Tokyo Fox (東京狐)

This critically acclaimed animation from director Makoto Shinkai has been wowing audiences in Japan and around the world ever since it premiered last August. ‘Your Name‘ (original Japanese title: ‘Kimi No Na Wa‘) is a beautifully animated teen romance film with fantasy elements but most importantly many of the locales featured are actual real places in Gifu and Tokyo.

I actually began tracking down some of these locations back in November 2016 but then got distracted by other things so having re-watched the film recently I took many screen shots and set about visiting them all via bicycle one Sunday over the space of about four hours, including the journey from the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre to Shinjuku ward and back. The order I did them in was done geographically but for simplicity they are listed here in the order which they appear in the 106 minute movie. The time codes given are approximate and may be slightly different to the DVD or blu-ray versions.

Warning: Contains spoilers! 

Labi Shinjuku Higashiguchi-kan (3-23-7 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku) is the first recognisable Tokyo landmark to appear as the capital scenes start 20 minutes into the film. This giant electronics store is just a couple of minutes walk from the east exit of Shinjuku station and it features a couple more times.

The view of the south exit of JR Shinjuku Station taken from Continue reading →