Makoto Shinkai's 2022 film. Seventeen-year-old Suzume Iwato, from a coastal town in Miyazaki (Kyushu), sets out on a journey across Japan to close mysterious 'doors' that — when left open in ruined, abandoned places — unleash disasters. Her route, from Kyushu to Shikoku, Kobe, Tokyo and finally the Tōhoku coast, turns the whole country into a stage, rendered in the studio's trademark hyperrealistic backgrounds. The film openly engages with the memory of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
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Former Bungomori Roundhousethe first door
An abandoned circular locomotive depot in the town of Kusu (Ōita, Kyushu), bare concrete and overgrown. It is the model for the flooded ruins where Suzume finds the first 'door' at the start of the film. Its eerie, symmetrical atmosphere was reproduced almost exactly; a replica of the film's door often stands beside the building.
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Yawatahama Portthe ferry
The ferry terminal at Yawatahama (Ehime, Shikoku), where the orange ferry docks in the sequence as Suzume pursues the cat Daijin. The piers, ships and waterfront closely match the film's scenes; it is one of the journey's transition points between regions.
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Kobe Nunobiki Herb GardensKobe segment
A hillside botanical garden above Kobe, reached by ropeway from Shin-Kobe Station. It appears in the Kobe leg of the journey, with its panoramic city views and greenhouse, during one of the film's quieter, more tender moments.
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Hijiri Bridge (Ochanomizu)the chase
A bridge over the Kanda River at Ochanomizu (Tokyo) where several train lines converge (Marunouchi, Chūō, Sōbu). It is one of the film's most recognizable urban spots, the setting for the chase and for emotional beats, and a classic railfan viewpoint.
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Tokyo StationTokyo climax
The great rail hub of Tokyo Station anchors the capital chapter, as the scale of the disaster looming over the city becomes clear. The film's most dangerous door lies beneath the maze of tunnels and disused lines in this central Tokyo area.
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Miyazaki coast (Suzume's town)start of the journey
The coastal town where Suzume lives with her aunt at the start of the film is inspired by the seaside area of Miyazaki, in eastern Kyushu. It corresponds not to an exact address but to the general feel of its seaside roads and hills, where the journey begins. (Approximate, region-level location.)
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Tōhoku coast (the final door)the final door
The film's emotional climax unfolds on the Tōhoku coast, in an area inspired by the towns devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. There Suzume returns to her childhood home and the final door. It is not a specific place but an evocation of the Sanriku region and its memory. (Approximate, region-level location.)