Location from a-silent-voice by
A real mid-sized Japanese city on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture — the town where the whole story is rooted.
Nagahama is not idealized but it is specific — it has a shopping arcade, a river running through it toward the lake, a main station, residential neighborhoods where the same people keep almost running into each other. The story uses its geography naturally: places recur with the logic of a real town rather than a stage set. For Shoya, Nagahama is the geography of his guilt. He knows which routes pass near Shoko's house, which bridges are good for standing still. For Shoko, it is simply where she has always lived — a place she has had to negotiate more carefully than most.
A city that feels lived-in rather than picturesque: low buildings, wide streets, convenience stores alongside older storefronts. Lake Biwa is always just at the edge of awareness — a largeness, a flatness of light. Summer here is heavy and humid; autumn comes as relief.
Also known as: Nagahama, Nagahama City, Nagahama-shi