Highlighting JAPAN

NEW TOURISM

Caption: A scene featuring the cellist protagonist of Departures playing against the backdrop of Mount Chokaisan was filmed here.
Credit: KIYONORI SASAKI

Holidays on Location

Japan has been experiencing a boom in so-called film tourism. We take a trip to two popular locations.

Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture

Haguro-san, one of the Three Mountains of Dewa (Yamagata Prefecture today), has since ancient times been a location for the practice of Shugendo (mountain asceticism). The cedar-lined steps to the summit and fivestory pagoda along the way are listed as National Treasures.
Credit: AFLO

Located in the suburbs of Sakata, the Tamasudare-no-taki falls plummet from a height of 63 meters, making them the tallest waterfall in Yamagata Prefecture.
Credit: YONORI SASAKI

Sakata in Yamagata Prefecture provided the setting for the Japanese film Departures, which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in February 2009.

Departures was filmed on location in Sakata, Tsuruoka, Kaminoyama and Yusa in Yamagata Prefecture. The director, Yojiro Takita, decided to film here because he was attracted to the variations in the natural beauty of Yamagata.

Among the many tourism highlights are the avenues of cedars on Haguro-san in Tsuruoka.

Inspired by the hit film, the Sakata City government distributes a map of film locations and is trying to preserve the buildings used as locations. An increasing number of local people are also volunteering as guides to the locations and are helping to keep them clean. Thanks to initiatives like these, there has been a rapid increase in the number of visitors to the sites such as public baths used for the filming.

Tazawa-ko, Akita Prefecture

The bronze statue of Princess Tatsuko at Tazawa-ko lake forms the backdrop to a love scene in the South Korean television drama series IRIS. Japan’s TBS channel has been broadcasting IRIS during prime time since April.
Credit: NAOTO IWASAKI, ©T.E/I.J.P.C

To be held this year from August 3 to 6, the Kanto Festival in Akita, Akita Prefecture, is one of the Tohoku region’s top three festivals, annually attracting more than a million visitors to the city.
Credit: AFLO

When the South Korean television drama IRIS was broadcast in the republic in the fall of last year, there was a sudden surge in visitors from South Korea to the film locations in Akita Prefecture, Japan. IRIS is a spy action drama and was a big hit in South Korea.

Responding to a request from the Korean production company wanting to film on location in the so-called snow country, Akita Prefecture established the Akita Location Support Committee to provide extensive support including free lodging and transportation for the actors and film staff. The filming took place on twenty different locations in the prefecture in March last year. Many fans visit the film locations, which include Tazawa-ko lake, the Tazawa-ko skiing area, the Nyuto hot spring resort, Oga city and Yokote city. As a result, Akita Prefecture is getting ready to receive Korean tourists by setting up a tourism website in the Korean language and organizing training for volunteer Korean interpreters.

Among the tourism attractions of Akita Prefecture are the beauty of the natural environment and the diverse cultures.

There are also a number of festivals throughout the year, the Kanto Festival in summer (Akita city) and the Namahage in winter (Oga city), also featured in IRIS, being particularly famous.