A Japanese port town few foreign tourists know of: Onomichi’s oysters, old temples and Ozu’s Tokyo Story

A Japanese port town few foreign tourists know of: Onomichi's oysters, old temples and Ozu’s Tokyo Story

The smaller, seaside Sumiyoshi temple, where the stone lantern from the movie’s opening scene was displayed, was where I made my first stop. After that, I made my way northwards in the direction of the hills, arrived at a few of the film’s vantage points, and finished my walk at Jodo-ji temple, where some of the film’s most significant scenes involving a death were shot. I had fun comparing what I saw to screenshots of the movie on my phone; I even tried to imagine where Ozu might have positioned his camera ( the director was a master of the static shot ).

To mark the 120th celebration of Ozu’s delivery, Hideki Ono, Onomichi City Hall’s area commander of social development, claimed the city held a tour of the Tokyo Story trail and a screening of the film at the neighborhood cinema on December 9th, 2013.

” I think Jodo- ji is the most important spot]in the film road ]”, he added. ” It was where they filmed in public, and the area was also depicted in the show’s poster”.

EXPLORING TEMPLE Roads

Jodo- ji, which features a tower, is also one of the 25 temples in Onomichi’s recognized church walk, a road that takes you across the plains town. Do n’t try to visit all 25 temples in a day (you may get temple burnout, too ), it’s best to skip some or stop by those that catch your fancy. The majority of people begin the church move at the nearby Jiko-ji church before climbing some steep stairs to reach Senko-ji, a church perched close to the top of the 144m-high Mt. Senkoji.