Talk:Morioh/@comment-4566447-20190125223801

Morioh is beautiful. When I read it was based on Sendai, I spent much time on Google Earth trying to find if Araki had perhaps based the landscapes on photos of Sendai, so I looked for areas.

I was unable to find anything remaining of historic Sendai with a 19th century Western style. Morioh is full of 2 story Victorian era homes encased in Japanese style walls, with huge front & back yards putting much distance between neighbors, bike rack rails on tile pattern sidewalks outlining wide roads.

Today's Sendai is all narrow two-lane or one-way streets, normal sidewalks, appartment complexes, & tiny unwalled Japanese homes with dinky yards set in close proximity to each other. Honestly, it kinda made me think of a more upscale version of the shanty towns in South America due to the tinyness & closeness.

I did have a little luck coming across a few photos from a book called Classical Sendai. No recognisable spots, but the sidewalk & buildings looked right.

So it's nice that Araki managed to capture the detail of old Sendai  before it was completely torn down & rebuilt into a significantly less visually appealing crampt city.

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