Introduction: The Landscape Miyazaki Loved Most
Of all the landscapes Hayao Miyazaki has treasured throughout his career, none matters more than the satoyama — Japan’s traditional rural countryside.
The rice-paddy paths of My Neighbor Totoro, the bamboo groves and farmland of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, the highland farms of The Wind Rises — all of them draw on Japan’s traditional agricultural landscape. Preserving this “original scenery,” increasingly lost to postwar development, is said to have been one of Miyazaki’s driving motivations.
Ghibli’s Satoyama: A Guide to the Real Locations
1. Sayama Hills (Tokyo/Saitama) — The Rice-Paddy Paths of My Neighbor Totoro
The rural landscape Totoro protects is closest to the mix of rice paddies and coppice woodland found around the Sayama Hills. Despite sitting on Tokyo’s doorstep, this area still holds onto fragments of the Showa-era farming landscape that made it a natural choice as the film’s setting.
Ghibli Connection: ★★★★★ Film: My Neighbor Totoro
2. Miyama’s Thatched-Roof Village (Kyoto) — The Farming Village of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Thatched farmhouses and terraced rice paddies make Miyama the closest real match to the countryside scenes in The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
Ghibli Connection: ★★★★★ Film: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
3. Ohara (Kyoto) — Satoyama Through the Seasons
An hour north of central Kyoto, Ohara combines terraced rice fields, bamboo groves, and old temples into an idealized vision of Japanese satoyama — the same natural beauty Princess Kaguya loved.
Ghibli Connection: ★★★★☆ Film: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
4. Satoyama Nature Schools and Farm Experiences Nationwide
Satoyama nature schools and farm-experience programs across Japan let visitors plant and harvest rice or make charcoal. For travelers wanting to experience the everyday rural life closest to Totoro’s world, these programs are especially worthwhile.
Ghibli Connection: ★★★★☆ Films: My Neighbor Totoro, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
5. Shodoshima (Kagawa) — The Rural Backdrop of Kiki’s Delivery Service
Floating in the Seto Inland Sea, Shodoshima’s olive groves and terraced fields make it a beautiful spot that echoes the film’s rural, natural imagery.
Ghibli Connection: ★★★☆☆ Film: Kiki’s Delivery Service
Tips for a Satoyama Experience
Try a Farm Stay
Farm-stay programs across Japan let you lodge with local farming families and take part in their work. It’s the closest thing to living the daily life of the Kusakabe family from My Neighbor Totoro, and the deepest way to experience rural Japanese culture.
Visit the Terraced Rice Fields
Terraced rice paddies found across Japan are a symbol of the country’s rural landscape. They’re most beautiful during the spring planting season (May–June) and the golden harvest season (September–October).
