Saturday, April 02, 2005
The Lost in Translation Tour of Japan.
Lots of companies are now offering Japanese tours that visit the locations used in Lost in Translation. When I was in Japan last year I deliberately stayed at the Park Hyatt to get a little of the Bob and Charlotte atmosphere. I visited a few of the other locations, but I thought I'd assemble a list of all the possibilities for anyone wanting a more comprehensive visit.
Most of the film is set at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. It's astonishingly expensive, but definitely the cornerstone of an "LiT" trip. If you want the same panoramic windows as Bob and Charlotte, you have to shell out even more for a "Park Deluxe" room. However even the standard room is huge and luxurious with giant windows. Included in the price of the room you get to wander the corridors, swim in the pool, and visit the New York Bar. However the gym, where Bob works up a sweat, is extra, and if you want to enjoy the jazz band they come with a $20 cover charge. I was too fearful of my credit card bill to even enquire after an Ikebana class.
Lots of the exterior shots were taken in Shinjuku, Shibuya and Daikanyama. The opening shots of Bob in a cab are along Yasukuni-dori in Shinjuku. You can hardly go anywhere in Tokyo without being confronted by the crowds and the neon, but the best bits are close by Shinjuku station. The very busy interchange with lots of intersecting pedestrian crossings is at Shibuya station. Just like the crew did, to get the shot of Charlotte crossing, you can sit in Starbucks, looking down on the junction, enjoying a green tea frapuccino.
I didn't go to the extremes of visiting the same restaurants. The sushi place was apparently Daikanyama Ikkan Sushi, while the shabu shabu joint is Shabu-Zen in Shibuya. The karaoke bar is called Karaoke-Kan, on Utagawacho also in Shibuya, and reliable sources suggest you need to ask for rooms 601 and 602 for the same great 6th floor view.
The white strip club (patronised by Hiroshi Fujiwara and playing Peaches) is supposed to be a recreation of the now defunct "Orange Club". The real location is actually the basement of the APC store in Harajuku. The other nightclub scene (with the big balloons) was filmed at Air in Daikanyama.
Charlotte visits three different temples. Firstly a small shrine in Shinjuku called Juganji. Later she hops on the bullet train to Kyoto. She sees a wedding at the Nanzenji Zen temple, before heading to the gardens of the Heian Shrine. There she crosses a koi pond on stepping stones and sees trees festooned with prayers.
I haven't actually got my DVD handy to check for any more good locations. I'd like to track down the exact spot of the final "whispered nothings", which I suspect is at one of the entrances to Harujuku. If you have any more suggestions, post them via the comments and I'll update.
Lots of companies are now offering Japanese tours that visit the locations used in Lost in Translation. When I was in Japan last year I deliberately stayed at the Park Hyatt to get a little of the Bob and Charlotte atmosphere. I visited a few of the other locations, but I thought I'd assemble a list of all the possibilities for anyone wanting a more comprehensive visit.Most of the film is set at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. It's astonishingly expensive, but definitely the cornerstone of an "LiT" trip. If you want the same panoramic windows as Bob and Charlotte, you have to shell out even more for a "Park Deluxe" room. However even the standard room is huge and luxurious with giant windows. Included in the price of the room you get to wander the corridors, swim in the pool, and visit the New York Bar. However the gym, where Bob works up a sweat, is extra, and if you want to enjoy the jazz band they come with a $20 cover charge. I was too fearful of my credit card bill to even enquire after an Ikebana class.
Lots of the exterior shots were taken in Shinjuku, Shibuya and Daikanyama. The opening shots of Bob in a cab are along Yasukuni-dori in Shinjuku. You can hardly go anywhere in Tokyo without being confronted by the crowds and the neon, but the best bits are close by Shinjuku station. The very busy interchange with lots of intersecting pedestrian crossings is at Shibuya station. Just like the crew did, to get the shot of Charlotte crossing, you can sit in Starbucks, looking down on the junction, enjoying a green tea frapuccino.
I didn't go to the extremes of visiting the same restaurants. The sushi place was apparently Daikanyama Ikkan Sushi, while the shabu shabu joint is Shabu-Zen in Shibuya. The karaoke bar is called Karaoke-Kan, on Utagawacho also in Shibuya, and reliable sources suggest you need to ask for rooms 601 and 602 for the same great 6th floor view.
The white strip club (patronised by Hiroshi Fujiwara and playing Peaches) is supposed to be a recreation of the now defunct "Orange Club". The real location is actually the basement of the APC store in Harajuku. The other nightclub scene (with the big balloons) was filmed at Air in Daikanyama.
Charlotte visits three different temples. Firstly a small shrine in Shinjuku called Juganji. Later she hops on the bullet train to Kyoto. She sees a wedding at the Nanzenji Zen temple, before heading to the gardens of the Heian Shrine. There she crosses a koi pond on stepping stones and sees trees festooned with prayers.
I haven't actually got my DVD handy to check for any more good locations. I'd like to track down the exact spot of the final "whispered nothings", which I suspect is at one of the entrances to Harujuku. If you have any more suggestions, post them via the comments and I'll update.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]