We already know that the Onimusha team at Capcom spent two years just securing permission to use the late Toshiro Mifune’s likeness for Onimusha: Way of the Sword’s portrayal of Musashi Miyamoto, but it seems they were just as dedicated when it comes to creating the game’s environments.
Set in a dark fantasy Kyoto during the Edo-period, the Onimusha series’ latest entry depicts numerous historical locations, with the recently released demo taking place at the famous Kiyomizu-dera Temple. According to director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki, who recently talked to 4Gamer, the game also recreates locations that are normally inaccessible to the public. One such place is the well at Kyoto’s Rokudō Chinnō-ji, a Buddhist temple believed to date back to 836 (showcased in-game during Summer Game Fest 2026).
This site is interesting in the context of Onimusha, as the well, located in the temple’s backyard, has been known since at least the Middle Ages as an “entrance to the underworld” in Japanese folklore. According to legend, the Heian-period court official and poet Ono no Takamura (802-853) used the well to travel to the realm of Enma (the King of Hell) every night, where he served in the ruler’s court before returning to the world of the living by morning.
Additionally, since the area around the temple itself was located near the entrance of what used to be an ancient cremation ground, it came to be regarded the crossroads of the six Buddhist realms of existence, essentially a boundary between the living world and the afterlife. Given Onimusha’s worldbuilding, it’s not surprising that the developers went out of their way to include this location in Way of the Sword.
Fearing that reaching out to the temple directly would be too forward, Kadowaki says Capcom even received the support of Kyoto City’s local government to make it happen. And despite the well being off-limits to ordinary visitors in real life, the developers didn’t cut corners when recreating it for the game, so Nihei and Kadowaki hope players will take the time to appreciate the location in-game.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is set to release on September 25 for OC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. A free demo is available on all platforms
