What are the Assassin’s Creed Shadows Legendary Sumi-e locations? Forget war on the Shinbakufu, the art of painting is, at least for now, far more important. As Naoe and Yasuke make their best Bob Ross impressions while taking ink to pad, they’ll occasionally discover a rather special subject.
In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, there are five Legendary Sumi-e subjects that you’ll need to track down. Doing so unlocks the ‘A Rare Occurrence’ achievement (or trophy), making them a must-find for RPG completionists. Below, we lay out the exact AC Shadows Legendary Sumi-e locations, and when you’ll actually be able to encounter them.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Legendary Sumi-e locations
Before we jump in, it should be noted that time is your enemy when collecting the AC Shadows Legendary Sumi-e. While one of the five subjects can be found in all AC Shadows seasons, the other four only spawn at a very specific time of year. What’s more, each Sumi-e only pops up at a certain time of day, making for a particularly long waiting game if you want to scoop the lot in one go.
Considering each full season lasts three hours of in-game time, it’s far more efficient to gradually accumulate these ultra-rare paintings throughout your Shadows playthrough. In our case, we went hunting for the Sumi-e while hoovering up post-game collectibles and making AC Shadows Mon to buy up the remaining paintings.
In addition to the pesky time gating, there isn’t a 100% guarantee that the Legendary Sumi-e will spawn in straight away. There were a couple of occasions where we had to leave and re-enter the area – be it through traveling to a nearby Kakurega and riding back or otherwise – before the animal(s) appeared.
As a final note, the Legendary Sumi-e can be re-encountered, so if you want to come back and show your pals how cool they are, just make sure you’re doing so at the times we outline below.
Here are all the AC Shadows Legendary Sumi-e in the order in which they can be obtained:
- Legendary Macaque
- Legendary White Tanuki
- Legendary Red-crowned Crane
- Legendary Sakura Shika Deer
- Legendary Silver Fox
Legendary Macaque
- Location: Sarumaru Shrine, Little Leaf Glade, Yamashiro
- Season/time: All seasons, evening
- Rewards: Legendary Macaque Sumi-e wall decoration and 550 XP
A nod to the Japanese proverb ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,’ the three wise macaques can be found meditating atop Yamashiro’s Sarumaru Shrine.
Legendary White Tanuki
- Location: Shigaraki Hamlet, The Shimmering Fields, Omi
- Season/time: Summer, daytime
- Reward: Legendary Tanuki Sumi-e wall decoration and 550 XP
Next up we have the Legendary White Tanuki, who can be found chilling just outside the Shigaraki Hamlet in Omi. This area sits just to the east of Lake Biwa’s base, near the border of Iga.
Legendary Red-crowned Crane
- Location: Lake Suigetsu, Wakasa
- Season/time: Winter, daytime
- Reward: Legendary Grey Heron Sumi-e wall decoration and 550 XP
Is it a crane or is it a heron? While the jury’s out on which of these majestic birds this Legendary Sumi-e is, you can make your own decision after studying it up close on a small islet in the Lake Suigetsu area.
Legendary Sakura Shika Deer
- Location: Sakura Meadow, Yoshino, Yamato
- Season/time: Spring, nighttime
- Reward: Legendary Deer Sumi-e wall decoration and 550 XP
Contrary to our snow-covered map, the Legendary Sakura Shika Deer can be found in the aptly named Sakura Meadow during the Spring. The blossom-lined antlers are absolutely gorgeous, and we were lucky to run into this Legendary Sumi-e subject first.
Legendary Silver Fox
- Location: Kamimisu Inari Shrine, Nakahechi Route, Kii
- Season/time: Autumn, nighttime
- Reward: Legendary Silver Fox Sumi-e wall decoration and 550 XP
The final Legendary Sumi-e location on our list has you trekking over to the Kamimisu Inari Shrine in Kii. There you’ll find the Legendary Silver Fox howling at the moon – prime painting material.
And those are the five AC Shadows Legendary Sumi-e locations you’ll need to snag all of the stunning wall decoration rewards, alongside that all-important achievement. For more top-tier Shadows content from us, consult our expansive AC Shadows guides library.