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varjohaltiaApril 18th was my last full day in Japan, and it was mostly drizzly. I decided to spend it frivolously visiting the Toei Eigamura or movie park. It's a fluffy sight in Kyoto terms, but since I have some interest and experience in the movie business on one hand, and Japanese movies on the other, I figured it'd be a worthwhile and fun detour, and it was.
The studio park is built around an active outdoor set, and contains a few soundstages as well. The set is a medieval Japanese town, and the various parts of it — pleasure district, bridge, gate, stables, inn etc. are recycled throughout about two hundred productions each year. In practice, it's very laid back; the film crew and actors set up where they need to, rope off the "block" and assistants with "Silence" fans hush the tourists during takes. Once they're done, they load all the gear on carts, push them to the next location, and set up again.
There is also an indoor component consisting of a museum with various famous actors, producers, directors and writers of Toei movies and assorted paraphernalia. Kids or fans might like the Super Sentai Series hall with various superheroes (and villains) and a couple of interactive mini-rides. The exit is, of course, through the gift shop. Perhaps because it was a rainy day during the week the park was pretty quiet and low key, but I rather enjoyed it. The gift shop actually was the biggest let down. I had been looking forward to picking up some movie poster reproductions or other more obscure loot, but instead it almost exclusively sold standard Kyoto sweets and crafts, Hello Kitty nonsense and utterly kitchy junk, like soap bubble ninja swords.
After the rainy day at the studio, I took an outing during the evening to capture a few rainy Fushimi streetscapes.
With that, it was time to make sure I was packed up. On the 19th I took a short walk around the neighborhood while waiting for my airport shuttle to show up, and was then driven to the airport. Turns out I was the only passenger for that particular loop, so the minibus and ride was pretty comfy. The rain broke and the sun emerged just as we headed to the Kansai airport artificial island. Soon after I had to bid goodbye to Japan and was on the red-eye to Honolulu.
Slideshow and gallery.
The studio park is built around an active outdoor set, and contains a few soundstages as well. The set is a medieval Japanese town, and the various parts of it — pleasure district, bridge, gate, stables, inn etc. are recycled throughout about two hundred productions each year. In practice, it's very laid back; the film crew and actors set up where they need to, rope off the "block" and assistants with "Silence" fans hush the tourists during takes. Once they're done, they load all the gear on carts, push them to the next location, and set up again.
There is also an indoor component consisting of a museum with various famous actors, producers, directors and writers of Toei movies and assorted paraphernalia. Kids or fans might like the Super Sentai Series hall with various superheroes (and villains) and a couple of interactive mini-rides. The exit is, of course, through the gift shop. Perhaps because it was a rainy day during the week the park was pretty quiet and low key, but I rather enjoyed it. The gift shop actually was the biggest let down. I had been looking forward to picking up some movie poster reproductions or other more obscure loot, but instead it almost exclusively sold standard Kyoto sweets and crafts, Hello Kitty nonsense and utterly kitchy junk, like soap bubble ninja swords.
After the rainy day at the studio, I took an outing during the evening to capture a few rainy Fushimi streetscapes.
With that, it was time to make sure I was packed up. On the 19th I took a short walk around the neighborhood while waiting for my airport shuttle to show up, and was then driven to the airport. Turns out I was the only passenger for that particular loop, so the minibus and ride was pretty comfy. The rain broke and the sun emerged just as we headed to the Kansai airport artificial island. Soon after I had to bid goodbye to Japan and was on the red-eye to Honolulu.
Slideshow and gallery.
