News

by Yui Kihara and Akemi Satoda, Staff Writers

On March 27 (the 28th in Japan), Drive My Car, a movie filmed in Hiroshima, was presented with the 2022 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, the first time in 13 years a Japanese film has taken home an Oscar. The streets of the ‘city of peace,’ replete with greenery, and the Seto Island Sea’s scenic beauty are now captured on screen in the movie as one in a long line of Oscar-winning films. Local residents are holding out hope that the movie can help attract the attention of other filmmakers as well as promote tourism to the area.

Tomoko Nishizaki, 56, a member of the Hiroshima Film Commission, an organization that attracted Drive My Car to Hiroshima for filming, uttered a cry of joy as she watched the Oscar ceremonies broadcast at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, located in the city’s Minami Ward, which was one of the movie’s filming locations. “Thanks to the movie, people can come to know the beauty of the restored city of Hiroshima,” said Ms. Nishizaki.

With its depiction of the area’s calm seas and bright light filtering through the leaves of trees, Drive My Car has overturned the image of Hiroshima as a ruins in monochrome tones, an idea that has become ingrained among overseas movie directors. The film commission’s Ms. Nishizaki said with tears in her eyes, “It’s wonderful that the movie made good use of the irreplaceable beauty of the landscape in addition to Hiroshima’s being a city of peace.”

Makoto Takata, 43, representative of the citizens group Architecture Walk Hiroshima, focused on the Hiroshima Naka Incineration Plant, located in the city’s Naka Ward, which appears in important scenes of the movie. “It communicated to the world the attractiveness of the completely unique plant, with its museum-like design.” Actor Tetsuya Fukami, 45, a resident of Hiroshima’s Asakita Ward who played the role of a police officer, spoke forcefully about the fact that “the movie proved that certain expressions are only possible in Hiroshima.”

The Oscar award was one piece of good news for restaurants and tourist spots struggling in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Hidetsugu Suyama, 41, a representative of BAR CEDAR, a drinking establishment in downtown Hiroshima, was buoyed by the news. “It will provide a tremendous tailwind for us.” Shotaro Yamabe, 52, chief producer of the Hiroshima Tourism Association, indicated, “I’m sure people around the world will make the ‘pilgrimage’ to locations featured in the film. It will become a major breakthrough for Hiroshima’s tourism industry and lead to an increase in excursions to numerous places in the prefecture.”

The Rihga Royal Hotel Hiroshima, located in the city’s Naka Ward, is already offering rental tours to visit the movie’s sets in collaboration with the taxi company Tsubame Kotsu, in Higashi Ward. Hiroshima Prefectural Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki commented, “I hope people who enjoyed watching the movie are soothed and moved by the landscapes while recalling the same scenes from the film.” Hiroshima City Mayor Kazumi Matsui said, “I appreciate that the movie communicated to the world the charms of the city’s metropolitan area.”


“The area’s scenery made the movie special,” said Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director of the movie Drive My Car, as he expressed gratitude to Hiroshima Prefecture, the location at which most of the scenes were shot, at a news conference following the Academy Awards ceremony, held in the U.S. city of Los Angeles, on March 27.

The movie was filmed at locations in Hiroshima City including Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and on Kure City’s island of Osaki Shimojima. “I think the charms of the miraculous scenery and light of the locations being recorded on film directly added power to the movie,” said Mr. Hamaguchi as he looked back on the experience.

Hidetoshi Nishijima, the actor who played the leading role in the movie and was present at the news conference, revealed that he had received praise from people overseas who were touched by his performance amid the movie’s beautiful atmosphere. Mr. Nishijima showed his appreciation for the people involved in the movie. “Thanks to everyone at such wonderful locations who offered their support despite the coronavirus pandemic, we were able to put together a wonderful movie.”

(Originally published on March 29, 2022)