Location filming information magazine "Location Japan" announced its list of winners for the "Location Japan Taisho" on 20 Feb 2025 which highlights movies, dramas and anime works that helped in boosting awareness and popularity of their filming locations or where the stories were set in. The 15th edition of this award had 40 nominated works shown between 1 Nov 2023 and 31 Oct 2024 which featured 61 places/regions before 7 were selected as the final winners.
Judging was done by industry experts such as those from the Japan Tourism Agency and included the following 4 parameters:
- Voting was by about 20,000 members of the public
- Level of support provided to the production teams by the local authorities
- Measures to boost the level of ease of travel to the locations
- Extent of change to the locations as a result of the exposure and increase in number of tourists
Note that some works were set/shot in multiple locations as indicated in brackets:
Grand Prix: "Meitantei Conan 100 man doru no michishirube" (Hakodate City, Hokkaido Prefecture) - Anime Movie
Runner-up: "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" (Nagasaki Prefecture / Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture) - Drama
Category - Voters' Choice: "Hikaru kimi e" (Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture / Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture / Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture) - Drama
Category - Filming Support: "Ano hana ga saku oka de, Kimi to mata deaetara" (Namegata City, Ibaraki Prefecture) - Movie
Category - Ease of Travel: "Sukidemo kirai na ama no jaku" (Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture) - Anime Movie
Category - Regional Change: "Karakai jouzu no Takagi-san" (Kagawa Prefecture / Tonosho-cho, Kagawa Prefecture / Shodoshima-cho, Kagawa Prefecture) - Drama & Movie
Judges' Special Award: "Tomochika Suspense Gekijou [Sotoyumeguri Mystery Dogo sutorippujou renzoku satsujin]" - YouTube
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Looking at past years' winners, here are some interesting trends which I found with regard to the non-anime movies & dramas that were selected over the past 15 years:
- Movies seem to have a slight edge over dramas when it comes to the proportion of winners over the past 15 years - 58% vs. 42%. It could be that most movies tend to be shown to a nationwide audience as compared to TV series which may not be shown at the same time due to regional schedules and differences. For example, dramas shown in the Tokyo metropolitan area or the Kanto region may be broadcast at a slightly later date in other prefectures or not be shown there at all. As such, the limit in terms of reach may result in a difference in terms of the influence which the work has in terms of boosting awareness and popularity of its filming location(s).
- NHK's Taiga dramas and asadoras seem to be dominating this award as seen from 60% of the drama winners being from the national broadcaster. Coming in at a distant second is TBS with about 19%, FujiTV at almost 7%, NTV and TV Tokyo tied at close to 5% and TV Asahi at 2%. One possible reason is that the broadcast period for the Taigas (1 year) and asadoras (6 months) are at least double of the seasonal dramas (mostly ranging from 6 to 11 weeks). With a longer exposure period, it will no doubt enhance the impression that viewers have of the filming locations.
- Netflix broke the monopoly by the TV stations for the first time last year with "First Love Hatsukoi" which was shot in Hokkaido. Considering the fact that the title can only be watched by Netflix's subscribers as compared to dramas on free-to-air TV stations, this also signals the possibility of OTT content having a wider reach and stronger influence on viewers compared to the past.
- While the format of this award has evolved over the years e.g. from having grand prix awards for both dramas and movies to a single grand prix award, the winners for the top title are spread evenly across both categories - 7 each. It is worth noting that although the Taigas and asadoras hogged the top spot in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th and 14th editions ("Ryomaden" won the Location Japan Grand Prix and Drama Category - Grand Prix), movies took the title for 4 years straight until "Dousuru Ieyasu" broke the spell last year. If you consider this year's winner which is an anime movie, it does seem like movies have a growing influence on the public in terms of "promoting its shooting locations" as compared to TV dramas.
- Looking at the list of winners in terms of prefectures, the top spot is actually not Tokyo but neighbouring Kanagawa! Perhaps due to its proximity to the capital where many TV stations and production companies are based at and the fact that it has a variety of landscapes from mountains, the sea, beaches, islands and suburbs to offer as well as the prefecture's strong support for entertainment productions, this could be why works shot in Kanagawa seem to be recognised more for their influence and popularity on the public. As for the other top contenders, Hokkaido, Nagasaki and Shizuoka come in at a close second with 7 awards each while Nagano and Tokyo are tied at 6.
- On the other hand, some prefectures have not appeared on this award before. Surprisingly or not, they tend to be rather far from Tokyo or somewhat inaccessible due to reasons such as mountains or forests: Gunma, Nara, Wakayama, Tottori, Tokushima, Ehime, Kumamoto, Miyazaki and Okinawa. I'm a bit surprised by Gunma's omission though because the recent interview with the directing team of "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" did mention that their Hashima set was built in Gunma but I guess that was sort of concealed till the end of the drama and that the story was still largely based in Nagasaki. As for Okinawa, I'm quite certain that some dramas/movies would have been shot there especially those with a summer theme but it could be that the link between those works and the filming locations did not translate into strong benefits for the locality in terms of awareness or popularity through tourism income.
While I do not actively seek out filming locations of my favourite dramas and movies when I visit Japan, it can be fun to check out such places if I happen to be in the area. In addition, the impact of boosting a place's awareness and popularity through these entertainment works especially in the economic sense is definitely something which shouldn't be taken lightly. Sites like Location Japan offer a lot of information on these places so you can refer to such sites when planning your trips.
However, the downside of such heightened interest in a place is potential over-tourism which can have an undesirable impact on the local residents and spoil your experience at the same time. I'm sure we have read about the influx of tourists to places like the famous train intersection featured in "Slam Dunk", the "Kimi no na" fever to places in Gifu Prefecture or the endless queue at the cafe featured in "silent" when the drama was such a hit as well as complaints of unruly visitors and how they affected the residents around such locations. As such, while it's a good thing for local authorities and businesses to benefit from this trend of shooting location tourism, there is also a need to think about how to manage the crowds and ensure that everyone will have a pleasant experience visiting these places featured in your favourite works. On our part, we will also need to consider and ensure that we do not cause unnecessary disturbances to others while enjoying our time at these filming locations.
