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Tokyo, 1999 · shot on its streets, 2020–2023

Tokyo Vice

An American reporter at a Tokyo newspaper, a detective who takes him in, and a city that had to be read. The show was shot on Tokyo’s own streets, and the crew waited for the right train before they rolled.

Go to the bridge

Ansel Elgort in a dark suit and tie, looking to one side
Ansel Elgort in Toronto in September 2019, the year he was cast as Jake. GabboT · CC BY-SA 2.0
Ansel ElgortJake Adelstein
Ken Watanabe smiling in a baseball cap
Ken Watanabe at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, in June 2022, two months after the first season came out. Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles · CC BY 4.0
Ken WatanabeHiroto Katagiri

Hijiri Bridge, Ochanomizu · episode one

Wait for the old train.

The series opens on Hijiri Bridge, where three railway lines run through one frame. The crew timed the shot so that only older trains crossed below: a newer model would have given 1999 away. Let the new ones pass. Roll on an old one, and each clean take lands the next place from season one.

The river is quiet. Wait for the next train.

Where we read it
  1. A concrete arch bridge over a green river canyon, a red train crossing underneath
    Hijiri Bridge over the Kanda River, with a Marunouchi Line train crossing below it. Otota DANA · CC BY 2.0

    Ep. 1 · the bridge

    Hijiri Bridge

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it
  2. A stone torii and a small red shrine between shopfronts
    Chiyoda Inari Shrine, Shibuya, in October 2020, the autumn the shoot resumed. Bject · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Ep. 1 · the shrine

    Chiyoda Inari Shrine

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it
  3. A long low hotel lobby with wood panelling, lantern lights and black chairs
    The lobby of The Okura Tokyo in November 2019, rebuilt to the 1962 design. Matsujima · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Ep. 2 · the lobby

    The Okura Tokyo

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it
  4. A wide street at night lined with lit signs and towers
    Yasukuni-dōri at Kabukichō at night. Kakidai · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Ep. 2 · the corner

    Kabukichō

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it
  5. A narrow alley of tiny two-storey bars, lanterns and signs
    One of the six alleys of Golden Gai at night, October 2024. Alexkom000 · CC BY 4.0

    Ep. 3 · the bar

    Golden Gai

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it
  6. Tall green nets over a batting cage beside a street
    Shinjuku Batting Center, 2-21-13 Kabukichō, in March 2023. 鋸香具師 · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Ep. 3 · the cages

    Shinjuku Batting Center

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it
  7. A very steep stone staircase climbing between trees to a red gate
    The steep stairs up Atagoyama to Atago Shrine. AMANO Jun-ichi · CC BY 3.0

    Ep. 6 · the stairs

    Atago Shrine

    Not in the can yet.

    Where we read it

The Yomiuri Shimbun, 1993

The reporter was real.

Jake Adelstein came to Tokyo at nineteen, in 1988, to study Japanese literature at Sophia University. On 15 April 1993 he joined the Yomiuri Shimbun as its first non-Japanese staff writer, in the Urawa bureau in Saitama, and stayed twelve years. His 2009 memoir became the series; on screen the paper is the fictional Meicho Shimbun.

His story is disputed. In 2022 The Hollywood Reporter questioned parts of the memoir; in 2023 the Yomiuri told Le Soir that he was never on its organised-crime teams and wrote very few articles about the yakuza.

Where we read it

  • Adelstein’s arrival in 1988, his start at the Yomiuri on 15 April 1993 and twelve years there; the memoir; the doubts raised by The Hollywood Reporter and Le Soir, and the Yomiuri’s statement.

    Wikipedia: Jake Adelstein

  • The Meicho Shimbun is the series’ fictional paper.

    Wikipedia: Tokyo Vice (TV series)

Michael Mann in glasses and a dark coat
Michael Mann in New York in February 2019, the year he signed on to direct the first episode. Greg2600 · CC BY-SA 2.0

Michael Mann directed the first episode and was an executive producer. Shooting began in Tokyo on 5 March 2020.

Where we read it

  • Mann was hired in October 2019 to direct the pilot and executive produce, and is credited as director of the first episode, The Test; principal photography began on 5 March 2020.

    Wikipedia: Tokyo Vice (TV series)

Learn to read the map

Jake learns Tokyo by learning to read it. Press a name.

Three names, three stories. The reading rises when you press one.

Where we read it
Office towers in Ōtemachi across a moat
Ōtemachi from the palace moat in 2013, with the Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters under construction. Kimiwind1184 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Ōtemachi 1-chōme, Chiyoda

Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters

Jake Adelstein joined the Yomiuri Shimbun on 15 April 1993, the first non-Japanese staff writer on the paper, in its Urawa bureau in Saitama. He stayed twelve years.

On screen the paper is the fictional Meicho Shimbun. Its newsroom was an eight-storey office building near Tokyo Bay.

The Yomiuri was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Ōtemachi. It has been called the largest-circulation newspaper in the world.

An office tower; look at it from the street. Ōtemachi Station is underneath.

Where we read it

Kabukichō · episode three

A night in Shinjuku.

Jake, Trendy and Tintin drink in Golden Gai, then go on to the batting centre in Kabukichō to hit balls. Take a swing; each hit lands somewhere the series shot in Shinjuku.

Bat up. Swing.

Tall green nets over a batting cage beside a street
Shinjuku Batting Center, 2-21-13 Kabukichō, in March 2023. 鋸香具師 · CC BY-SA 4.0

2-21-13 Kabukichō, Shinjuku

Shinjuku Batting Center

After Golden Gai, Jake, Trendy and Tintin go on to the batting centre to hit balls.

Open late into the night. Tokyo Cheapo lists 10am to 4am and ¥300 a go; check before you go.

Where we read it
A narrow alley of tiny two-storey bars, lanterns and signs
One of the six alleys of Golden Gai at night, October 2024. Alexkom000 · CC BY 4.0

1-chōme Kabukichō, Shinjuku

Golden Gai

In the third episode Jake and his colleagues Trendy and Tintin meet for drinks at a bar in Golden Gai.

Open in the evening, and not a cheap place to drink. Photographs in the alleys need the traders’ permission.

Where we read it
A shopfront covered in signs, crowds on the pavement
The Don Quijote store on the Kabukichō corner in 2011. Hikosaemon from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0

Yasukuni-dōri at 1-16-5 Kabukichō, Shinjuku

Kabukichō

In the second episode the camera passes the Don Quijote store on the corner of Yasukuni-dōri and Kabukichō.

Public streets, busiest after dark. The Don Quijote store on the corner is open 24 hours.

Where we read it
Twin towers of a city hall at night with lit windows
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building at night in March 2022, lit blue and yellow for Ukraine. Asanagi · CC0

2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

For season two the street outside City Hall was dressed as a four-lane highway for a traffic jam and a motorbike chase. It was shot on a Sunday, with the governor’s support.

The observation decks on the 45th floor are free. The light show on the east wall runs every evening.

Where we read it
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Shinjuku and Golden Gai at night

Shinjuku

Live marketplace results for evening walks and bar tours of Shinjuku. None is built round the series; check each route for Golden Gai and Kabukichō.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
A narrow nightlife street at night, lit shop signs on both sides
Akasaka at night in March 2020, the month the shoot began. Macgills2 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Akasaka · season two

Six months for six hours.

An Akasaka street played the outside of Samantha’s hostess club in season two. The crew had partial control of it for six hours, 8pm to 2am, and it filled with police vehicles.

The police agreed only after every business on the block had said yes. The team went back to each owner over six months; Alan Poul brought a little box of sweets on the first visits.

Screen Global Production calls it a first for a Western production.

  1. 8pm
  2. 9pm
  3. 10pm
  4. 11pm
  5. 12am
  6. 1am
  7. 2am

Public streets. The street used is not named, so walk the lanes round Akasaka Station after dark.

Where we read it

Police permission in Tokyo is only permission to use the street, not control of it. Alan Poul wanted more of the city in season two, and 76 per cent of it was shot on location.

Where we read it
A narrow street of small shops and signs
A side street in Akabane, Kita, in September 2020, two months before the shoot resumed. nakashi from Chofu, Tokyo, JAPAN · CC BY-SA 2.0

Akabane, Kita

Akabane

Akabane, a neighbourhood of narrow alleys in northern Tokyo, gave Jake his street and his apartment.

A motorbike theft there, shot at night with traffic going the wrong way, took four months to get approved.

A black market grew up by the station after the war. Today Akabane is known for cheap bars, and a long covered arcade runs from it to Shimo.

Public streets round Akabane Station. Jake’s building has not been identified; it stays off the map.

Where we read it
A very steep stone staircase climbing between trees to a red gate
The steep stairs up Atagoyama to Atago Shrine. AMANO Jun-ichi · CC BY 3.0

1-5-3 Atago, Minato

Atago Shrine

Polina and Jake run up these stairs at night in the sixth episode.

Season two came back for a flashback in which Samantha meets her friend.

The shrine was founded in 1603 on the order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, on Atagoyama, a hill 26 metres above sea level. The steep stairs stand for success in life.

Legend has a young samurai riding his horse up them to fetch plum blossom for the shōgun: one minute up, forty-five down.

The stairs rise from Atago-dōri, and they are very steep.

Where we read it
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Tokyo after dark

Central Tokyo

Live marketplace results for night walking tours of central Tokyo. Check each itinerary for Akasaka and Toranomon.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

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Kanagawa and Nagano

Out of town.

Season two left the city: south-west to a temple by the sea at Enoshima and an inn under the Tanzawa mountains, then north into the Nagano snow.

A large wooden temple hall at the top of stone steps
The main hall of Ryūkō-ji, Fujisawa, built in 1832. Fg2 · Public domain

Katase, Fujisawa, Kanagawa

Ryūkō-ji

Season two filmed a major character’s funeral here with hundreds of extras; the temple let the crew bring cranes into the grounds.

It was founded in 1337, on the old Tatsunokuchi execution ground where Nichiren was to have been killed and was spared. Its name means dragon’s mouth.

The grounds hold a main hall, a five-storey pagoda and the cave where Nichiren was held.

A working temple, a short walk from Enoshima Station on the Enoden line.

Where we read it
A suburban station platform under a long roof
Tsurumaki-Onsen station, the stop for Jinya; no free photograph of the inn itself has been found. Kaze315 · CC BY-SA 4.0

2-8-24 Tsurumakikita, Hadano, Kanagawa

Jinya, Tsurumaki Onsen

Alex Boden names this hot-spring inn, more than a century old, as a location.

It stands with its back to the Tanzawa mountains in a garden of about 10,000 tsubo, some 33,000 square metres.

A night with two meals starts at ¥70,000 before tax.

A ryokan by Tsurumaki-Onsen Station on the Odakyu Odawara line. Day bathing on Mondays only; closed Tuesday to Thursday.

Where we read it
A red and white train at a small station, snow on the roofs
Yudanaka station in the snow, January 2011. nesnad · CC BY 3.0

Yamanouchi, Nagano

Yudanaka Station

Season two went into snowy Nagano, and Yudanaka Station was one of its locations.

The station opened on 28 April 1927 and is the terminus of the Nagano Line.

It is the way in to Jigokudani Monkey Park, where macaques bathe in a hot spring. The old station building is now a bathhouse.

The end of the Nagano Electric Railway’s line, 33.2 km from Nagano Station.

Where we read it
Jinya

Tsurumaki Onsen Motoyu Jinya

Hadano, Kanagawa · From ¥70,000 a night with two meals

The century-old hot-spring inn the producers filmed at, under the Tanzawa mountains in Hadano, with a garden of some 33,000 square metres. One night with two meals starts at ¥70,000 before tax; day bathing on Mondays only, closed Tuesday to Thursday.

See the inn

The people

Who made it.

  • Ansel Elgort in a dark suit and tie, looking to one side
    Ansel Elgort in Toronto in September 2019, the year he was cast as Jake. GabboT · CC BY-SA 2.0
    Ansel ElgortJake Adelstein · 2019
  • Ken Watanabe smiling in a baseball cap
    Ken Watanabe at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, in June 2022, two months after the first season came out. Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles · CC BY 4.0
    Ken WatanabeHiroto Katagiri · 2022
  • Rinko Kikuchi smiling in a pale green dress
    Rinko Kikuchi at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2024, six months after the last episode. Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0
    Rinko KikuchiEmi Maruyama · 2024
  • Rachel Keller on a red carpet in a pale yellow dress
    Rachel Keller in Toronto in September 2022, between the two seasons. Kuya JDL · CC BY 3.0
    Rachel KellerSamantha Porter · 2022
  • Show Kasamatsu in a burgundy jacket, raising a hand
    Show Kasamatsu at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2022, between the two seasons. Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0
    Show KasamatsuSato · 2022
  • Michael Mann in glasses and a dark coat
    Michael Mann in New York in February 2019, the year he signed on to direct the first episode. Greg2600 · CC BY-SA 2.0
    Michael MannDirector, episode one · 2019

J. T. Rogers created the series from Adelstein’s memoir. Around Elgort and Watanabe are Rachel Keller, Hideaki Itō, Show Kasamatsu, Ella Rumpf, Rinko Kikuchi and Tomohisa Yamashita. It ran for two seasons on HBO Max and Max, from April 2022 to April 2024, and was cancelled in June 2024.

  1. 5 Mar 2020First day of shooting, in Tokyo
  2. 26 Nov 2020Shooting resumes after the Covid stop
  3. 76%Of season two shot on location
  4. 2Seasons, April 2022 and February 2024
Where we read it

Go there.

Where it is now

14 places you can visit: 11 in Tokyo and 3 out of town. Jake’s building in Akabane has never been identified; only the neighbourhood is mapped.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Public streets, busiest after dark. The Don Quijote store on the corner is open 24 hours.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open in the evening, and not a cheap place to drink. Photographs in the alleys need the traders’ permission.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open late into the night. Tokyo Cheapo lists 10am to 4am and ¥300 a go; check before you go.

  • General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The observation decks on the 45th floor are free. The light show on the east wall runs every evening.

  1. A wide street at night lined with lit signs and towers
    Yasukuni-dōri at Kabukichō at night. Kakidai · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Yasukuni-dōri at 1-16-5 Kabukichō, Shinjuku

    Kabukichō

    In the second episode the camera passes the Don Quijote store on the corner of Yasukuni-dōri and Kabukichō.

    Public streets, busiest after dark. The Don Quijote store on the corner is open 24 hours.

    Where we read it
  2. A narrow alley of tiny two-storey bars, lanterns and signs
    One of the six alleys of Golden Gai at night, October 2024. Alexkom000 · CC BY 4.0

    1-chōme Kabukichō, Shinjuku

    Golden Gai

    In the third episode Jake and his colleagues Trendy and Tintin meet for drinks at a bar in Golden Gai.

    Open in the evening, and not a cheap place to drink. Photographs in the alleys need the traders’ permission.

    Where we read it
  3. Tall green nets over a batting cage beside a street
    Shinjuku Batting Center, 2-21-13 Kabukichō, in March 2023. 鋸香具師 · CC BY-SA 4.0

    2-21-13 Kabukichō, Shinjuku

    Shinjuku Batting Center

    After Golden Gai, Jake, Trendy and Tintin go on to the batting centre to hit balls.

    Open late into the night. Tokyo Cheapo lists 10am to 4am and ¥300 a go; check before you go.

    Where we read it
  4. Twin towers of a city hall at night with lit windows
    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building at night in March 2022, lit blue and yellow for Ukraine. Asanagi · CC0

    2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku

    Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

    For season two the street outside City Hall was dressed as a four-lane highway for a traffic jam and a motorbike chase. It was shot on a Sunday, with the governor’s support.

    The observation decks on the 45th floor are free. The light show on the east wall runs every evening.

    Where we read it

Stay

Check in.

A century-old hot-spring inn the producers filmed at, and the hotel with the rebuilt 1962 lobby.

Jinya

Tsurumaki Onsen Motoyu Jinya

Hadano, Kanagawa · From ¥70,000 a night with two meals

The century-old hot-spring inn the producers filmed at, under the Tanzawa mountains in Hadano, with a garden of some 33,000 square metres. One night with two meals starts at ¥70,000 before tax; day bathing on Mondays only, closed Tuesday to Thursday.

See the inn
The Okura Tokyo

The Okura Tokyo

Toranomon, Tokyo

The hotel whose lobby Jake crosses behind Katagiri in episode two, rebuilt in 2019 with the 1962 lobby recreated. In Toranomon, Minato.

See the hotel

Go there

After dark.

Evening walks through Shinjuku and central Tokyo, and day trips to Enoshima.

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Shinjuku and Golden Gai at night

Shinjuku

Live marketplace results for evening walks and bar tours of Shinjuku. None is built round the series; check each route for Golden Gai and Kabukichō.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Tokyo after dark

Central Tokyo

Live marketplace results for night walking tours of central Tokyo. Check each itinerary for Akasaka and Toranomon.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Kamakura and Enoshima day trips

Fujisawa and Kamakura

Live marketplace results for day trips to Kamakura and Enoshima. Ryūkō-ji is a short walk from Enoshima Station; check whether a route stops there.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

Tonight at City Hall.

The light show on the tower outside which season two staged its motorbike chase.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

The memoir.

Adelstein’s 2009 book, the one the series came from.

Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

Jake Adelstein · Pantheon

The 2009 memoir the series is based on. Parts of it have been questioned since, by The Hollywood Reporter and Le Soir among others.

Find the book

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The notebook

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

14 of 14 places · 14 of 14 Moments

  • Hijiri Bridge

    Hongō-dōri over the Kanda River, Ochanomizu

    • The bridge

      The series opens on Hijiri Bridge, timed to the older trains below.

  • Chiyoda Inari Shrine

    Off Dōgenzaka, Maruyamachō, Shibuya

    • The shrine

      A street scene that shakes Jake, set in Kabukichō, is shot in front of a small Shibuya shrine.

  • The Okura Tokyo

    2-10-4 Toranomon, Minato

    • The lobby

      Jake follows Katagiri through the Okura lobby.

  • Kabukichō

    Yasukuni-dōri at 1-16-5 Kabukichō, Shinjuku

    • The corner

      The Kabukichō corner of Yasukuni-dōri, the Don Quijote store lit up.

  • Golden Gai

    1-chōme Kabukichō, Shinjuku

    • A bar in Golden Gai

      Jake, Trendy and Tintin meet for drinks in Golden Gai.

  • Shinjuku Batting Center

    2-21-13 Kabukichō, Shinjuku

    • The cages

      The three reporters go on to the batting centre.

  • Atago Shrine

    1-5-3 Atago, Minato

    • The stairs

      Polina and Jake run up the Atago stairs at night; season two comes back for Samantha’s flashback.

  • Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

    2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku

    • The jam

      The street outside City Hall becomes a jammed four-lane highway for a motorbike chase.

  • Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters

    Ōtemachi 1-chōme, Chiyoda

    • The paper

      The real paper behind the fictional Meicho Shimbun, where Adelstein worked from 1993.

  • Akasaka

    The streets round Akasaka Station, Minato

    • Six hours in Akasaka

      An Akasaka street plays the outside of Samantha’s club, 8pm to 2am.

  • Akabane

    Akabane, Kita

    • Jake’s street

      Akabane is Jake’s neighbourhood; a motorbike is stolen there at night.

  • Ryūkō-ji

    Katase, Fujisawa, Kanagawa

    • The funeral

      A funeral with hundreds of extras at a temple founded in 1337.

  • Jinya, Tsurumaki Onsen

    2-8-24 Tsurumakikita, Hadano, Kanagawa

    • The inn

      A century-old hot-spring inn under the Tanzawa mountains.

  • Yudanaka Station

    Yamanouchi, Nagano

    • The snow

      Season two goes north into the Nagano snow.

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