Maps of Movies

Ikiru (1952)

Where Ikiru says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

Kurosawa's Tokyo night town was built on a studio lot; only a few places in the film are real, and the city hall and the park have no recorded location

Scenes and places

The city hall where nothing moves (1952)

Watanabe sits among stamps and files in the public works department while a group of parents is sent from office to office over a cesspool they want turned into a playground. He barely looks up. Everyone in the room is busy and nobody does anything.

Set in Tokyo city hall, public works department — The office where Watanabe has spent thirty years and where the parents' playground petition keeps being passed along.

Waiting for the doctor's word (1952)

In the hospital waiting room another patient lists the signs of stomach cancer in a flat voice, and Watanabe listens. In the consulting room the doctor calls it a mild ulcer, and Watanabe understands what that kind of answer means.

Set in Hospital — The clinic where Watanabe is examined after weeks of stomach pain.

The house he overhears (1952)

Watanabe comes home to a dark house and stops outside his son's room. He hears Mitsuo and his wife planning a new house paid for with his retirement money. The old man says it is nothing and leaves.

Set in Watanabe's house — The family home Watanabe shares with his son Mitsuo and his wife.

A game he once watched with his son (1952)

Alone after the overheard talk, Watanabe's thoughts go back to Mitsuo as a boy. Baseball is part of those memories, a cheer over a good hit with Mitsuo as a boy.

Set in Baseball stadium (memory) — A ballpark scene from Watanabe's memories of his son.

The platform where his son waved goodbye (1952)

The memories of Mitsuo run on to a crowded send-off with shouts of banzai. Japanese Wikipedia puts a platform scene at Ryogoku, and this is the most likely place for it in the film.

Set in Station platform (memory) — A station platform scene from Watanabe's memories of his son.

Filmed at Ryogoku Station — The platform scene was filmed at Ryogoku Station. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The night town with the novelist (1952)

Watanabe tells a novelist he has stomach cancer and does not know how to spend his savings. The novelist plays Mephistopheles and takes him through bars, pachinko and a striptease show. Watanabe starts to see that pleasure is not an answer.

Set in Entertainment district, Tokyo — The Tokyo night streets the novelist takes Watanabe through.

An open-air street set built on the Toho Studios lot.

Filmed at Toho Studios open-set Ginza street — The entertainment-district scenes were shot on an open set of a Ginza street at Toho Studios. The coordinates are the studio company, not the exact set. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The cabaret and the song (1952)

In a cabaret Watanabe asks the piano player for a song and sings it in a thin, sad voice. The people watching are greatly moved, but he is still not sure how to live.

Set in Cabaret, Tokyo — The nightclub where Watanabe asks for 'Gondola no Uta'.

Filmed at Toho Studios cabaret set — The cabaret was a set inside the studio, modelled on the Shimbashi cabaret Show Boat. The coordinates are the studio company. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Days with Toyo (1952)

Watanabe meets Toyo, a young clerk who wants to quit, and takes comfort in her joy in life. He keeps asking her out, until she grows wary of him. Japanese Wikipedia puts an amusement-park scene at Toshimaen; what happens there is not confirmed.

Set in Amusement park, Tokyo — An amusement park outing with Toyo; the exact scene is not pinned down.

Filmed at Toshimaen, Nerima — The amusement-park scene was filmed at Toshimaen. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The skating rink (1952)

Watanabe is still spending time with Toyo and trying to learn the secret of her love of life. Japanese Wikipedia puts the ice-rink scene at Korakuen; what happens there is not confirmed.

Set in Ice skating rink, Tokyo — An ice rink outing; the scene's place in the film is not confirmed.

Filmed at Korakuen area, Bunkyo — The skating-rink scene was filmed at Korakuen. The coordinates are the Tokyo Dome City area, not the rink itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The playground he pushes through (1952)

After Toyo's answer, Watanabe returns to the office and takes up the parents' petition for a playground. He pushes it through office after office, ignoring turf rules, and is out surveying the site on a bicycle.

Set in Cesspool site and new park, Tokyo — The site of the parents' petition. The script names the park as the little park in Kuroe.

Characters

• Kanji Watanabe — A section chief in the Tokyo public works department who learns he has stomach cancer.
• Toyo — A young subordinate who resigns, and whose love of life Watanabe wants to understand.
• Mitsuo — Watanabe's married son, who lives with him.

Questions answered on the map

• Where was Ikiru's night town really filmed?
• Which Tokyo places stand in for Watanabe's memories and days out?