[Sacred Place Pilgrimage] 4 selections of movie/drama settings in Ozu

• Table of Contents
• Introducing 4 movie/drama settings in Ozu!
• 1. Sparrow's door is locked
• 2. Tokyo Love Story
• 3. Good morning
• 4. It’s Tough Being a Man: Torajiro and the Lord

Introducing 4 movie/drama settings in Ozu!

Ozu still has a retro townscape, and there are many locations that have been used as filming locations and settings for famous movies and dramas that everyone knows.

Among them, this time I would like to introduce four filming locations that I have carefully selected.

How about pretending to be a character from a movie or drama and experiencing the film at the filming location?

We also recommend NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town as a base for walking around Ozu. If you are staying overnight, please also refer to the article below.

Check out the official website of “NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town”

1. Sparrow's door is locked

The Sparrow's Door Shut is an animated movie released in 2022, and is a road movie about a journey while closing the door that is the source of disaster.

Did you know that Ozu appears in a movie that is very popular both in Japan and abroad?

JR Iyo-Ozu Station

JR Iyo-Ozu Station is depicted while chasing the cat character "Daijin".

Iyo Ozu Station Tourist Information Center

795-0054 119 Nakamura, Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture

This is a tourist information center next to JR Iyo-Ozu Station. In addition to bicycle rental, we also provide coin locker services.

Ozu Castle

Ozu Castle, the symbol of Ozu, is also a scene of the sparrow locking its doors.

You can also see Ozu Castle in a ~10 second scene in this video.

Please try to find a place where you can take the same photos as in the movie!

Ozu Castle

903 Ozu, Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture 7950012

Ozu Castle is said to have its origins in Jizogatake Castle, which was built by Toyofusa Utsunomiya, the governor of Iyo Province, in 1331 at the end of the Kamakura period, and since then it has been the castle for 237 years. After the Battle of Sekigahara, the turbulent times subsided, and a castle town began to form during the era of Todo Takatora and Wakisaka Yasuharu, who were known as master castle builders. Later, Sadayasu Kato became the lord of the castle, and the Kato clan's reign continued until the restoration of land ownership. In the Meiji era, the castle tower was dismantled in 1888 due to its deterioration. The current castle tower was restored in 2004 over a period of about 10 years, starting with conservation efforts and donations from residents. It is the first of its kind in Japan to have four floors and four floors as a wooden castle tower restored after the war, and at 19.15m, it is the tallest in Japan.

Doors and chairs appear in Ozu and Yawatahama! ?

Although it is not a filming location, to commemorate the release of Suzume no Tojimari, chairs and doors that appear in Suzume no Tojimari have been set up in Ozu City and neighboring Yawatahama City.

Please look for doors and chairs while walking around town.

2. Tokyo Love Story

Tokyo Love Story is a very popular drama that aired in 1991, and is a romantic drama starring Kanji Nagao, Rika Akana, Kenichi Mikami, and Satomi Sekiguchi.

Ozu was also used as a filming location for Tokyo Love Story, and is now a tourist spot in Ozu.

The post where the farewell letter was posted

This is the place where Rika received the juice that Kanji had bought, and the mailbox where Rika secretly mailed a farewell letter to Kanji's apartment so that Kanji would not notice is still installed at the same location.

Ozu Shrine

This is the shrine where Kanji and Rika visited together. It is loved by the locals and is visited by many worshipers.

Morning street

Ohanahan Street, from which the word ``Ohanahan'' (described later) comes from, is an area where the town layout and rows of houses from the Edo period have been faithfully preserved.

Ohanahan Street is the place where Kanji and Rika are walking and talking together in the final episode of Tokyo Love Story.

3. Good morning

Ozu is also used as a filming location for NHK's morning TV drama series Ohanahan.

Ozu City is depicted as the town where the main character, Hana, was born and raised, and the title of the drama later came to be used as the name of the street.

Ohanahan Street is an area where the town layout and rows of houses from the Edo period have been faithfully preserved, allowing you to get a glimpse of how life was back then.

Visit Ozu／Ohanahan Street

4. It’s Tough Being a Man: Torajiro and the Lord

The 19th installment of the Otoko wa Tsuraiyo series, ``Otoko wa Tsuraiyo: Torajiro and the Lord,'' is also a drama set in Ozu.

Former Kato family main building

The former main residence of the Kato family is said to be the lord's mansion in ``It's Tough Being a Man: Torajiro and the Lord,'' and is affectionately known as ``Lord's Park'' by local residents.

Otosama Park is a residence built by Yasumichi Kato, a descendant of the former lord of the Ozu domain, and is currently registered as a nationally registered tangible cultural property.

After renovation work in 2021, part of the first floor is open to the public, and part of the first floor and the second floor can be used as the MITI building of NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town where you can actually stay.

Otosama Park also appears at around 1:11 seconds in the trailer.

VISIT OZU/Former Kato family main building