VIVANT Filming Locations in Azerbaijan: Baku, Sheki, and How to Visit
TBS began broadcasting the second season of VIVANT on 26 July 2026. It was filmed in Azerbaijan from August 2025 across eight locations, with Azerbaijan's government and the production house Baku Media Center giving it their full cooperation. This page covers the places that have been named and by whom, the distances between them, and what it takes to reach them from Japan.
Photo: Ludvig14, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A drama filmed on location, and the country it was filmed in
TBS started broadcasting the second season of VIVANT on 26 July 2026 in its Sunday drama slot. The season runs in two parts, with a companion feature film scheduled for December 2026. The lead cast stayed in Azerbaijan for two months from August 2025, and filming took place at eight locations inside the country. Azerbaijan's government and a major video production house gave the shoot their full cooperation: the Ministry of Culture, the local administration and the police on one side, Baku Media Center on the other. That account is one piece of expert commentary, cited under the facts below: it names Sheki as one of the eight and Baku as a filming location, and it does not say what the other locations are or where the figure of eight comes from. We have seen no list from the production side. Hankyu Travel's itinerary is more specific than any of that and labels six sites as filming locations, numbered ロケ地1 to ロケ地6: the Old City of Baku, the historic centre of Sheki, the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi, the Baku Metro, the Candy Cane Mountains, and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs. Those six labels are Hankyu's own. Their page describes the trip as a tie-up with the drama, names no licensor for the designations, and does not say what was shot at any of the six.
Birtour is an Azerbaijani destination management company based in Baku, and we work with Japanese-speaking guides today. We have no connection to the production and we do not sell a VIVANT tour. What this page does is describe the real places, the roads between them, and the ways a Japanese traveller or a Japanese agency can get to them, including the six-day package Hankyu Travel has on sale and the option of arranging the ground side directly.
What is confirmed, and what is not
- 01Season two premiered on TBS on 26 July 2026 as a two-part season, with a companion feature film scheduled for December 2026.
- 02The lead cast stayed in Azerbaijan for two months from August 2025, and filming took place at eight locations inside the country. The commentary this comes from names Sheki as one of the eight and Baku as a filming location; it identifies none of the rest. Hankyu Travel's itinerary labels six sites as filming locations on its own authority, four of them inside Baku and Sheki and two outside: the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi and the Candy Cane Mountains.
- 03Azerbaijan's government and a major video production house gave the shoot their full cooperation. The commentary names the Ministry of Culture, the local administration and the police on the government side, and Baku Media Center on the production side. It does not say either handled permits or location logistics.
- 04Hankyu Travel has a six-day Azerbaijan package on sale, course ET391T, at 279,000 to 379,000 yen per person on a twin-share basis. It went on sale 25 July 2026 and has eleven departures starting 30 November 2026, flying from Haneda via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.
- 05Season two also shoots in Thailand, so Azerbaijan is one of two overseas settings rather than the only one.
The places behind the Azerbaijan scenes
- 01Filming took place at eight locations inside Azerbaijan. The commentary we are working from names Sheki as one of them and Baku as a filming location, and says nothing about the rest. Hankyu Travel's itinerary is more specific than that: it labels six sites ロケ地1 to ロケ地6, which is the Old City of Baku, the historic centre of Sheki, the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi, the Baku Metro, the Candy Cane Mountains, and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs. Those labels carry no source beyond Hankyu, whose page states a tie-up with the drama and describes each of the six only as a sight, without saying what was filmed there.
- 02Icherisheher, the walled old city of Baku, covers about 22 hectares inside 11th and 12th-century fortifications and holds the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs. UNESCO inscribed it in 2000.
- 03Sheki sits about 300 km northwest of Baku in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. Its Yukhari Bash quarter, fortress and caravanserais were inscribed by UNESCO in 2019.
- 04Sheki Khan's Palace, the late-18th-century summer residence inside the fortress, is known for its shebeke windows: latticed stained glass assembled from wood and coloured glass without nails or glue.
- 05The Juma Mosque of Shamakhi was founded in 743 to 744 AD, making it the oldest mosque in Azerbaijan. It stands about 120 km from Baku on the road north.
- 06The Candy Cane Mountains in Khizi are red and white striped ridges about 100 km from Baku. There is no gate and no signage; you stop at roadside pullouts and walk in.
Hankyu Travel's six-day package, and what it does not cover
Hankyu Travel has a six-day Azerbaijan package on sale, course ET391T, priced at 279,000 to 379,000 yen per person on a twin-share basis and on sale from 25 July 2026. There are eleven departures, starting 30 November 2026, flying from Haneda on Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, since Japan has no direct service to Baku. The published itinerary covers Icherisheher, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, the Baku Metro, Sheki old town, the Sheki Caravanserai, the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi, and the Candy Cane Mountains. Departures from April 2027 include a night inside the Sheki Caravanserai.
The first departure falls more than four months after the season starts airing, and the eleven dates are fixed. That is the gap this page exists to fill. Travelling while the season is on, staying longer, moving the dates, or riding in a private vehicle rather than a coach all mean building the ground arrangement separately. Birtour is one of the companies that builds it, and we work with Japanese agencies on a net-rate basis rather than selling a package.
Birtour is not affiliated with TBS, with the VIVANT production committee, or with the travel companies selling packaged VIVANT departures. We are an Azerbaijani destination management company and this page describes the real places behind the drama.
The pages behind this one
What a VIVANT trip to Azerbaijan costs
Hankyu's published package price set against a Turkish Airlines fare we checked ourselves on a stated date, plus the arithmetic we will not do for you.
Japanese-speaking guides in Azerbaijan
How a Japanese-language guiding day gets arranged, why we confirm it booking by booking, and what happens when nobody is free on your dates.
Is Azerbaijan safe for Japanese travellers?
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs advisory, all four levels and the districts each one covers, with the date we checked it.
Land operator for Japanese travel agencies
What stays with the agency and what sits with us, net or commissionable, and the currency and payment questions we have not settled for Japan yet.
Sheki Caravanserai
The 18th to 19th-century merchants' inn on Akhundzade Avenue: the arcaded courtyard, the roughly 300 rooms, and why published sources disagree about which of the two takes overnight guests.
Old City of Baku (Icherisheher)
The walled core of Baku: the fortifications, the Maiden Tower, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, and how to walk it.
Sheki old town
The UNESCO-inscribed silk-trade town 300 km northwest of Baku, its fortress and its caravanserais.
Sheki Khan's Palace
The shebeke windows, the painted interiors, opening practicalities, and what the 2019 inscription covers.
Juma Mosque of Shamakhi
Azerbaijan's oldest mosque, founded in 743 to 744 AD, on the Baku to Sheki road.
Candy Cane Mountains
Where the striped ridges near Khizi actually are, and how to find them without signage.
Azerbaijan DMC services
How Birtour handles ground arrangements for agencies and operators: guides, vehicles, hotels, and permits.
Replies within 1 hour. Proposal within 3 days.
The single complaint we hear about other Azerbaijan DMCs is response speed. We publish ours.
- 1h
Step 01
A named account manager replies
Every inquiry gets a human reply within 1 hour, GMT+4, with a 30-minute discovery call booked alongside.
- 3d
Step 02
Tailored proposal arrives
Within 3 business days you receive an itinerary, pricing, and named suppliers, all built around your brief. No recycled decks.
- 7d
Step 03
Operational handover
Within 7 business days of confirmation, contracts are signed, blocks are held, and your on-site manager is assigned.
What travellers and agencies ask us first
Send a brief. Get a named human reply within 1 hour.
A short intake form: six fields, three required. Not a mailing list signup. A real account manager reads every one.