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A film Air Doll starring Doona Bae (배두나,) directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda (是枝裕和,) released in 2009, is very sad and truly impressive.

In summer 2013, four years after the film's release, I decided to visit places where the film was shot. The main stage is a town of Minato in Chuo ward, Tokyo. The town appears in the film as a town of "Ghin-machi."
 # Sound of "Ghin-machi" :

And other stages spread around a Tokyo area.
I managed to find places from the movie scenes and visited through the places.
I plotted the filming locations of Air Doll on a map and laid photos out on the map.
I also provided a web photo album including photos in the map and extra pictures.
I hope people who love the film enjoy the photos.
There's no photo of Doona Bae in here. However, I believe that scenes of the film may flash across the viewers' mind.
Markers on the map indicate the places where the movie was filmed. Click the marker to see descriptions.
Top part in every "balloon" is in English and the bottom in Japanese.
## Transferred to NEW Google Maps on Nov. 11, 2014.
    > Focus on Ghin-machi     > Wide area map     > Full page map
Articles and Albums
◊ Currently PHP is not available on the hosting server.
◊ As a result, organized lists of images cannot be displayed.
◊ Please use "Google Photos Album" below to browse images/video clips.
Recommended Links
Ryukyu Mekama Railway Web pages by hanahana. The site's author is devoted to Doona Bae and a diorama of a railway landscape. You'll find much information about Doona Bae movies.
MISTER MALCONTENT GOES TO JAPAN Reports on the filming locations in a blog
Part one for the town of Minato & part two for other places
It compares the recent state and the past of the places.
Written in French
Doona Net the official web site of Doona Bae
eiga.com Japanese cinema page; A trailer of Air Doll
IMDb Air Doll page;　A trailer different from Japanese edition
FORVO Korean native pronunciation of "Bae, Doona" (배두나)
Pronunciation of words around the world is available.
List of submaps

Submaps are also linked from articles in the main map above
OPEN: Nozomi Tracker #1
Submap linked from Trivia #7 Nozomi's track on a map
OPEN: Nozomi Tracker #2
Submap linked from Trivia #7 Nozomi's track on a map
OPEN: Nozomi Tracker #3
Submap linked from Trivia #7 Nozomi's track on a map
OPEN: Sandboxes in two parks
Submap linked from Trivia #4 Sandbox
Town of Minato; many years after the filming

»BACK (when came from other Language)

The film was taken in 2008 and 2009 in the town of Minato. The town has widely changed after that.
» Summer 2016

There stands a high-rise building on the site where "Hideo's apartment" was. Thirty-six-storied apartment is under construction, currentlly with the 13th floor on its top. "Ghinmachi park" appeared in the film (Minato park in real life) was filled and covered with concrete forming slopes and steps. A planned green park on the top is still under construction.

A dike wall on which Nozomi walked is now a broad levee that can walk over to the riverside.

The block where "Plant-covered house," "Nozomi's rooftop" and "Alley Nozomi trotted on " were all taken away and a twenty-two-storied apartment will be built there.

[originally written in Sep. 2016]

Town of 2 Minato Chuo ward in September 2016 (Click an image to enlarge)

◊2 Minato from the opposite bank of the Sumida river
36-storied apartment on the site where Hideo's apartment was

◊ex-Minato park from the opposite bank
A new levee and a green park on it are under construction.

◊ex-Minato park and high-rise apartments on the opposite bank
You can go over the levee by steps and slopes.

◊Site where "Plant-covered house" and "Nozomi's rooftop" were
22-storied apartment will be built here.

» Winter 2015

The main filming location '2 Minato' has changed significantly. "Hideo's apartment" and houses around it including a large apartment building have been removed thoroughly. A new ultra high-rise apartment is under construction on the open site.

An alley in front of Hideo's apartment and an alley Nozomi trotted on to explore the town both vanished.

A dike wall Nozomi walked on in "Ghinmachi park," where the bench was, demolished. The name of the park in real life was Minato park. A wide levee with a green park on the top will be built there.

A movie theater where Jun-ichi and Nozomi enjoyed a film was also demolished in 2015. It is not in Minato though.

Some photos showing this 'change' are available in the web album. Refer to "Articles and Albums" part above.

[originally written in December 2016]

INFO   Street view of the filming locations a year after the filming
  • Filming locations changed after compiling this map in 2013, especially around 2 Minato things changed a lot.
    Furthermore, after the filming around the end of 2008 more and more things chnaged.
    This is because both rezoning and redevelopment is in progress in 2 Minato.

  • In the NEW Google Maps, starting from April 2014, you can peek the past in the Street View whenever you want.
    Here is SV of Front of "Hideo's apartment" in Dec. 2009: CLICK
    You can take a tour in the town where Nozomi was living.

    ❢ The link address in Google Maps sometimes changes, which might show unintended visuals.
    ✔ I occasionally check and fix it.

  • If there is NO past image in the area the image will be switched to (probably) the newest.
    In that case, you can move to a place where a CLOCK icon is displayed at the upper-left area. Then choose the time from the CLOCK icon.

Links to my pages or maps are welcomed. No notice is required.
A link banner below is free to use. (160 x 90 JPEG)
Link to the top page is preferred: http://blue.zero.jp/morikuma/adl/index_E.html Other pages' URL might change.
NOTE: Small images (height < around 200 pixels) are in the Public Domain.
Except otherwise noted my work is reusable under CC BY-NC-SA license. See copyright notice:  CLICK

TOP PAGE: Air Doll Location Sites
by:  mKm, morikuma
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