Kurosawa sights

I’m going to be heading over to Japan in January 2013 and I’d really like to take in a few Kurosawa-related sights (I’m thinking of visiting Nara, for example) – are there any sights I should definitely make sure to see?

That’s a good question.

At one point, I actually did some preliminary research for a page that I hope would one day list interesting places for a Kurosawa fan to visit, but due to other commitments I haven’t been able to get very far. But in case it helps any, here are the Japanese locations that I have marked down so far. Do bear in mind that it misses an awful lot, including Kurosawa’s birth place, family home, or any of the major filming locations.

Perhaps someone else here may be able to add to the list, or has visited these places and can tell whether they are worth it. I think that I have been only to Himeji, and can tell that it’s definitely worth the visit, Kurosawa or not.

Kyoto, Japan

Ishihara Ryokan

Inn where Kurosawa stayed when in Kyoto

http://almostaustralian1.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/in-the-house-of-akira-kurosawa/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g298564-d1546015-Reviews-Ishihara-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html

Toei Movie Land

http://samayoeruneko.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/movie-magic/

Tokyo, Japan

Seven Samurai Mural (Toho Studios)

https://akirakurosawa.info/forums/topic/seven-samurai-mural

http://www.tohostudio.jp/general/info.html

http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/nobish/1161toho.html

4 Kurosawa restaurants

http://9638.net/eng/

Mifune restaurant

http://www.mifune-project.com/en/index.html

Azumino, Japan

Daio Wasabi farm

One segment of Dreams was filmed here

http://www.azumino-e-tabi.net/en/contents03+index.id+2.htm

Kurosawa Film Studios

http://www.kurosawafilmstudio.com/

Himeji, Japan

Himeji Castle

Used for both Kagemusha and Ran

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himeji_castle

Imari, Japan

Akira Kurosawa Satellite Studio (museum)

No longer in existence

For me, the Daio Wasabi Farm already mentioned by Vili would be a must. Looks like they just updated their website to make it a bit more user friendly: http://www.daiowasabi.co.jp/

I keep marvelling at the beautiful pictures taken there…

This is terrific – thanks for this 🙂

Hey Pete,

This might be a little morbid, but I would certainly wish I could pay my respects…here’s Kurosawa’s gravesite: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4608

On a lighter note, I would at least get to the gate of Toho, even if it were not possible to get a tour:

http://www.tohoeiga.jp/eng/aisatu.html

Pete — if you do happen to visit any of these places, it would be interesting to hear what you thought about them!