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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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Hi hi! I have a little story to share. 
So it's summer break for me, and I thought a shinkansen trip to Tokyo would be a good way to spend it.
A while ago, Saddles sent me a PM:
quote:
if you ever get the chance to go to Tama and look around the streets that inspired 'Whisper of the Heart' and you're able to get me some photos I'll worship you forever!
I thought this was a great idea, but it also seemed pretty unlikely that I'd have any chance to go. Even if I did visit Tokyo, Tama is pretty far away - and there's no famous landmarks there, so it wouldn't show up on any tourist maps.
Plus, everyone I asked said, "Why would you want to go to Tama? There's nothing there."
That can be a tough question to answer. 
Well, anyway, the suggestion stuck in my head for a long time. By the time that my trip to Tokyo rolled around, I'd resolved to visit Tama, however far away and difficult it might be.
Luckily, Wikipedia gave a pointer: It seems to be set around Seiseki-Sakuragaoka station, on the Keio line. I checked my maps, and the Keio line went right to Shinjuku station - just a few stops away from my hotel!
My travel buddy (not a Ghibli fan) wasn't so keen on going off to some Tokyo suburb, so she went to spend the day at Yokohama instead. So I set off alone on my mission - which is basically the way I like to set off on missions anyway. 
I'd just have to keep my Japanese skills sharp and my navigational wits about me.
It's a pretty long train trip to Tama. But I've found that getting anywhere in Tokyo takes a long time, so maybe it's not as far as it seemed.
A word to the wiser-than-me: Leave your bags at the station locker, because Tama is a hilly place.
Anyway, here's Seiseki-Sakuragaoka station.
My first instinct was to be guided by my (rather vague) memory of a fourteen-years-old animated movie guide my way. Fortunately for me, I found a highly detailed map outside the station:
That means that this was the intersection that Shizuku crossed chasing Moon:
Post last edited by Mush on 08.03.2009, 09:17 AM.
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 08.03.2009, 09:04 AM |
  
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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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| 08.03.2009, 09:05 AM |
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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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| 08.03.2009, 09:06 AM |
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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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Fortunately, it seems like Tama isn't all "Concrete Road".
I kind of feel like I'm violating some kind of important forum rule...
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| 08.03.2009, 09:07 AM |
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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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| 08.03.2009, 09:08 AM |
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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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Walking down the road, it did seem pretty familiar. I checked the photo of my map. The Earth Shop's roundabout was close!
I knew that the shop was fictional, of course, so I was just expecting to go there, take photos of the scenery, and then head off to find something to eat. But at the corner, I found a remarkable little bakery...
Well, alright; I won't take credit for finding it. I actually spotted two guys (different than the earlier ones) get off a motorcycle and take photos of the shop display before going inside. That struck me as a little odd, so I went to check it out.
There was a Mimi poster in the window, and a Baron statuette inside. I was among friends 
The baker was a really kind old lady who apparently was even more into Whisper than me! She even had an autographed poster of Shizuku and Seiji, signed by the artist. We chatted a little bit in Japanese and I bought some tasty snacks. She invited me to eat on the little wooden table out in front of the store. "Mimi Suma" was carved into the surface in Japanese characters, surrounded by a little cloud. The guys came out too and, though it was a tiny little table, they sat down too. We munched on various treats and they asked me (rather redundantly, I think) if I'd seen the movie.
We talked quite a bit after that, though I always had to ask them to repeat themselves, and sometimes I'd just smile and nod. I'll get the hang of this eventually...
The old lady brought out a notebook for us to write a note or doodle in. I started to write, just as another lady was entering the store. I was only on my first kanji, but she nearly tripped - "You can write in Japanese?!"
Hehe.
Anyway, the guys zoomed off on their motorcycle and I eventually left too, to keep exploring the area. The view from up here was really as good as it looks in the movie - although I didn't have a balcony to enjoy it from. I went down another staircase, where to my great surprise, I met a stray cat.
Feeling a little bit like I'd stumbled through the looking glass, I tried to follow it, but alas, this cat was way more agile than Moon. It had no trouble losing me.
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| 08.03.2009, 09:09 AM |
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Kazegami
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 08.19.07
Location: a world of pure imagination
Posts: 7025 |
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That's amazing Mushka, so many of those photos I look at and I see Shizuku coming down the stairs or Seiji cycling round the corner... wow. I envy you. ^^'
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| 08.03.2009, 09:17 AM |
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Roarkiller
Your Daddy-O
Registration Date: 06.03.03
Location: Home, resting...
Posts: 6077 |
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Fortunately (hee hee), there's no such rule about uploading too many pics  All the same, you could have put up a warning in the title itself.
In fact, I think I might want to add this in my website, if youll permit me. Trouble is, Geocities is going down in a few months, so I'll need to find a new host before that.
But still, I didn't expect to see a map for the MOVIE itself. I mean, wow, shows how much the town really rpides itself over their involvement with the movie. It's too bad you couldn't have taken a photo of the baker, I'm sure she would have been really thrilled.
Also, the library DOES exist, but not where it was in the movie. That is to say A library exists in the town, but is unrelated to the movie and its library.
By the way, there was a documentary when the movie was released, with a walkthrough of the locations similar to yours. A close copy of it can be gotten here, and you can see a lot of other areas you may have missed out. Or probably torn down due to renovations and stuff.
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I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.
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Isakaya High RPG Site
quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
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| 08.03.2009, 09:32 AM |
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Theowne
Baron
Registration Date: 02.11.07
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1290 |
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Phantasmagorical.
quote:
I went down another staircase, where to my great surprise, I met a stray cat. Feeling a little bit like I'd stumbled through the looking glass, I tried to follow it, but alas, this cat was way more agile than Moon. It had no trouble losing me.
*has stupid grin on face*
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| 08.03.2009, 09:55 AM |
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Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
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quote:
Originally posted by Theowne
*has stupid grin on face*
What? Did I miss something? Why are you smiling? Tell me, tell me!
quote:
All the same, you could have put up a warning in the title itself.
Oops, yes; I meant to, but once I posted the first post I found I couldn't edit the title. Thanks for doing that for me!
Sure, you can put these pictures up on your website. And you're right, I should have gotten a photo of the baker... I didn't, because I wasn't sure if she'd be comfortable with me taking a photo of her (and subsequently posting it on the internet, of course). But now it occurs to me that I actually do know how to ask permission in Japanese. Oh well...
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| 08.04.2009, 05:18 AM |
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HataZaki
Ohmu
Registration Date: 12.10.08
Location: NSW, Australia
Posts: 317 |
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Wow you are so lucky! Thanks for posting the pics. Hopefully I will go there one day.
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| 08.04.2009, 07:34 AM |
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Loscil
Baron
Registration Date: 08.06.06
Location: The Sun Bear's Den
Posts: 4394 |
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Howdy Mushka!
I didn't even know you were in Japan!
This definitely looks great and sounds like a wonderful experience. It reminds me of the suburb i live in in Kyoto, Yamashina-ku. The way there would be small shrines near the forests, things like that.
I love it when you get to talk to random people in Japan and you just chat away. I had this great experience where I went to a laundromat, and the owner start talking to me about her worries about japan's youth. Quite surreal moment.
Anyway. How long are you still going to be there?
I'm in japan from the 20th of August, and it would be an awesome experience if two tavern members met on the other side of the world, in Japan.
PM me about it, in case it could work out. I think it would be really great.
EDIT: I just gathered that youre not actually stationary in Tokyo, as I will be. I'm taking a weekend trip to Kyoto at some point to visit friends and that. If thats closer, that might be better. Either way, it would be great if this could work out!
Post last edited by Loscil on 08.04.2009, 10:03 AM.
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| 08.04.2009, 10:02 AM |
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husky51
The Old Guy
Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12791 |
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| 08.04.2009, 03:18 PM |
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Saddletank
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069 |
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Envy is a really serious sin; one of the seven deadliest, so I shouldn't allow it to fill me up so, but boy am I envious of you.
This one is such a lovely picture. I get goose bumps looking at it.
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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info
"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)
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| 08.04.2009, 10:32 PM |
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fenkashi
Dibs on Supreme Overlord
Registration Date: 08.12.07
Location: Canada
Posts: 5726 |
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O-M-G!
All in capitals because wow. These pictures are so brilliant. Each one makes my head go off thinking of a particular scene playing out. And that map is the cutest thing ever. ^_^ *hugs you crazy* Thanks for sharing!
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| 08.05.2009, 01:39 AM |
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DreamSequencer
Warawara
Registration Date: 04.22.09
Location: Sydney \m/
Posts: 210 |
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HOLY...
I am going to Mt Tama. Non negotiable.
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| 08.05.2009, 02:39 AM |
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phenolphthalein
Tanuki
Registration Date: 06.30.08
Location:
Posts: 72 |
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THE BARON I WANT ONE!!!! That place is amazing.....
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| 08.05.2009, 10:41 AM |
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foreignfilmfreak
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 10.02.06
Location: Japan
Posts: 7589 |
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Ahh, awesome. XD Now I gotta tell Kylie and his friend to take me there.
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| 08.05.2009, 01:18 PM |
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turniphead1
Totoro
Registration Date: 10.09.08
Location: Earth
Posts: 826 |
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| 08.05.2009, 05:35 PM |
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Saddletank
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069 |
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quote:
Originally posted by turniphead1
AARRRGGHHH!! I had no idea that the film was so closely based on real settings!!
Really? Wow. It's possibly the single-most talked about Ghibli subject on the forum - how real WoTH is.
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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info
"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)
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| 08.05.2009, 10:23 PM |
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