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Last update: April 30th, 2020

Like a lot of artists, Gosho Aoyama bases his settings - sometimes more, sometimes less - on real world models and even the locations his series play in can be vaguely pinpointed. I think stuff like this is highly interesting and I just hope that some of you do, too. I researched and wrote this for a message board originally, but it went offline a couple of years ago and didn't return - and now that the domain seems to be for sale, I don't expect it to ever come back. So I put this stuff in here as an active work in progress. What you'll do with this information in the end is up to you - maybe you can use this knowledge for a fan fiction or go on one of those Manga/Anime pilgrimages when you are in Japan.

Every series will be partitioned by medium (yes, the position of the same building or place in a franchise differs from medium to medium sometimes) and per section, I will first show comparions between the real world model and Gosho's interpretation and afterwards I will present a rough estimation of where his stories are set (based on hints to their relative location in-universe - and yes, this also isn't always the same place as where the model it was based on happens to be in real life).

I'm talking about the different (real) wards (-ku) of Tokyo and the towns (-chō) they are composed of respectively a lot, which can get quite complicated and confusing if you are not knowledgable about the geography and how Tokyo is administrated. To the right you can see a very good map from TokyoMap.com, giving you a quick and simple rundown of the structure of its wards.

Detective Conan

Manga

Models

Model	Manga	Description
		Hideo Akagi and his team are playing their soccer match in Tokyo National Stadium (Kasumigaoka District, Shinjuku Ward) in FILE.69 - 71 (Volume 7, File 9 - 11), also known as Kokuritsu Kyōgijō, as it is called in the chapters, too. The real stadium has been restructured since then and looks vastly different than at the time it was featured in Detective Conan.
		The "Yotsubishi Gas" station in FILE.82 (Volume 9, File 2) is a play on the (once) real "Mitsubishi Gas" stations, including a fitting four-petaled logo (instead of the usual three-petaled one); but considering that there are, like, thousands of gas stations in and around Tokyo who all look similar or identical, and the fact that none of them have that same name anymore (most of it seems to be Nippon Oil by now) and that this was over two decades ago, I'll already guess that it will be extremely difficult or impossible to ever find this exact one...
		The headquarters of Nichiuri TV in FILE.102 - 104 (Volume 11, File 2 - 4) are based on the previous main headquarters of Nippon TV in the Nibanchō District of Chiyoda ward.
		The view from the roof Conan Edogawa and Kaitou Kid have their first meeting on in FILE.156 - 157 (Volume 16, File 6 - 7) and, hence, the position of Haido City Hotel are identical with those of the ANA Intercontinental Tokyo Hotel in the Akasaka District of the Minato Ward. Apart from that, Gosho used a different model for the hotel itself.
		This is probably the one most people on here already know: Beika Station is based on Shin-Ōkubo Station, just like in the movies, in real life built in the Hyakunin District of Shinjuku Ward. Contrary to the movies, though, it isn't on vaguely the same position as the real train station, but closer to the Ebisu and Gotanda Districts on the border between the wards Shibuya, Minato and Shinagawa - more about that later.
		Beika Aquarium from FILE.882 - 884 (Volume 83, File 10 - Volume 84, File 2) is modeled after the Toba Aquarium in the City of Toba in Mie Prefecture.
		The place Professor Agasa, Conan Edogawa, Ai Haibara and the Detective Boys drive to in FILE.885 - 887 (Volume 84, File 3 - 5) is the Horikirimizube Park at 1-chōme of the Horikiri District in the Katsushika Ward of Tokyo, with the Arakawa doubling as Teimuzu River in Detective Conan. The aforementioned park indeed is a popular spot for kite flying competitions in real life. The bridge sporting these distinct Y-shaped concrete pylons seen several times next to the park in this case, on the other hand, is the Shin-Arakawa Bridge.
		The Kamaitachi Inn from FILE.909 (Volume 86, File 5) is modeled after the Echigoya Ryokan in Narai (Shiojiri City), in the midst of the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, at an old route between Tokyo (Edo back then) and Kyoto - so yes, the description about the "Kamaitachi Inn" being "in the mountains of Nagano" in the Manga is certainly true for its reference building.
		"Sound Studio HAKOBUNE" in FILE.936 (Volume 88, File 10 - 11 and Volume 89, File 1) is modeled after "Sound Studio NOAH Shinjuku" in Nishi-Shinjuku 7-10-12, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. (There are several Sound Studio NOAH in Tokyo, including another one in Shibuya Ward, but the Shinjuku one is the correct model.)
		The Suzuki Library Kaitou Kid tries to get into in FILE.963 - 965 (Volume 91, File 4 - 6) is actually the library building of the Kagoshima University in Kagoshima on Japan's Kyushu Island.
		"Haido Port" in FILE.1039 - 1042 is practically identical to the real life Hinode Pier at the border between Minato Ward (which it belongs to) and Chiyoda Ward - the next hint that Haido really seems to coincide with a fictional area on/between those two parts of Tokyo in Gosho's mind (and in the Mangaverse at least). The warehouses on the right (and the one the case happens in) are the Hinode Pier Warehouses (2 Chome-7 Kaigan, Minato Ward, Tokyo 105-0022) - in real life, the ones on the panel/photo are numbered 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, etc., in Detective Conan, they are simply given numbers. Judging by their Manga and real life succession, No. 4 (where the murder happens in) should correlate with warehouse 2-D. Furthermore, the ship in front of the other one Ran Mouri, Kazuha Toyama and Momiji Ooka photograph themselves in front of in the last chapter of this case is the "Silver Muse" of the Silverseas company, which actually passes (or passed - it seemingly moved to Canada afterwards) the Hinode Pier on its route when it arrives in Tokyo after leaving Yokohama - just like it passed Haido Port in Detective Conan. I haven't found out the "identity" of the other ship, though.

Detective Conan: Wild Police Story

Model	Manga	Description
		The Metropolitan Police Academy Tokyo from Rei's Manga spin-off is just that: The real Metropolitan Police Academy. It's called by its actual name and also looks the same in the Manga. No renaming or anything. It's not actually in the City of Tokyo, but part of it's Metropolitan Area - in the City of Fuchū. This is also mentioned in the Wikipedia article.