The 3rd Ibaraki Location Tour
The 3rd Ibaraki Location Tour was held on October 14, 2015. The party of filmmakers boarded a bus at Tokyo Station first thing in the morning and headed to Inashiki City, Ibaraki Prefecture. On the way to the city they watched the winner of the 1st Ibaraki Short Film Award, “Stroboscope.”
We visited the two locations in Inashiki city, namely Dainichi-en and Syoyukan.
Dainichi-en is a two-story wooden structure with a metal roof where many films and TV dramas have been shot. The Japanese tatami mat living room inside is sometimes carpeted in a Western style for filming, and the entrance gate has appeared as the gate of prison once.
Inashiki City also has many other beautiful locations, such as traditional rice fields and Kasumigaura lakeside.
Next, the party moved on to Ushiku City, and the filmmakers went to view Ushiku Clean Centre. This place has unique hallways and chimneys, and a special museum hall. It is a location that allows you to take distinctive shots that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else. The sight of the chimneys really left an impression on us.
We then had lunch at Chateau Kamiya, a restaurant which has been used as a location for TV dramas. Currently,however, it is under post-disaster re-construction scheduled for completion in March 2016.
In the afternoon, we took a trip to Ushiku Aiwa General Hospital. Though the hospital is open 24/7 365 days per year, the top floor is not currently in use, so it makes a prime location for shooting films or dramas.
The last stop on the tour was Ami Town. Here the filmmakers viewed Yamanaka House, a traditional wooden dwellingwith a thatched roof built in Edo era, a bamboo forest and Ami Shrine. Yamanaka House was famously used as a set for the feature film, “A Red Whale and a White Snake” directed by Yoshiko Sembon.
The filmmakers who attended the tour seemed enjoy a lot. Some of their comments included:
“It was my first time participating in the tour and I enjoyed it.”
“This was a great opportunity to get to know Ibaraki Prefecture.”
“I would like to visit other cities and towns in Ibaraki.”
“I want to make a good film based on this experience.”
“It would be great if we could shoot during the tour next time.”
We look forward to seeing more great films shot in Ibaraki in the near future!