This film proved to be Cary Grant’s swan-song and it was mostly set in and around Toranomon during the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. On his arrival in the Japanese capital on business he turns up at Hotel Okura (below) in the first minute which is located at 2-10-4 Toranomon. He is unable to get a room there so goes to the British Embassy at 1 Ichibancho in Chiyoda ward which lies to the west of the Imperial Palace. It is here where he sees an advert for an apartment which he soon fast-talks his way into sharing with Samantha Eggar.

The first shot we see is of the impressive embassy building itself (above) followed by a close up of the sign (above) which I tried to replicate but its not so visible unlike my hand and camera which can be seen in the reflection!

A lot of the action takes place on the streets of Toranomon which all looks very different these days but thats not so surprising as it has been over 40 years since it was made! The embassy and hotel are the two main locations although Asakusa senso-ji temple (below) does appear in the opening montage after just 12 seconds. The address for this bustling tourist attraction is 2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku.

The three main stars take a boat to Mikawa, an old province of Japan, 11 minutes into the film where they visit a garden three minutes later. The next Tokyo location to appear on screen is not till the 91st minute when Yoyogi National Gymnasium (below) is where the Olympic walking race begins and ends. Rather embarrassingly it took me quite a while before I realised that it’s this event which gives the film its title!

For other Japan filming locations click on the links below:

You Only Live Twice    Lost In Translation    Kill Bill    Babel    Godzilla     Into The Sun    Monster    Wasabi    The Grudge    Ju:On The Grudge    The Ramen Girl   The Toxic Avenger Pt II    The Wolverine    Memoirs Of A Geisha    The Last Samurai     House Of Bamboo