Visiting the Star Wars locales in Tunisia in 2009 whetted my urge for food for doing one thing comparable a bit nearer to house. These Tokyo capturing location posts weren’t significantly good however they did catch a little bit of consideration and certainly featured in {a magazine} and newspaper in Japan. Quick ahead 18 months and I took a visit 500 kilometres south to the Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto and so on.) to trace down the film places for a handful of worldwide productions together with ‘Misplaced in Translation‘ (2003), ‘The Final Samurai‘ (2003), ‘Memoirs of a Geisha‘ (2006) and ‘You Solely Stay Twice‘ (1967) amongst others.
The in a single day bus from Tokyo to Osaka was lengthy and sleepless. Why I didn’t ebook a ticket to Kyoto or simply disembark there I actually don’t know! Because it was, I took an instantaneous prepare from Osaka again to Kyoto adopted by a subway to my first place of curiosity.
Fushimi Inari has been an excessively standard shrine with vacationers for the final decade or so however again then it actually didn’t entice the form of crowds seen since. I just about had the place to myself for the hour or so I used to be there and even once I departed at round 9:00 am it was nonetheless pretty abandoned. Such days are lengthy gone now!
It was ‘Memoirs of a Geisha‘ (2006) which introduced this place to my consideration as there’s a stunning scene starring a path of great wanting torii gates. The filming places put up for that movie is without doubt one of the hottest posts ever to look on Tokyo Fox which surprises me as many individuals have been there since and executed a lot better jobs of showcasing the fantastic thing about the place. Extra particulars right here.
Nijo-jo was subsequent as I’d failed to go to it on my two earlier visits to Kyoto as a result of time constraints. It was good sufficient and the palace gardens have been pretty nice, however it didn’t do an excessive amount of for me.
There was the briefest of photo-stops at Kinkakuji (a.okay.a. Golden Pavillion) after that after which it was a irritating journey to the subsequent temple.
Attending to Kiyomizu-dera by bus took an eternity because of the overly congested roads. By way of motion pictures, it’s ‘Wasabi‘ (2001) starring Jean Reno which featured a scene or two at this majestic temple. Extra particulars right here.
On the second day I headed off to Himeji station the place I then took a bus to Mount Shosha which is house to Engyoji Temple.
This temple was the place Tom Cruise’s and Ken Watanabe’s characters first meet in ‘The Final Samurai‘ (2003). Extra particulars right here.
Again in central Himeji I then visited Japan’s premier citadel, Himeji-jo. Nonetheless, again then it was below reconstruction so the primary half was all lined up. This was my second time to go to the citadel which was used within the James Bond film ‘You Solely Stay Twice‘ (1967). Extra particulars right here.
On the way in which again to Osaka, I dropped by Kobe as associates Neil and John have been there. I walked round for a bit earlier than assembly up with them at a British bar.
The next morning, I took a 30-minute bus trip from Mukomachi station to Yoshimine-dera.
It seems in ‘Memoirs of a Geisha‘ (2006) because the temple the place younger Chiyo provides her cash in prayer earlier than ringing the bell. Extra particulars right here.
Again in Kyoto, I then went to Chion-in Temple which, with the addition of CGI, was seen in ‘The Final Samurai‘ (2003).
Heian-jingu shrine was subsequent and this offered a double dose of filming folklore as each ‘Misplaced in Translation‘ (2003) and ‘Memoirs of a Geisha‘ (2006) included temporary scenes right here. Extra particulars right here.
The day was rounded off but once more with one other Hub however this time it was the bottom ground one (not so frequent in Japan) in Gion, Kyoto’s well-known Geisha district.
My last day concerned a detour to Hikone in Shiga Prefecture as I wished to go to Hikone-jo Fort which was in a reasonably minor movie referred to as ‘3 Ninjas Kick Again‘ (1994).
It was truly the gardens beneath the citadel which featured extra prominently on this child’s movie. Extra particulars right here.
Regardless of having been based mostly in Osaka the entire time, I had truly seen little or no of it so my last afternoon and night (forward of my night time bus again to Tokyo) was spent wanting across the typical vacationer sights in Dotonbori.
Within the intervening years I’ve been again to this area of Japan a number of occasions and extra filming places have been checked off however this specific journey in Might 2011 was the one that basically bought the ball rolling with a few of the largest worldwide productions to have ever been made in Japan.
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Click on right here to learn ‘The Japanese Fort Which Can Rival Himeji-jo For Showing In Motion pictures’