Visiting Minor Keyakizaka Holy Places in Tokyo

I just finished spending a few days in Tokyo. I'd never spent any time there before, and now know the city a lot better than before. I watched Kimi no Na wa and another film ("Midnight Diner") on the way home on JAL, and recognized some of the Tokyo settings.

It wasn't a Keyakizaka46 trip, but I did visit a few places I associate with the group. First is Keyakizaka itself, the street beside the Roppongi Hills shopping mall. The trees were in their Christmas illumination. This photo is taken looking east from the pedestrian bridge than spans Keyakizaka, connecting two parts of the mall.

I had never realized that Tokyo Tower was so visible from Keyakizaka. Suzumon has mentioned that she can see it from her room. Is it possible that they actually live in that tower on the right? At least from the outside, it seemed to be to be made up of surprisingly small apartments, for that exclusive area. I doubt it, but Hirate did say that the anniversary TV Asahi event, which was held in August behind those trees on the left, felt like being at home.

In the next picture, from the bottom of the street, you can see from the sign on the left that Nogizaka station is not that far away. And you might be able to make out "Keyakizaka" in lights below it.

For something a little more personal, do you recall the bag of goodies Hirate brought to the other members in the hidden-camera episode of KeyaKake? The picture below almost certainly shows the shop she bought them at, Waguriya ("Japanese Chestnut House"). The Tokyo branch is on Yanaka Ginza, a little shopping street in the old Yanaka area north of Ueno.

I myself just had a little "chestnut pie," a sweetened chestnut surrounded with excellent pastry. Delicious.

Finally, here's a bit more sleuthing, from Shibuya. Do you remember this photo from Neru's blog?

It was scene of a happy Hirate that made me a little less concerned about her overwork last summer. Neru said they were out together on Centre Gai, a street of shops, restaurants and pedestrians leading off from the big Shibuya Crossing intersection, basically to the left of the Tsutaya store.

From the visual clues behind Techi, I thought I might be able to find the place, and I did: it was less than a block up the street, on the left-hand side:

There's the cap display in the centre of the picture, and the lantern is a sign for a soba cafe next door.

About the only other Keyakizaka46-related thing I did was watch KeyaKake on TV last weekend. A lot sharper than on my laptop, lol. No performances or handshake events, but I did get some satisfaction from my little otaku visits to minor holy places of Keyakizaka46.

FYI, now that I'm home I have updated my Keyakizaka46 members page with the new member photos and a bit of changed info.