The Kinki Region, also commonly known as the Kansai region (perhaps because Kinki is too hilarious to use casually in everyday English conversation), is the ancient political and cultural homeland of Japan. Travel south of The Wind Rises’s celebrated hotel and you’ll find Nagoya city in the south - the site of the new Studio Ghibli theme park set to open in autumn of 2022. If Kamikochi feels too far for you, try out Karuizawa, famously the favourite summer spot for John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The higher altitudes in the hills of places like Nagano, Niigata and Ishikawa mean that the humidity of Japanese summer often doesn’t reach them, making them the perfect place for the fancier Tokyoites to escape the heat! Historically, this meant these areas have a brilliantly fascinating mix of Western and Japanese styles, creating what many refer to as the ‘Japan Alps’, brimming with hiking trails, ski slopes and rural cycle routes. The Chubu Region consists of nine prefectures and varies wildly from north to south but is broadly characterised by undulating mountainous vistas bursting with lush green vegetation, like those surrounding the Kamikochi Imperial Hotel in the north which features strongly in the wartime epic The Wind Rises (remember the pesky paper airplane?). If you’re in a rush, swing by the Ramen Museum to walk around a very detailed recreation of what life was like back then. Set in 1960s Yokohama, with the first Tokyo Olympics looming into view, there is a lot of hope but also anxiety about what the modernisation of Japan will bring, but the retro urban landscapes of Yokohama’s downtown and residential areas ooze charm, much the same as the modern day preserved districts around Sankei-en gardens, Hasedera temple and the Noge nightlife district. The Kanto region is Japan's largest plain, and a highly densely populated region that we’re glad to confirm actually does exist in real life and not just in the Pokemon franchise! Japan’s two largest metropolises, Tokyo and Yokohama, are located here, giving the area a distinctly cosmopolitan buzz, as was deftly illustrated in From Up On Poppy Hill, the heartfelt story of a group of teens fighting to prevent their school buildings from being demolished. As is clear in Arietty, there is a fine blend of Japanese and Western architectural styles from the 1900s to be found in this quaint stately home in Hirakawa City, not far from the babbling brooks and leafy footpaths of the Oirase Gorge. The house from Arietty is supposedly based on Seibien Garden in the floral pastures of Aomori, a prefecture famous for its juicy red apples. Arietty, a piece of folklore in itself, gives us just a taste of how alive this rural region is with vibrant natural colours all year round, be it spring, summer, autumn or winter. The Tohoku Region consists of six prefectures in the north of Japan's mainland, just below Hokkaido island and is well known for its remote villages, its hot springs, its local festivals, its folklore and its sacred traditions. All is not quite what it seems! The drama plays out with Hokkaido’s wide open lakes and distant mountains forever in the peripheries, not to mention the foggy lowlands of Kushiro, which make a special guest appearance. Its sweeping wild landscapes were the inspiration for When Marnie Was There, the tale of a magical friendship between a bored and lonely teen on her summer holidays in the country, and a mysterious girl from an enigmatic mansion near where she’s staying. Its weather is nigh-on siberian in winter, while in summer it remains cool and fresh, escaping the humidity of other parts of Japan. Hokkaido is the northernmost and least developed of Japan's four main islands. Hokkaido / When Marnie Was There 思い出のマーニー But which films were inspired by which places? Well, buckle up and join us as we tour Japan from north to south - the Ghibli way! It’s no secret that the man himself is a big fan of Japan’s multitudinous landscapes - his love for its many natural worlds comes across strongly in the attention he pays to the mountains, forests and seas present across his work. No other artform gets the imagination going quite like cinema, but, in the spirit of optimistically thinking beyond just the armchair when it comes to travel, we thought we would enlist the help of an old friend, the founder of Studio Ghibli and the Walt Disney of Japan, Mr Hayao Miyazaki.
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