Page 61 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Tokyo

Entertainment Venues ❮❮ 59

Asakusa Engei Hall
7 TOP 10 FILMS SET IN TOKYO
MAP R2 • 1-43-12 Asakusa,
Taito-ku • 3841-6545 1 Stray Dog (1949)
Traditional comic storytelling takes A rare chance to see what Tokyo’s
place here. The seated narrators downtown streets looked like in the
perform alone, with the barest of post-war era.
props, usually just a fan. Although it 2 Tokyo Story (1953)
is exceed ingly difficult for foreigners Yasujiro Ozu’s classic, set mostly in a
to follow, it is worth a visit for the working-class area of the city, explores
atmosphere at least. the collapse of the Japanese family.
3 Godzilla (1954)
Awakened by the A-bomb, the giant
lizard stumbles through the city until
pacified by Japanese scientists.
4 Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1968)
Nagisa Oshima’s film explores the
minds of young Japanese radicals in
this audacious film.
5 Shall We Dance? (1996)
Tokyo night scenes form the backdrop
to this story of a salaryman who finds a
higher purpose in ballroom dancing.
6 Lost in Translation (2003)
A show at Kabuki-za Theater A fine performance from Bill Murray,
but Sofia Coppola’s stereotypical view
Kabuki-za Theater
8 of Tokyo is oddly dated.
7 Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Reconstructed in 2013, this
Baroque Japanese revivalist-style An animated classic that traces a tale
building stages Kabuki shows. Full of redemption for three tramps and
dramas of three to four acts can the baby they discover in a Tokyo
extend throughout an after noon or trash can at Christmas.
evening. Single-act tickets provide a 8 Babel (2006)
shorter, more accessible entrée into Oscar-nominated Rinko Kikuchi plays
Kabuki for the first timer (see p81). the mute Chieko in the Tokyo strand
of this globetrotting movie.
Shimbashi Enbujo
9 9 Tokyo Sonata (2008)
How a middle-class Tokyo family reacts
MAP N5 • 6-18-2 Ginza,
Chuo-ku • 3541-2600 when the father loses his job and tries
to keep it a secret.
This theater stages period dramas,
whose plots are strong on the 10 Tokyo Tribe (2014)
conflict between love and duty. Yakuza gang violence, martial arts
“Super Kabuki,” a modern dramatic action, and hip-hop music all collide
in this fast-paced fantasy set in a
form devised by veteran actor divided Tokyo of the future.
Ennosuke Ichikawa, guarantees to
keep even non-Japanese audience
members alert.
Tokyo Dome
0
MAP E2 • 1-3-61 Koraku,
Bunkyo-ku • www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e
Known locally by its nickname as the
“Big Egg,” this central Tokyo stadium
is the home of top baseball team
Yomiuri Giants; attending a game
during the season is great fun. The Scene from Tokyo Godfathers
venue is also used for pop concerts.

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