Upper Arato
A district in the centre of Hanuda Village, currently a construction site and filled with prefab huts. Since in the game this level appears before the disappearances occur (Yesterday/23:11:03), it is the only true "real world" stage. The Mana Stone, where the rites for the secret ritual are performed, is located midway along the Mana River which flows through the area, but after being pulled into the Other World the stone is sealed away by the shibito opposite the Mirror Pool at its centre, the boundary where the Other World and the Underworld meet. The Mana Stone, a meteor that fell from outer space, is worshipped as an icon according to the villagers' religion, and there are many legends which say that it is also the place where the Drifting God is said to have appeared. The Mana Stone is a "power spot" in Hanuda Village.
Arato
A shopping district that should have vanished 27 years ago. The district is small, with rows of buildings such as a restaurant, tobacconist and barbershop, and has turned into a ghost town that feels as though people were living there until just a few days ago. Near the end of the game the shibito have boarded it up and turned it into part of the Shibito Nest; it is at this point that it becomes clear that the Upper Arato area is on the south side of the Arato neighbourhood (archive no.79, Map of Arato). There is also a scene in which Officer Ishida is happily eating some kind of red gelatin inside the restaurant, but since half-shibito only repeat actions they remember from life, he isn't doing it because he wants something to eat.
Harayadori
Yabe Settlement, which should have disappeared 27 years ago, is dotted with abandoned houses. The houses are gathered together on a steep cliff, arranged as terraced fields, but by then the villagers had already left the settlement due to fear of a landslide occurring. Since there are air raid shelters scattered across the area that were built during the war, rumours have circulated about the former Japanese army concealing weapons somewhere in the settlement, but most of the houses are collapsed or sealed off, and the area doesn't seem to have been lived in in a long time. Also, in the north-west of the area is the Yoshimura house, where twins Kei Makino and Shiro Miyata lived with their parents (archive no.89, Photo of Twins). In the Other World comparatively many shibito live here, lots of whom patrol the area around their dwellings during the three-day period.
Hanuda Elementary - Oribe Branch
The elementary school that Reiko Takato works at and Harumi Yomoda attends. Due to the continuing decline in population, the school is exceptionally small, with one class including students of two year groups. The building is from the period that became trapped in the Other World (2003), and from very early on is shut up by the shibito, so that even in the afternoon the inside of the school is pitch black. By the time the first day of the incident ends, desks and chairs have been stacked into odd barricades, and the hallways are completely blocked. The school itself is a small building with two floors and a gym, with a 1 and 2 year classroom, a 3 and 4 year classrom, a staff room, a library and other facilities. The library in particular appears to have been used by the entire village, as aside from children's books there is other literature such as folk tales and non-fiction books.
Janokubi Valley
An area in the mountains, sucked into the Other World from the present day (2003). Previously it was where the processing plant for ore extracted and carried from Gojaku Peak, but now it is completely deserted. It contains Orifushi Forest, not somewhere for people to pass through, but somewhere a person might think to conceal a body... After the incident Miyata's car is half-buried by a landslide caused by the earthquake, but he is naturally more concerned about where Mina, who just before had been buried in a hole, has gone. A suspension bridge stretches across the Mana River, which flows through the processing station and the middle of the forest.
Tabori
This is an area dotted with wooden, two-storey houses that should have been lost in the landslide 27 years ago, which appears in the Other World village. Most of them are half-collapsed, but amongst them is a formerly abandoned house in which you can see a style of house that was common until the mid 1960s, which has a very Japanese feel to it. With a dial-type black and white TV in the living room and a rotary dial telephone, which Harumi doesn't know what to do with (because they are too old), you can sense the generation gap, and see trivial things that shibito repeat as part of their day-to-day pattern... Working to balance the game, with its high sense of entrapment, the abandoned house level is a place in Siren-style that shows you a scenery that Japanese people used to see.
Karuwari
In the mountains, with Karuwari at its centre, is a group of terraced fields that draw water from the valley, a place that becomes trapped inside the Other World in the present day (2003). Due to the aging inhabitants and depopulation there is no one left to inherit the land, and much of it is no longer cultivated. Precisely when the land began to take shape is unknown, though one theory holds that it grew up around the remnants of stone walls than can be seen even now. Another says that since it is based so near to the church it is used as a graveyard, a fusion to camouflage the village's beliefs. Here and there on the levelled fields you can see Mana crosses, a religious symbol unique to the village, built out of wood, similar to sotoba grave markers, and graves made of stone. There are graves for both the Kajiro family and the Takeuchi family.
Gojaku Peak
A mining facility in the northern mountains of Hanuda Village, which should have vanished 27 years ago in the disaster. Its primary export is tin, and there are carts inside the mine that were used to ferry ore to the production area in Janokubi Valley. Since its closure in 1965 due to ore depletion, the shafts and cart rails give the abandoned place a sense of desolation as it decays. This is the place where Namiko Yoshikawa from chapter 1 of Another Story was spirited away, but since the abandoned mine itself was buried in a landslide during the disappearance incident, no one knows where Namiko went missing. It appears as though mysterious bodies of light, amongst other things, had been spotted there several times in the past, and it is spoken of as a mystery spot in Hanuda Village.
Former Miyata Clinic
The old building that should have vanished in the disaster 27 years ago. By the time of its disappearance it was no longer in use, and had been abandoned. Miyata Clinic, opened in 1927, grew rapidly as a designated Japanese military hospital, backed by the Kajiros. Inside the hospital is an isolation room that seems to have been used for confinement, and a hidden basement, some of the odd things that make it seem unlike a normal hospital The building has two floors with a ward on each. Built around a courtyard, it is possible to reach each ward without leaving the facility. Since Shiro Miyata was raised around the new building rather than this one, this is the first time he has been inside it. The new building also has a hidden basement, disguising the town's darker side.
Hirunotsuka
This place has existed within Hanuda Village since before the founding of the Mana religion, and contains Mizuhiruko Shrine, the main grounds of the indigenous religion. The villagers worshipped Hiruko at the heart of their religion, but since most villagers have now converted to Manaism the area has been largely forgotten. Shrines dedicated to Hiruko can be seen all over the place, but Hanuda Village's version of the legend is unique in that it has him being washed up from a spring rather than the sea. It also appears as though the teaching that Mizuhiruko fell from the sky as a god-like fish was the basis for the legend of Datatsushi's arrival, but it seems like the tale gradually changed from the origins of the religion over the years, distorting, and eventually after many long years took on the village's own form.
Shibito Nest
Built by the shibito using planks and the like to board up windows and doors, as a place to welcome Datatsushi, who hates sunlight, for the ritual. With each passing day since the incident it swells in size, finally blocking all passage through the central part of the village, a huge, "illegally constructed" maze that combines several layers separated into small rooms. This is what the shibito nest refers to. The inside of the nest is divided into multiple levels, at at its deepest point on the fourth level cannot be penetrated by sunlight. Positioned at the centre of the nest is the Mirror Pool, which joins the Other World to the Underworld. In the game, Datatsushi appears from out of the Mirror Pool due to the sacrificed Miyako's "fruit". After the dam is blown up by Miyata, half of it is destroyed by a torrent of water.
Inferno
(One of) the Underworld(s). Midnight Pimpernels bloom wild on the ground, and in the centre of the wide, desolate world is the Mana Stone, the boundary between dimensions. Normally, people from the real world would be unable to get here, but Hisako, of Datatsushi's flesh and blood (and therefore of the same status as Datatsushi), Miyako who is of Hisako, and Kyoya who has part of Miyako... these three are all part of Datatsushi, so they are all able to reach the Underworld (by opening the door in the Mirror Pool) of their own will. At the end, as a result of Hisako's prayers and offering up the fruit, Datatsushi is fully mature and a superior being, but at the same time they remain part of the completed Datatsushi. Kyoya senses Miyako from it, and learns that Datatsushi lurks between dimensions.
A district in the centre of Hanuda Village, currently a construction site and filled with prefab huts. Since in the game this level appears before the disappearances occur (Yesterday/23:11:03), it is the only true "real world" stage. The Mana Stone, where the rites for the secret ritual are performed, is located midway along the Mana River which flows through the area, but after being pulled into the Other World the stone is sealed away by the shibito opposite the Mirror Pool at its centre, the boundary where the Other World and the Underworld meet. The Mana Stone, a meteor that fell from outer space, is worshipped as an icon according to the villagers' religion, and there are many legends which say that it is also the place where the Drifting God is said to have appeared. The Mana Stone is a "power spot" in Hanuda Village.
Arato
A shopping district that should have vanished 27 years ago. The district is small, with rows of buildings such as a restaurant, tobacconist and barbershop, and has turned into a ghost town that feels as though people were living there until just a few days ago. Near the end of the game the shibito have boarded it up and turned it into part of the Shibito Nest; it is at this point that it becomes clear that the Upper Arato area is on the south side of the Arato neighbourhood (archive no.79, Map of Arato). There is also a scene in which Officer Ishida is happily eating some kind of red gelatin inside the restaurant, but since half-shibito only repeat actions they remember from life, he isn't doing it because he wants something to eat.
Harayadori
Yabe Settlement, which should have disappeared 27 years ago, is dotted with abandoned houses. The houses are gathered together on a steep cliff, arranged as terraced fields, but by then the villagers had already left the settlement due to fear of a landslide occurring. Since there are air raid shelters scattered across the area that were built during the war, rumours have circulated about the former Japanese army concealing weapons somewhere in the settlement, but most of the houses are collapsed or sealed off, and the area doesn't seem to have been lived in in a long time. Also, in the north-west of the area is the Yoshimura house, where twins Kei Makino and Shiro Miyata lived with their parents (archive no.89, Photo of Twins). In the Other World comparatively many shibito live here, lots of whom patrol the area around their dwellings during the three-day period.
Hanuda Elementary - Oribe Branch
The elementary school that Reiko Takato works at and Harumi Yomoda attends. Due to the continuing decline in population, the school is exceptionally small, with one class including students of two year groups. The building is from the period that became trapped in the Other World (2003), and from very early on is shut up by the shibito, so that even in the afternoon the inside of the school is pitch black. By the time the first day of the incident ends, desks and chairs have been stacked into odd barricades, and the hallways are completely blocked. The school itself is a small building with two floors and a gym, with a 1 and 2 year classroom, a 3 and 4 year classrom, a staff room, a library and other facilities. The library in particular appears to have been used by the entire village, as aside from children's books there is other literature such as folk tales and non-fiction books.
Janokubi Valley
An area in the mountains, sucked into the Other World from the present day (2003). Previously it was where the processing plant for ore extracted and carried from Gojaku Peak, but now it is completely deserted. It contains Orifushi Forest, not somewhere for people to pass through, but somewhere a person might think to conceal a body... After the incident Miyata's car is half-buried by a landslide caused by the earthquake, but he is naturally more concerned about where Mina, who just before had been buried in a hole, has gone. A suspension bridge stretches across the Mana River, which flows through the processing station and the middle of the forest.
Tabori
This is an area dotted with wooden, two-storey houses that should have been lost in the landslide 27 years ago, which appears in the Other World village. Most of them are half-collapsed, but amongst them is a formerly abandoned house in which you can see a style of house that was common until the mid 1960s, which has a very Japanese feel to it. With a dial-type black and white TV in the living room and a rotary dial telephone, which Harumi doesn't know what to do with (because they are too old), you can sense the generation gap, and see trivial things that shibito repeat as part of their day-to-day pattern... Working to balance the game, with its high sense of entrapment, the abandoned house level is a place in Siren-style that shows you a scenery that Japanese people used to see.
Karuwari
In the mountains, with Karuwari at its centre, is a group of terraced fields that draw water from the valley, a place that becomes trapped inside the Other World in the present day (2003). Due to the aging inhabitants and depopulation there is no one left to inherit the land, and much of it is no longer cultivated. Precisely when the land began to take shape is unknown, though one theory holds that it grew up around the remnants of stone walls than can be seen even now. Another says that since it is based so near to the church it is used as a graveyard, a fusion to camouflage the village's beliefs. Here and there on the levelled fields you can see Mana crosses, a religious symbol unique to the village, built out of wood, similar to sotoba grave markers, and graves made of stone. There are graves for both the Kajiro family and the Takeuchi family.
Gojaku Peak
A mining facility in the northern mountains of Hanuda Village, which should have vanished 27 years ago in the disaster. Its primary export is tin, and there are carts inside the mine that were used to ferry ore to the production area in Janokubi Valley. Since its closure in 1965 due to ore depletion, the shafts and cart rails give the abandoned place a sense of desolation as it decays. This is the place where Namiko Yoshikawa from chapter 1 of Another Story was spirited away, but since the abandoned mine itself was buried in a landslide during the disappearance incident, no one knows where Namiko went missing. It appears as though mysterious bodies of light, amongst other things, had been spotted there several times in the past, and it is spoken of as a mystery spot in Hanuda Village.
Former Miyata Clinic
The old building that should have vanished in the disaster 27 years ago. By the time of its disappearance it was no longer in use, and had been abandoned. Miyata Clinic, opened in 1927, grew rapidly as a designated Japanese military hospital, backed by the Kajiros. Inside the hospital is an isolation room that seems to have been used for confinement, and a hidden basement, some of the odd things that make it seem unlike a normal hospital The building has two floors with a ward on each. Built around a courtyard, it is possible to reach each ward without leaving the facility. Since Shiro Miyata was raised around the new building rather than this one, this is the first time he has been inside it. The new building also has a hidden basement, disguising the town's darker side.
Hirunotsuka
This place has existed within Hanuda Village since before the founding of the Mana religion, and contains Mizuhiruko Shrine, the main grounds of the indigenous religion. The villagers worshipped Hiruko at the heart of their religion, but since most villagers have now converted to Manaism the area has been largely forgotten. Shrines dedicated to Hiruko can be seen all over the place, but Hanuda Village's version of the legend is unique in that it has him being washed up from a spring rather than the sea. It also appears as though the teaching that Mizuhiruko fell from the sky as a god-like fish was the basis for the legend of Datatsushi's arrival, but it seems like the tale gradually changed from the origins of the religion over the years, distorting, and eventually after many long years took on the village's own form.
Shibito Nest
Built by the shibito using planks and the like to board up windows and doors, as a place to welcome Datatsushi, who hates sunlight, for the ritual. With each passing day since the incident it swells in size, finally blocking all passage through the central part of the village, a huge, "illegally constructed" maze that combines several layers separated into small rooms. This is what the shibito nest refers to. The inside of the nest is divided into multiple levels, at at its deepest point on the fourth level cannot be penetrated by sunlight. Positioned at the centre of the nest is the Mirror Pool, which joins the Other World to the Underworld. In the game, Datatsushi appears from out of the Mirror Pool due to the sacrificed Miyako's "fruit". After the dam is blown up by Miyata, half of it is destroyed by a torrent of water.
Inferno
(One of) the Underworld(s). Midnight Pimpernels bloom wild on the ground, and in the centre of the wide, desolate world is the Mana Stone, the boundary between dimensions. Normally, people from the real world would be unable to get here, but Hisako, of Datatsushi's flesh and blood (and therefore of the same status as Datatsushi), Miyako who is of Hisako, and Kyoya who has part of Miyako... these three are all part of Datatsushi, so they are all able to reach the Underworld (by opening the door in the Mirror Pool) of their own will. At the end, as a result of Hisako's prayers and offering up the fruit, Datatsushi is fully mature and a superior being, but at the same time they remain part of the completed Datatsushi. Kyoya senses Miyako from it, and learns that Datatsushi lurks between dimensions.
English Translation by Chelsea
