Assassin's Creed Shadows: Sumi-e Locations & Interactive Tracking Guide

What Map Master's Japan and Awaji Island maps mark are the possible locations where a Sumi-e opportunity can spawn — so instead of riding aimlessly hoping a brush icon appears, you can head somewhere the game actually places them.

Then there are the five Legendary Sumi-e, which are fixed, have no map markers at all, and are the reason "A Rare Occurrence" is one of the game's most demanding trophies.

How Painting a Sumi-e Works

A paintbrush icon appears on your compass when a subject is nearby — generally within 60 to 80 metres, occasionally further.

Dismount and go prone, then approach slowly. Hold L2, LT, or right-click to Observe, and once you're at the right distance, the reticle forms a white circle. That triggers the painting cutscene and the piece enters your collection.

Either character can paint. Approach standing or too quickly and the animal bolts.

Two Trophies Come From Sumi-e

• "Chase the Morning" simply wants paintings hung on your Hideout walls. Any building with a Wall Station works, and a handful of ordinary animal paintings covers it.

• "A Rare Occurrence" wants all five Legendary Sumi-e — a far longer commitment. Completing it also unlocks five Legendary wall decorations for the Hideout.

Legendary Sumi-e Have No Map Markers

Unlike ordinary Sumi-e, the legendary animals appear at fixed locations — but the game marks none of them.

Four of the five are season-locked, one apiece to Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Three appear only at night. And with every condition satisfied, the spawn chance still sits around 35%.

The Legendary Wise Macaques are the exception and the sensible starting point — in the field north of Sarumaru Shrine in Little Leaf Glade, southeastern Yamashiro, east-northeast of Uji Tawara.

Available in all four seasons, night only. A nod to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

The Sakura Shike Deer is in Spring and at night only, at the unmarked Sakura Meadow in Yamato. Fast travel to Mountain Blossom Pagoda to the northwest, pass the semi-collapsed torii gate, dismount, and go prone as soon as the Observe prompt appears.

The Legendary White Tanuki sits just outside Shigaraki Hamlet in The Shimmering Fields, Omi — east of Lake Biwa's southern end, near the Iga border.

Resetting a Legendary Sumi-e Spawn

Waiting achieves nothing. Reloading the area does.

Ride 200 to 500 metres away and return — dropping a map marker is the easiest way to judge the distance. Fast travelling to a Viewpoint or Kakurega and riding back works the same way.

Two details that save real time. Legendary animals never spawn during day/night transitions, so at dusk or dawn, wait for full light or full dark before cycling. And save manually before approaching — if the animal spots you and flees, a reload puts it straight back.

On a controller you'll feel a vibration at the correct spot even when nothing has spawned, confirming you're in the right meadow. Mouse and keyboard players get no such cue.

Seasons Don't Advance While You Wait

Each season runs about three real hours, but it will not change while you idle. Seasons advance when you force one from the menu, fast travel, or begin or complete a major quest.

Which means camping a meadow waiting for Winter is wasted time. The practical approach is to start hunting Legendary Sumi-e in Act 2, once seasons begin rotating, and take each one as its season comes around naturally.

Doing all five in a single sitting means sitting through multiple three-hour cycles, and since several sit in high-level regions, level 32 or higher is advisable if you attempt it that way.

All five can be re-encountered afterwards.

Landscape Sumi-e and Awaji Island

Not every subject is an animal. Certain Landmarks are painting subjects in their own right — Eshima, the rocky island at the end of the Trail of Eshima, is Awaji's Landscape Sumi-e and ties into Junjiro's Painting Memories quest.

Nothing here is missable. Every Sumi-e opportunity, legendary or otherwise, remains available in post-story free roam.