Aye... a LOT of daily life anime uses real reference sites. The artists go on field trips and take lots of reference pics.
I'm not sure which location that is... but I remember seeing a live-action Shogi match that was played on a field banked by a hill that was lined with cherry trees. I don't know if that's just a popular landscaping technique or if it was the same locale.
http://xwork.xsrv.jp/yamagata-e/sightseeing/shogi.html