Ninjas on rooftops, samurais and sword fights, super robots. These were just some of the things my husband and I were looking forward to when we made the trip to Japan last March. Him especially. And we found them all at Toie Kyoto Studio Park.
By the entrance and ticket booth of Kyoto Studio Park. Oh look, ninjas.
If Kyoto is referred to by guide books as the the Japan of your imagination (what with its dizzying number of historic temples and shrines, teahouses and tradition), then Toei Kyoto Studio Park is place you want to go to if your imagination is keen to include anime, manga, ninjas and samurais.
Toei Uzumasa Eigamura or Kyoto Studio Park is an active film set and theme park in one. Designed as a small town from the Edo period, it’s used as a location for Japanese period movies and television dramas while some of the traditional buildings serve as theaters, museums, and houses featuring some ninja action and spooky zombies.
Since it was a rainy morning, there were only a few people walking the grounds of the park
When we went there on a gray and rainy morning, the park grounds were almost empty. Small clusters of young Japanese students moved from one area to the next. There was a Filipino family with three young boys in tow. Almost everyone at one point looked familiar. Some streets in the made-up Edo neighborhood were deserted. You almost expect tumbleweeds to come rolling across.
This street is supposed to be how the red-light district used to look during the Edo period
Where’s everybody?
While the atmosphere outside seemed cheerless (the weather certainly didn’t help), there was something to ooh and ahh and laugh about inside some of the structures.
Inside a sound stage, there was show that featured behind the scenes from how a Jidaigeki (period drama) is filmed. A director and two actors would show how period dramas were filmed; they all spoke in Japanese and there were no English translations or audio guide, but thank goodness there was a good amount of physical comedy, which translates well in any language.
Behind the scenes of a Jidaigeki
There’s also a ninja show in one of the theaters (watch out for some acrobatic action), a samurai sword-fighting lesson (volunteers are chosen from the audience!), and a superhero show scheduled in the park. These shows are free for anyone to watch, and are often packed. So that was where the people were hiding out from the rain!
But some places in Kyoto Studio Park entail additional charges on top of the 2,200 JPY entrance ticket. This includes the The Ninja Mystery House, the Haunted House, the 3D 360 Theater, and the Costume Rental and Photo Shops. If you’re on a budget, the free shows are already fun to watch. And since it’s a film set, you may even chance upon an actual shoot, like we did! Tourists can’t go anywhere near the filming area though, but some young Japanese tourists who were giddy over the movie actress in the film got to ask for autographs.
Want to get dressed up as a ninja?
The Ninja House
One of the few attractions in the park that didn’t have any additional charges was the Toei Anime Museum. Grendizer was there by the entrance to greet you, and inside are animation cells and promo goods from some of Toei’s anime series. The were items from Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, One Piece Spooky Kitaro, Mazinger-Z, and from so many other anime series I wasn’t familiar with.
Welcome to the Toei Animation Museum from Grandizer
Inside are animation cells, promo materials and merchandise from different Toei anime series
An inflatable Great Mazinger (with P getting up close to one of the characters on the left)
Mazinger Z statue. Yes, this is where we had our pictures taken.
To get to Toei Kyoto Studio Park, take the JR Sagano Line to Uzumasa Station, which is just one station before Saga-Arashiyama. (If you’re planning to go to Arashiyama, before you schlep back to downtown Kyoto, you can go down Uzumasa.) From Uzumasa, it’s a 10-minute walk to the Kyoto Studio Park; head toward the train crossing. (See map below) Address: 616-8161 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Ukyo Ward, Uzumasa Higashihachiokacho, 10; phone no: +81 75-864-7716
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This place looks so awesome despite the gloomy weather. I’d love to go. I could spend hours wandering around and hanging out on films sets (I know because I have already done so). Is it actually the size of a small town? The anime museum with loads of Pre-cure merch looks like a treasure trove! Did you see anything from Kyousogiga?
Haha, yes we should have! Figured you would have liked this. To be honest, I was not familiar with a lot of the anime posters and merchandise. The ones I mentioned in the post are the only ones I knew and there were so many others. I seem to remember seeing a poster of Kyousogiga but I may also be confusing it with another series or movie 😦 The anime museum is pretty small but the husband still took an hour looking at every single poster and merchandise. The film set seemed like the size of a small town, there were different areas as well. I’m sure you would have known who the actress was in the shoot if you were there with us 🙂 (Which film set have you gone to?)
Were you free to wander around then?
Kyousogiga has a girl with a giant hammer who likes to smash stuff. It’s also a tightly written family drama full of emotions. I recommend it.
The BBC films a lot of shows around my house/workplace so I regularly stumble upon the Doctor battling bad guys (like I did on Monday) and Sherlock solving crimes. I used to hang around and watch the shoot and talk to cast and crew but less so these days.
Yes, we were free to roam around the place–except the areas where you might get in the shot… WAIT, did you just mention the Doctor and Sherlock? WHERE DO YOU LIVE?! Can we exchange memories for a moment?
Well apparently I live at ground zero for alien invasions and bizarre murders. Makes life interesting but I’d rather be a part of a dorama like this:
Whoa! Gosh this place is incredible!
Uzumasa Limelight
Uzumasa Limelight goes behind the scenes of the distinctive film genre for which Japan is famous. A professional extra named Kamiyama (real-life kirare-yaku Seizo Fukumoto) has devoted 50 years of his life as a kirare-yaku in sword-fighting movies produced at Kyoto’s Uzumasa Studios. A master of the art, he lives to die–or more exactly “to be cut”–and show a beautiful, spectacular death on screen. Now an elderly man, Kamiyama lives very modestly but has earned immense respect from his peers, some of them movie stars. When the studio where he works decides to discontinue its chanbara productions, Kamiyama finds himself at a loss. Hope arrives in the form of a young girl named Satsuki, who soon becomes Kamiyama’s disciple. Will the art of dying by the sword live on?
Only saw this trailer now! It looks like a sad movie… and some of the scenes look like they were shot in the Kyoto Uzumasa studio. Thanks for posting it here!