: Official Movie Site — Story & Lead Cast / CoMix Wave Films — Characters / Release Prayer Visit

In official 'Forecast Trailer #2' (Yoho Dai-2-Dan), viewers see the tiny rooftop shrine gate standing in the rain, characters walking beside the train tracks, and the handwritten note 'Delivering Good Weather' that launches Hodaka and Hina's work together.

Source: Official Movie Site — Trailer #2 & Special Forecast

Suga’s Editorial Office and the People Surrounding Hina

Sources: Official Movie Site — May 29, 2019 Cast Profiles / Makoto Shinkai & Atsushi Tamura on Character Roles / Special Forecast — Office Scenes

Hodaka’s Unspoken Reasons for Running Away and Suga Living Within Adult Society

Rather than spelling out Hodaka's past on the island or his exact reasons for running away from home, Director Makoto Shinkai intentionally left narrative breathing room—placing J.D. Salinger's classic novel The Catcher in the Rye atop Hodaka's cup noodles in the opening internet cafe scene to echo runaway protagonist Holden Caulfield's state of mind.

While Suga embodies an adult who makes compromises to get by within everyday society, Hodaka's runaway journey pushes him into deeper conflict with society—and the handgun that enters the story was a dramatic element Director Shinkai considered essential to show how far that confrontation goes.

Source: Makoto Shinkai & Genki Kawamura Interview — Character & Prop Design

How Natsumi’s Pink Super Cub Was Built as a Real Motorcycle

Natsumi's signature ride in the film—a muted pink Honda Super Cub scooter that carries Hodaka and Natsumi through rainy Tokyo—was built as a real, working motorcycle after the film's theatrical release.

Initiated when Honda reached out after seeing the movie in theaters, design developer Masaharu Yoshimura completed the custom build from an existing Super Cub frame in roughly three weeks, mixing a custom shade of weathered pink matched to Natsumi's character and preparing matching helmets for Hodaka and Natsumi.

The one-of-a-kind motorcycle was unveiled at the 'Weathering With You Exhibition' at Matsuya Ginza beginning September 25, 2019—turning an animated vehicle into a real machine crafted by its manufacturer.

Source: Honda — Developer Interview on Recreating the Super Cub

Music Born from the Screenplay and Animating the Rain of Tokyo

Under director Makoto Shinkai, character design was handled by Masayoshi Tanaka, animation direction by Atsushi Tamura, and art direction by Hiroshi Takiguchi, with animation production by CoMix Wave Films.

Sources: Label Official — Production Staff / Official Movie Site — Post-Release Exhibitions

From Screenplay to Full-Length Demo Songs, and from Songs to Video Storyboards

On August 26, 2017, Makoto Shinkai sent his completed screenplay to Yojiro Noda of RADWIMPS, weaving music directly into the visual construction of the film long before key animation was finished.

Shaping story developments, character dialogue, and song cues through back-and-forth consultation between Shinkai and Noda, the lyric phrase 'Daijoubu' ('We'll be alright') directly inspired the closing dialogue of the film itself.

Following Noda's proposal to feature a female vocalist alongside his own voice, actress and singer Toko Miura was selected after a year-long audition process and spent roughly two months recording under Noda's direction.

Whereas Noda had sung all five initial full-length demos himself, the songs chosen for Miura were transposed to match her vocal range and newly recorded, transforming the pitch and resonance of the finished soundtrack.

Sources: Official Movie Site — 2019 Music Announcement / RADWIMPS Staff — From Demos to Film Masters / Screenplay & Music Collaboration

‘Celebration’ and ‘Grand Escape’ Sung by Toko Miura

The completed soundtrack album features 31 tracks in total—5 vocal songs and 26 instrumental score pieces—including the movie edits of 'Celebration (Shukusai)' and 'Grand Escape' featuring Toko Miura alongside 'Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?'

Source: Universal Music — Complete Soundtrack Tracklist

Expressions and Postures Carried Forward from the Video Storyboard

Visual production began from the complete video storyboard (V-con) drawn and voiced by Director Shinkai himself, and animation director Atsushi Tamura worked carefully when correcting key animation drawings to preserve the exact facial expressions, eye lines, and standing postures Shinkai had sketched into the storyboard.

Giving distinct visual roles and silhouette contrasts to Hodaka, Hina, Nagi, Suga, and Natsumi, Tamura also tested multiple hairstyle and outfit design variations for Natsumi in close consultation with the director.

Sources: Makoto Shinkai & Atsushi Tamura — From Storyboard to Key Animation / Designing the Five Leads

Drawing Rain Splashing on the Pavement Frame by Frame

Led by visual effects (VFX) chief Jumi Lee, the animation of raindrops splashing on road pavement switched from an initial 3DCG test to hand-drawn digital key animation—giving each individual drop varied movement layered with line art, bright highlights, and shadows.

In the signature trailer shot of Hodaka sprinting forward into a torrential downpour, the team layered roughly seven depth planes of falling rain, scanned paper spattered with ink from a toothbrush to create fine mist spray, added camera-lens water droplets in compositing, and animated puddle ripples, splashes, and neon street reflections on separate layers.

Source: VFX Chief Jumi Lee Production Interview

To develop the rain assets, Director Shinkai, assistant director and color designer Yoko Miki, and director of photography Ryosuke Tsuda gathered live-action and animated reference film clips and held biweekly review meetings to refine reusable rain elements across the entire feature.

Some individual cuts combine more than a dozen distinct rain patterns tinted with neon signage and streetlamp colors sampled from the background art to give the rain itself light and spatial depth.

Source: Jumi Lee — Sharing and Combining Rain Assets

Meteorological Supervision from Rainfall Totals and Temperatures to TV Weather Reports

Meteorological researcher Kentaro Araki joined the production as meteorological supervisor starting from the video storyboard stage, verifying daily rainfall figures, temperature readings, TV weather-report phrasing, and cumuli and wind circulation patterns.

On screen, water behavior was differentiated by surface material—combining hand-drawn raindrops and VFX water shaders to depict drops dripping from umbrella tips, beads clinging to windowpanes, water swept aside by windshield wipers, and sheets of water running across wet asphalt.

Source: Makoto Shinkai & Atsushi Tamura — Rain Expression & Meteorological Supervision

Choosing Character Colors Shot by Shot Against Completed Background Art

Serving as both assistant director and color designer from the earliest planning stage, Yoko Miki selected character and prop color palettes cut by cut after viewing each completed background painting, consulting closely with Shinkai on light placement and overall color balance.

Even in golden sunset scenes, rather than applying a uniform orange tint across every character, the team adjusted how skin tones and clothing looked inside the specific light direction and emotional mood of each individual cut.

Source: Assistant Director & Color Designer Yoko Miki Interview

The Production Process Preserved in Background Art Books and Video Storyboards

Published on May 27, 2020, the 224-page B5 artbook Makoto Shinkai's Weathering With You Official Art Book compiles more than 240 background paintings from the film alongside an in-depth interview with Director Shinkai and background commentary by art director Hiroshi Takiguchi.

Released on the same day, the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray / Blu-ray Collector's Edition includes Shinkai's complete video storyboard, a year-long production documentary, a visual lecture based on the director's production diary, and a newly edited music video for 'Grand Escape feat. Toko Miura' featuring newly drawn animation cuts.

Sources: CoMix Wave Films — Art Book Contents / Official Movie Site — Blu-ray Edition Bonuses

Recording Voices Matched to Physical Distance and Body Posture

At the voice recording session held on May 25, 2019, Kotaro Daigo (Hodaka), Nana Mori (Hina), and Sakura Kiryu (Nagi) recorded their three-person hotel room singing scene together while Director Shinkai called for natural ad-libbed reactions and vocal delivery matched to each character's physical posture.

Daigo carefully adjusted his vocal projection and breathiness according to how far Hodaka stood from the other person in the room, expressing physical spatial distance and teenage urgency through voice and breath.

Source: Voice Recording Studio Report & Lead Cast Comments

The 2019 Theatrical Release and Expansion Across Music and Home Video

Animation and Music Awards and the Special Terrestrial TV Ending

At the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony held on March 6, 2020, Weathering With You won Best Animation of the Year and RADWIMPS won Best Music.

When the film made its terrestrial television debut on TV Asahi on January 3, 2021, a special broadcast ending sequence newly supervised by Director Makoto Shinkai aired immediately after the end credits.

Sources: 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize Winners / TV Asahi — Terrestrial Broadcast Debut / Special Broadcast Ending

Novel: Weathering With You, Written by the Director Himself

Published in paperback by Kadokawa Bunko on July 18, 2019 (the day before the film opened in cinemas), the 320-page Novel: Weathering With You written by Makoto Shinkai himself explores internal monologues and character perspectives not shown on screen and concludes with an afterword commentary contributed by RADWIMPS' Yojiro Noda.

Sources: KADOKAWA — Kadokawa Bunko Bibliography / Novel Perspectives & Afterword

Lab Note | From a Business Perspective: Making Ferry Voyages and Streetscapes Gateways for Visitors

Because the shipping company that cooperated on Hodaka's ferry scene continues to operate the Takeshiba–Kozushima sea route today with the 3rd-generation Salvia Maru (succeeding the 2nd-generation ship from 2019), providing both the historical ship details and current terminal booking information turns interest in an on-screen vehicle into a real island voyage.

Likewise, at the Koenji Weather Shrine, the lead voice actors' release prayer created a lasting real-world bond between the film and the shrine grounds—showing how combining screen scenery, transport cooperation, and cast events gives fans clear reasons to visit each location.

Official Sources & Primary References

• Official Film Website & Guide
• CoMix Wave Films — Work Overview
• Kita Ward Central Library — Tabata & the Film
• Onarimon Junior High School — Shiba Park Scene
• Weather Shrine (Kisho Jinja)
• Tokai Kisen — Takeshiba Terminal Guide
• Kozushima Tourism Association
• Complete Original Soundtrack
• Original Novel Bibliography

Exhibition dates, opening hours, admission fees, and ticket details are current at the time of writing. Always check the official websites for the latest schedule updates before setting out on your pilgrimage visit.