People wait in light rain for seats at the Mon Buran restaurant in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, April 30, 2026. The establishment was a filming location for the 2025 TV drama “The Hot Spot.” (Mainichi/Shusaku Sugimoto)
FUJIYOSHIDA, Yamanashi — One year after the broadcast of the TV drama “The Hot Spot” set at the foot of Mount Fuji, fans continue to visit filming locations in what has become an ongoing “pilgrimage” that includes overseas visitors.
Lines still form at a restaurant featured in the series, surprising the owner who had expected the boom to fade within a month.
At the restaurant Mon Buran in Fujiyoshida, about 30 people were waiting in line even on a rainy weekday lunchtime in late April, checking the menu on their smartphones in temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius. A look at the cars lined up in the parking lot revealed license plates from Osaka, Kyoto, Gifu and Aichi prefectures.
Nodoka Iizuka, 32, who came from Saitama, said with a smile, “After seeing the drama, I always wanted to come here. I thought that by now I wouldn’t have to line up, but I was surprised.” She waited about two hours before finally getting a seat.
The restaurant appeared repeatedly in the January-March 2025 series as the coffee shop where the female lead, played by Mikako Ichikawa, meets her childhood friend. During last year’s spring holiday season, lines stretched as long as a seven- to eight-hour wait. The enthusiasm remains strong a year later.
Mon Buran’s Neapolitan pasta and parfait, the latter of which appeared in the 2025 TV drama “The Hot Spot,” are seen at the restaurant in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, April 30, 2026. (Mainichi/Shusaku Sugimoto)
Owner Masao Gomi, 71, said, “Two weekends ago, around 80 people were lined up. I thought the rush would calm down after a month, but many still come. One guest even visited twice from Kyoto.”
With the series also released on Netflix, Gomi said international tourists have begun stopping by as well. “The farthest visitors came from Brazil,” he noted. Though the workload leaves him little rest, he added wryly, “As long as my body holds out, I’ll keep the doors open for those coming all this way.”
Other filming spots also remain popular. At Shoji Mount Hotel in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, which stood in for the “Lake Hotel Asanoko” where the show’s characters worked, fans continue to photograph the exterior. The hotel’s gift shop still sells official merchandise. A male staff member in his 60s said, “Sales aren’t what they used to be, but the goods are still selling,” adding that visitors now include tourists from Europe as well as Asia.
Nearby, the convenience store Yamazaki Y Shop Shojiko, which appeared in the show, has also seen continued attention. The store’s 53-year-old owner said, “I never imagined the boom would last a full year. Thanks to the drama, Lake Shoji has become well known, bringing energy to the whole region. We’re very grateful.”
(Japanese original by Shusaku Sugimoto, Kofu Bureau)
AloJapan.com