Tokyo Filming Locations #5 – Godzilla (1954)

Posted on December 4, 2011 by tokyofox

Many years ago I remember hearing about a survey of famous Japanese people conducted somewhere in the western world. I think Jackie Chan was on the list even though he’s not Japanese and in the number one spot was Godzilla which just goes to show how few Japanese people have made it really big overseas!

My first encounter of Godzilla was in its guise as the fire breathing 1980’s cartoon and I saw the 1998 Godzilla remake before the 1954 original. Godzilla is a legendary Japanese monster and as much as I like the icon I have to say that the films are not up to scratch.

Odo Island, where the radioactive creature first appears is completely fictitious but all the Tokyo places are real, well kind of! They were actually filmed at Toho Studios with miniature sets being used to replicate the capital whilst a man wore a rubber suit and stomped all over the three metre high set-pieces.

Godzilla comes out of the water at Tokyo Bay and promptly destroys Shinagawa station (below) on 43 minutes before torching Matsuzakaya Department store at 6-10-1 Ginza  after 59 minutes.

 

After 59 minutes he rips the clock from the Wako Department store (below) at 4-5-11 Ginza.

 

The National Diet Building (above) at 1-7-1 Nagata-cho doesn’t fare much better three minutes later! Both featured in my original Tokyo Godzilla locations post a couple of years ago and in between those two places he crosses Sukiya Bridge (60 minutes) before the New Marion Building at 2-5-1 Yurakucho in Chiyoda-ku is smashed up on 61 minutes.

 

The monster lizard finally destroys Kachidoki Bridge (63 minutes) which stretches across Sumidagawa River and he then returns to the ocean and his 15 minutes of terror are over.

         

There is a tiny statue of Godzilla (above) at 1-2-2 Yurakucho in Ginza which I must have visited many times as it often becomes part of my cycling tours of Tokyo. I say tiny statue but its not as if it was ever gonna be a full-size one!! However, much further afield in Seijogakuenmae there is a much bigger statue on display outside Toho Studios at 1-4-1 Seijo, Setagaya-ku.

 

For other Japan filming locations click on the links below:

You Only Live Twice    Lost In Translation    Kill Bill    Babel    Walk Don’t Run   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

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Tokyo Filming Locations #4 – Babel (2006)

Posted on December 2, 2011 by tokyofox

This tale of three stories on three different continents intertwining with one another features Mexico, Morocco and Japan though it’s not till 19 minutes in that the latter features. It’s then that we see Chieko Wataya (Rinko Kikuchi) playing volleyball (below) on court in a school match. That was filmed at Ishioka City Centre Gymnasium which is all the way up in Fukishima prefecture and as much as I enjoy hunting down these shooting locations there is no way I am going that far just for a photo! For your information, the address is 3-34-1 Minamidai Ishiokashi, Ibaragi-ken 315-0035.

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Perhaps the main Japan location used in ‘Babel‘ was J-Pop Cafe (22 minutes) in Shibuya at 31-2 Udagawacho on the seventh floor. I still haven’t been properly inside the place as I don’t want to pay so much money on an entrance fee. I’m not so sure but it seems from poking my head into the place that it’s not such a schoolkid hangout as portrayed in the film but is instead a bit more sophisticated. It appeared that way but what the hell do I really know when I only saw a bit of the place which is actually divided into three areas.

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Tsuchiya Dental Surgery (below) is close to exit 1 of Kojimachi station and is where the confused schoolgirl has a dental appointment (43 minutes) and even tries to kiss the dentist as he leans over her doing his job. This can be found at 1-4-12 Hirakawacho in Chiyoda-Ku.

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Next, there’s an aerial shot of Kachidoki Bridge (below) which was ripped up and spat out by Godzilla in the 1954 original.

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Moments after that, Chieko is interviewed by two police officers in the lobby within the apartment block where she lives with her father, Yasujiro Wataya (Kōji Hashimoto a.k.a. Nobu from ‘Memoirs Of A Geisha‘) in Tsukuda. This sleepy little area is situated on reclaimed land, was formerly a small fisherman’s village over 300 years ago and today it lives very much in the shadows of its close neighbours Tsukiji and Tsukishima. The name of the building is The Crest Tower (below) and its address is 2-11-6 Tsukuda. It first appears on screen after 44 minutes and then again at the end of the film on 123 minutes.

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Many, many thanks to Tim and David in the comments section for their help with pinpointing the exact location of this place. It should be noted that this tower block (below) is private property so behave with respect and discretion. I asked the staff in the lobby about the film but they really had no idea about it. They did of course know who Rinko Kikuchi was though!

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The typical classic shot of Yasukuni dori in Shinjuku (below) is briefly seen on 62 minutes. It has featured in so many movies and TV programmes over the years such as ‘The Wolverine‘ (2013), ‘Godzilla‘ (2014), ‘Into The Sun‘ (2005) and many more. Why it’s shown I don’t really know as what follows is nowhere near this area!

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There is fairly lengthy scene filmed in a park where Chieko and her deaf mates meet some guys and splash around having fun in the water fountains. That park is sadly no more not that it ever was what I call a park; not a blade of grass and just a small concrete area located beneath an overpass in Nishi-Azabu. The girls cross the road and walk through the tunnel entrance seen below. In this park the girls meet the boys and the film-makers make the place seem way more interesting than it ever was.

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Following the park they take a train to Shibuya and on 66 minutes we see the inevitable appearance of the chaotic Shibuya Crossing (below) and Center Gai which stems off from it.

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They end up in ‘Womb’ nightclub (below) on 67 minutes which is situated in Shibuya in the middle of the love hotel area. The address is Maruyamacho 2-16 and its here that Chieko and friends dance to ‘September’ by Earth, Wind & Fire albeit the Shinichi Osawa remix.

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For other Japan filming locations click on the links below:

You Only Live Twice    Lost In Translation    Kill Bill    Godzilla    Walk Don’t Run   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

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Tokyo Filming Locations #3 – Kill Bill (2004)

Posted on November 30, 2011 by tokyofox

Due to parts of ‘Kill Bill’ being in Japanese (which aren’t subtitled in Japan) I didn’t get into it on my first viewing back in 2004 but when I saw it again five years later my mind was completely changed and I really enjoyed it. It’s very questionable whether this should even be included on Tokyo Fox as, even though it’s ‘set‘ in Japan, two of the main locations were actually filmed in China.

The Bride (Uma Thurman) flies to Okinawa to visit retired sword maker Hattori Hanzo (one of Bill’s former tutors) to aquire the perfect sword needed for her revenge attacks. The sushi bar (below) and workshop (46 minutes) were made in the Beijing studios.

 

Tokyo appears for real on screen after 65 minutes when we see O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) being driven over the illuminated Rainbow Bridge.

  

The Bride trails her on her motorcycle through Shinjuku along Yasukuni-dori (below) one minute later as she heads to a restaurant.

  

That restaurant is ‘Gonpachi’ at 1-13-11 Nishi-Azabu in Minato-ku which served as the inspiration for the ‘House of Blue Leaves’. This very nice, cavernous, rustic-themed place was not actually used though as a similar looking one was built on a soundstage in the studios in Beijing.

  

It was used for the extensive and bloody slice and dice one-against-all scene which precedes her showdown with O-Ren outside that place in the snow. This popular restaurant is fairly expensive but does have a good, cheap lunch menu deal and soon fills up. My photos below were shot before the place opened which is why it’s empty!

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For other Japan filming locations click on the links below:

You Only Live Twice    Lost In Translation    Babel    Godzilla    Walk Don’t Run   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

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Tokyo Filming Locations #2 – Lost In Translation (2003)

Posted on November 29, 2011 by tokyofox

‘Lost In Translation‘ came out not long after I came to Japan for the first time back in 2003 and though I didn’t think too much of the actual story I quite enjoyed it simply for the fact that it was filmed in what was to become my new home. I was more surprised about how many people with no affinity to Japan thought the movie was great. I guess I am just not the arty-farty type! Director Sofia Coppola used the following locations:

* The Park Hyatt Hotel (3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku) features throughout the films 97 minute entirety and is where the characters Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johanson) stay and the 52nd floor is the ‘New York Grill & Bar‘ where a fair few scenes were filmed including when they meet for the first time on 23 mins. This place is a great one for the lunch set menu (5000 yen) with the salad and dessert buffet spread being sufficient enough in itself! A delicious main course of grilled Australian beef or lamb is also part of the deal and the aforementioned buffet is laid out on the table where Bob and Charlotte first meet. More details here.

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* Jougan-ji is a tiny temple in Nishi-Shinjuku (11 minutes 58 seconds to see the same angle as below) which Charlotte visits in the rain for a few brief moments. When I went there it wasn’t anywhere near as tranquil and spiritual as in the film where the moment was further aided by the soundtrack. More details on this place and how to get there can be seen here.

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* Shibuya Crossing is the worlds busiest crossing and has appeared in a countless number of films and ‘Lost In Translation’ is no exception as it appears on screen after 18, 35 and 62 minutes.

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* Air is a nightclub for Tokyo hipsters in Daikanyama (2-11 Sarugaku-cho) and is where Bob, Charlotte and some Japanese friends party amid oversized balloons with a film of fireworks projected onto them after 42 minutes. When I found this place there was nothing more than a door with a board outside detailing the club’s forthcoming events.

 

* Bob sings ‘More than this’ by Roxy Music at Karaoke-kan (30-8 Utagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku) and for the anoraks out there, rooms 601 and 602 are the ones which feature after 46 minutes. The Pachinko parlour which they race through is Botan in Nakameguro.

   

* Rainbow Bridge can be seen after 50 minutes on what is supposedly the taxi ride home from the karaoke session but makes no sense geographically as in reality their hotel in Shinjuku is quite near to the karaoke box in Shibuya.

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* Ichikan (9-5 Daikanyama-cho, Shibuya-ku) is a small and hard-to-find sushi restaurant that’s seen on 56 minutes and the chef in the film actually does work there. This is no cheap kaiten-zushi (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurant but is actually of high cost. With the cheapest course being 6000 yen (£45) I decided to not bother going in which was a shame but there is a limit to my research on a film which I’m not that bothered about!!

 

* A.P.C. Underground clothing store (4-27-6-B1 Jingu-mae) in Harajuku is where the strip club scene (61 minutes) was filmed. By day, it’s one of those so-called fashionable stores where the designer trainers, t-shirts and so on are minimal (I’m talking only three t-shirts on one rail!) and given a lot of space and this is the only part of the film that was ‘faked’ as all the other locations played true in the movie.

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* Nanzen-ji temple and Heian-jingu shrine are the two places Charlotte visits on her little trip to Kyoto. 72 minutes of the film have passed when she walks over the stepping stones (below) in Heian-jingu garden (600 yen entry).

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Moments later she’s walking across the impressive shrines grounds at Heian-jingu  below.

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* Shabuzen is a shabu-shabu restaurant under the Creston Hotel (Kamiya-cho 10-8, Shibuya) and is where Bob and Charlotte are shocked by the idea that they actually had to cook the meat themselves which to be honest is still not something I like as when I go out to eat I don’t want to have to cook.

  

Japanese homes are so small that entertaining guests is not so possible so they like to go out and cook the thin slices of beef and vegetables themselves. My friend Michael went for the shabu-shabu deal while I had a late change of heart and plumped for the unagi-don (grilled eel in a sweet sauce on a bed of rice in a bowl) set instead which was OK but probably not worth the extra cost which I had to pay for the privelege for eating in surroundings far more sophisticated than I am used to. It appears on screen after 81 mins.

     

Read my ‘Lost In Translation‘ review here

For other Japan filming locations click on the links below:

You Only Live Twice    Kill Bill    Babel    Godzilla    Walk Don’t Run   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    Ponyo

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Tokyo Filming Locations #1 – You Only Live Twice (1967)

Posted on November 27, 2011 by tokyofox

One of the first major international films to use Japan’s capital as a backdrop was the 1967 James Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice’ starring Sean Connery. Despite being killed off before Nancy Sinatra’s beautiful 007 theme kicks in, its just a crafy strategy.

Bond goes on a mission to Japan 16 minutes into the film starting at the sumo arena (more commonly known as Kokugikan) in Ryogoku. He enters the changing rooms where yokozuna (‘grand champion’) Sadanoyama Shinmatsu gives him his ticket and the match is between Kotozakura Masakatsu and Fujinishiki Takemitsu which he seemingly only watches for a few moments before leaving with Aki. The address is 1-3-28 Yokoami, Sumida-ku.

     

The New Otani Hotel at 4-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku near Akasaka-Mitsuke station plays the part of Osato Chemicals exterior for a few brief moments after 24, 28, 36 and 41 minutes. There is a restaurant in the circular revolving part at the top of the hotel complex and I took my parents for lunch there which you can read about here. Its small, but peaceful gardens round the back are worth a visit for anyone wishing to take a break from the concrete jungle.

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Bond escapes Osata Chemicals in a car with the help of Aki who avoids his questions which makes him suspicious and she flees to a secluded subway station (below) which is Nakano-Shimbashi on the Marunouchi Line (28 minutes). As one can imagine, the south-west corner where filming took place place, looks very different over four decades later.

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This is the private transportation hub of Japanese secret service leader “Tiger” Tanaka who many years later appeared in Raymond Benson’s The Man With The Red Tattoo‘ book.

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Bond is hot on her trail and follows her down some steps and on to the platform (below) which is obviously a bit different these days. Believe it or not taking such simple photos wasn’t quite so straightforward as when I was down the far end of the platform a member of staff came down to tell me not to take photos. I asked him why not a few times before giving up as people just don’t question rules in this country. He must have seen me on the CCTV cameras but thankfully I’d got my shot just before he intervened.

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On yet another escape from Osata Chemicals, Bond and Aki drive by Komazawa Olympic Park on 42 minutes. The shots seen below were shot under the bridge with the athletics stadium on the right and the gymnasium on the left. 

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Within a couple of seconds the car is speeding by Yoyogi National Gymnasium (below) as the two locations, which are actually about 8km apart, are blended together to make it all look seamless.

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This escape leads them well away from Tokyo to the docks of Kobe where he tries to dodge SPECTRE agents. My photo below was taken in Kobe Harbour in May and the red bridge in the background appears briefly before the exciting roof-top scene.

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The helicoptor flight (below) on 54 minutes was filmed above Ebino in Miyazaki prefecture.

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Bonus: Himeji castle appears after 69 minutes and is under extensive reconstruction at the time of writing but luckily I captured it back in 2005. This white castle is the Ninja training school where Bond turns Japanese and the shots below all get a second or two of screen time!

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After Aki meets her inevitable demise, Bond limbers up (76 minutes) in the West Bailey. When I was in Himeji back in May I had only one screenshot with me and was most surprised to see that the stone statue thing behind Sean Connery was still knocking about. Needless to say I was the only person in the whole place who took an interest in this piece of concrete!

 

Kirishima National Park (below) in Kagoshima (on Japan’s southern main island) is the extinct volcano which can be seen briefly on 87 minutes with the interior of Blofeld’s hideout filmed back in the UK at Pinewood studios.

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(Many thanks to John P. who e-mailed me with important information on some of these locations)

See other James Bond filming locations by clicking on the links below:

London        Prague        Venice        Como        Istanbul        Las Vegas        Phuket        Vienna        Hong Kong        New York        Panama        Skyfall

For other Japan filming locations click on the links below:

Lost In Translation    Kill Bill    Babel    Godzilla    Walk Don’t Run   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

Posted in James Bond, Japan Filming Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 50 Comments

Running To Standstill

Posted on November 25, 2011 by tokyofox

Since about July 2006 I have been running regularly (anything between one and four times a week) and its really been part of my life and for somone who has a sweet tooth its really helped me keep my weight down. Obviously I didn’t run whilst I was in the USA back in August but on my return I upped the ante as I like sweating in the hot and humid Tokyo Summer as it seems more beneficial for losing weight. I was doing it for one hour every other day without fail in September and in the final few minutes of a run on a Thursday I felt a bit of pain but I didn’t think much of it. A couple of days later in late September I set out in the morning but within 10 minutes I pulled up with a severe bout of leg pain and hobbled back home. I knew it was more serious than just a knock but as ever I thought it would be gone within a week or so.

However, two months on and I still haven’t put back on my running shoes as I am still feeling a bit of pain in my right leg and it really is getting to the stage now where I am seriously contemplating going to see a physiopherapist. It is so frustrating for me, it really is and it sure does make me realise how hard it must be for professional sportsmen and women when they get injured for any length of time. As a result I have been trying to do a bit more cycling to compensate but other than that and my 200 push-ups (five sets of 40) a day I feel that its not enough and long to get back out on the roads….even in this cold Winter!

Posted in Action & Adventure, Cycling, Sport | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Films Set In Japan – The Ramen Girl (2008)

Posted on November 21, 2011 by tokyofox

The late Brittany Murphy plays the overly common ‘fish out of water’ role in this one which follows the ‘The Karate Kid’ style format in terms of student respecting and doing all that the teacher requests beginning with taking pride in doing the less-glamorous jobs first in order to appreciate things further up the ladder. Her character Abby is stranded in Tokyo after her boyfriend heartlessly dumps her. She’s miserable, speaks almost no Japanese but despite this she still has a job working at a law firm which in reality probably wouldn’t happen. Late one night she enters her local ramen (chinese noodles in a meat broth with some vegetable toppings) restaurant where she encounters the tyrannical Japanese ramen master Maezumi and thats where the story begins.

Veteran actor Toshiyuki Nishida is well known in Japan and he plays the chef who isn’t charming enough to be liked but likewise he isn’t mean enough to be hated. He speaks no English, she speaks no Japanese and in my view their relative cluelessness as to what the other person is talking about is what makes this film different as this happens in foreign countries but is rarely seen in films. Neither do they suddenly transform into native speakers as often happens! Of course this ‘lost in translation’ scenrio means the film has quite a bit of Japanese dialogue and therefore English subtitles which rarely appeal to English-speaking audiences.

Abby loves the ramen so much she decides that she wants Maezumi to train her in the hope that it will give her life some meaning or something like that. Of course he’s not interested but she’s insistent and eventually he relents and gives her all the cleaning to do and as the weeks pass she wonders if she will ever actually be taught how to make ramen. Eventually she does and the film pretty much turns out as one would expect…or does it?! She creates her own unique ramen dish and hopes to get the approval of the grandmaster ramen chef.

As for the locations there’s no famous Tokyo landmarks and all that features of the capital city are a few street scenes. The ramen restaurant was a studio set but the Ramen Museum Abby goes to on a date with Toshi is real and is in Yokohama.

The end to the movie feels a bit rushed and not really in line with the rest of the film. ‘The Ramen Girl’ is a good way to introduce Japanese culture, values and traditions to other cultures. It really shows how obsessive the Japanese are about food and that it has to be made with ‘tamashii’ (soul) which has had the most lasting impact on me not that I can ever really understand such a thing.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

Posted in Films, Food & Drink, Review: Films Set In Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Credit In Japan Is Not On The Cards!

Posted on November 19, 2011 by tokyofox

When I was in Turkey a few months ago I talked about having money problems regarding my UK credit card being rejected. I never bothered sorting out that card as I was hoping to get a Japanese credit card which would be far more useful to me as I’ve got money here and the yen goes way much further now than its ever done in my lifetime.

Having spent a good half hour going through the usual Japanese red tape at SMBC (the Japanese bank I’m with) I waited expectedly for a letter in the following weeks. However, when it did arrive it was bad news and there was some letter saying I’d been rejected which obviously p*ssed me off immensly. Non-Japanese residents reading this may also be shocked but you really shouldn’t be as this kind of thing is part of being a foreigner here where there’s seemingly one rule for them and one rule for us.

I can understand that there have been many foreigners here who have ran off and left Japan without paying their debts but given that I provided them with all kinds of information (including my workplace information) and am completely up-to-date with my residence tax it is very frustrating to have not been given one. This annoyance is further highlighted by the fact that other people have seemingly been given a credit card without fuss. Maybe I’ll just have to try with a different company. On the other hand I do know of guys who are married to Japanese and whathaveyounot but have still been denied a credit card. All this is just typical of the Japanese system and the endless admin involved with most things. Rant over.

Posted in Japan Life | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Back To Square One At Leicester As Pearson Returns

Posted on November 17, 2011 by tokyofox

Three weeks ago I woke up to the news that Sven Goran-Eriksson had been sacked by Leicester which, despite our inconsistent form, was quite a shock. Personally I’ve always been a big fan of the Swede but whether he’s suited to club football is one that could be debated. No sooner had he departed then the speculation started about his replacement with a host of names being mentioned. Obviously Martin O’Neill was linked with it straight away and as much as I love him I don’t really think its a good idea to go back to a club, particularly when you’ve been so successful there. Ironic then that the next man rumoured to be top of the list was ex-City manager Nigel Pearson who is statistically the clubs most successful manager.

Anyway, yesterday it was finally confirmed that he was to return following a week of waiting while Leicester and Hull discussed compensation or whathaveyounot. I have to say that I’m quite under-whelmed by the appointment and the man himself who often comes across as really dour in the media interviews. Having said that you really can’t argue with his record at the club having taken over in the Summer of 2008 and guided us straight back up as Champions. The 2009-2010 season back in The Championship was a great campaign too and if it wasn’t for a couple of penalties in the play-off semi final against Cardiff who knows what may have happened. Pearson seems to have a strong distrust of the media which will surely hamper his career if he doesn’t address it. However, as much as that side of things can help, it is a results business that we live in and if he finishes the job he started back in the Milan Mandaric era then it won’t matter to most how he comes across in the media.

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Tokyo Daytripper: Autumn Leaves In Chichibu

Posted on November 14, 2011 by tokyofox

It’s that time of year now when the Japanese get very excited about the brightly coloured red and yellow leaves which appear all around Japan between mid-October and mid-December depending on the part of the country. Yesterday was supposedly the best day for ‘koyo‘ in Saitama so when my Japanese teacher asked me to join her and two friends I thought I might as well. Now, I’ve never been that bothered about these leaves but fancied a day-trip and thought it would give me something to write about as, apart from a fairly vague and ever-so-slightly sexist article back in December 2006, I have never really written anything about the Autumn foliage. It has to be said that they really do highlight the beauty of all areas in much the same way that the cherry blossom does in Spring time.

         

It was a very early start (I had to be at one of the ladies’ nearby house by 6.50am!) yesterday and after almost a three hour drive we set out with the idea to do a 3-4 hour hike along the Arakawa river amid the maple leaves. However, that would have meant the driver taking a bus back along the route to get her car to drive back and pick us up so as a result we ended up doing parts of it by car. This meant we could just stop at the areas where the vivid colours were the most mesmerising which was usually where there were a few old men with huge cameras and tripods. Nothing compared to the madness of Tokyo’s flame-coloured leaves sights where this ‘specimen’ all seem to gather and fill the place.

     

The most strenuous walk we did was a steep 30 minute ascend of a mountain to see a cave which only offered a very short climb inside. Not so exciting really but it was compleltely deserted so we had our lunch there.

         

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