In a departure from past entries, Silent Hill f will shift its setting away from the franchise’s titular town to a brand-new location. The upcoming title aims to steer Silent Hill back to its Japanese influences, with the story taking place in the 1960s in a rural Japanese town based on a real-life place in Japan. Since Silent Hill f’s trailer reveal last week, residents and people familiar with the actual town have been excitedly sharing images and insight that show just why it was picked for the horror series’ latest outing.
According to Konami’s Silent Hill Transmissions stream, Silent Hill f’s story takes place in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka, which is inspired by Kanayama, Gero in Japan’s Gifu prefecture. The location was suggested by Ryukishi07, the game’s lead scenario writer and creator of the acclaimed When They Cry horror/mystery series. Ryukishi07 apparently selected Kanayama from a list of various other candidates, favoring how its “extremely unique townscape” reflects the passage of time and shows how structures have evolved to accommodate people’s changing lifestyles.
Japanese people with ties to Kanayama seemed thrilled to find out that the town will become the stage for a brand-new Silent Hill game, and they wasted no time in sharing photographs that really drive home the horror-potential Ryukishi07 must have seen in the town.
X user @sinonomeimori, whose grandmother’s hometown is Kanayama, comments that as soon as they saw Silent Hill f, they started recognizing an eeriness in their usual, “boring” walking route in Kanayama. They shared the images above, commenting, “Please come visit Kanayama, a town where you can snap unsettling scenes even outside of the world of Silent Hill.” While some of the photos simply give off a rural, moody and somewhat isolated atmosphere, others are downright spooky (those handprints look straight out of a horror game).
If you’ve played Ryukishi07’s Higurashi: When They Cry visual novel series, you’ll know that rural Japanese towns can really contribute to bone-chilling horror. Interestingly, Higurashi’s fictional setting of Hinamizawa was based on the real-life Shirakawa-go, which is also located in Japan’s Gifu prefecture, just like Kanayama.
Moreover, Ryukishi07’s comment about Kanayama reflecting the passage of time is accurate when considering that the area is known for numerous artifacts dating from the Jomon period (circa 14,000 to 300 BC). Most notable are the Kanayama Megaliths, which, according to archaeoastronomic research, are possibly a rare example of a solar calendar in ancient Japan.
According to X users familiar with Kanayama, its recreation in Silent Hill f is looking very faithful based on the trailer. The town’s inclusion in the game is being met with positive reception, as @sinonomeimori notes, “Kanayama has no entertainment, it’s cold and sparsely populated, so I thought that the town would gradually depopulate and disappear. However, I’ve seen so many replies from people saying they love the atmosphere and want to visit, which has filled me with joy. Thank you so much.”
Silent Hill f is currently in development for the PC (Steam/Epic Games Store), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
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