Air Doll Stage Sets

Memorable "Stage Settings" in Air Doll

In Air Doll, things around us that we do not usually aware of are used as stage settings, I assume.
Those stage settings also appear to be icons to symbolize something. I suppose that those icons give significance to every specific scene in the story.

❖ Click an image to enlarge.

Town of Minato and high-rise buildings The main stage, Ghin-machi in the story, lies along the west bank of the Sumida river. The town is nearby the center of metropolitan Tokyo.

Old houses had been removed and numerous decayed parking machines stand on spaces where houses once were. Even houses still there have very rusty walls made of corrugated zinc-plated panels. A building of nearby elementary school is 40 to 50 years old. (The school building was rebuilt in 2012.)

The contrast between the town and high-rise buildings across the river is a kind of striking. Does the director Kore-eda want to express that towns get aged after many years as people do?

Though the town has changed since the movie was filmed about four years ago, there still are things kept intact.

It is a very town that provides a stage where this very sad and impressive movie can be taken. I really wanted to see the town by myself and the town drove me to create the location sites map.

I visited the town in early summer 2013 and found demolition and renewal works were carried out at many places in the town. It was a redevelopment but later than surrounding towns. Minato park had been closed down at that time. In summer 2013, the town is in the final phase in which atmosphere once this town had is about to fade out.

Town of Minato and Skyscrapers across the Suida river	A house covered with plants
Town of Minato & Tsukuda / River City 21

About the name of the town; Ghin-machi

In the story, the name of Nozomi's town is not explicitly described nor pronounced.

However, a signboard on the wall of a print shop, which Nozomi drops by and bows at the doorway, displays the name of the town in Kanji letters. (around 0h11m40s in the movie)
Also, there is a signboard at a park near Hideo's apartment showing the park name in Hiragana letters. (around 0h13m42s)

Both tell us the name of the town is Ghin-machi. In Japanese, it is written as "銀町" in Kanji or "ぎんまち" in Hiragana.

Notes:

You may need an appropriate font set in your computer to display Japanese letters above. In this web page text is written in UTF-8 code.
In short, Kanji letters describe meanings while Hiragana letters describe sounds.

Pronunciation of "Ghin-machi"

In my pages, to describe the first sound of "Ghin-machi," I used "ghi."

I am not sure which is more appropriate, "ghi" or "gi." The first sound should be similar to "gi" in "gingham" or "gingko." It is NOT "gi" in "ginger" nor "giant."

Pronunciation of Ghin-machi: ➜ movie link

(The pronunciation is synthesized by Macintosh with MacOS 10.7.)

Benches Old and worn benches in Minato (Ghin-machi) park and Yanagihara-higashi Jido (children's) park (where Hideo took Nozomi on a wheelchair) are used as places where people gather.

Benches in real Minato park had been replaced with new ones soon after the filming. I'm very sorry that I cannot sit on them. Then the places of the benches were rearranged, and they were finally removed in July 2013.
Note: Minato park has been closed down at the end of March 2013.

A bench in Yanagihara-higashi Jido park is still there, another blue paint coat was applied, though.

Benches at Minato park
( after replacement )

Blue bench at
Yanagihara-higashi Jido park

The Sumida river Nozomi gazes on a flow of the Sumida river from a rooftop (0h14m43s), top of a dike at Minato park (0h49m27s), the Sumida river terrace (0h22m24s), and a roof of a boat (water bus) (0h59m11s.)

Also, when switching scenes, an overlooking landscape of the Sumida river and the town of Minato from a high place is used.

The river might tell me that people and things change gradually in a slow stream of time.

Nozomi walked
along the Sumida river terrace

Nozomi passed
under Shin-ohashi bridge

Beautiful and lovely things Nozomi cares much for beautiful things, which appear in many scenes in the movie. Among them there are: flowers in planters in front of the police box, a glass bottle of lemonade, artificial flowers, a toy ring and photo stickers of Nozomi herself.

She hides her seams with a concealer and advises Keiko (an aging sensitive receptionist) that she should use it. (0h41m05s) This story reminds me that Nozomi thinks she herself is one of beautiful things.

Nozomi also cares for flowers by the wayside, a girl's statue on a street, a wind chime at the window of Hideo's room, and more.

In an original story (manga; comic strips), the air doll (Jun in the original) saids, "A person living in this house must have a beautiful heart," in front of a house with many flowers. ( In Japanese these words are close each other; beautiful - pure - clean)

In the end of the original story, Jun gives an expression; "I can feel beauty of the blue sky since I have a soul." Back in the movie Nozomi aligns all beautiful things she loves on the blue bench in a park. (1h43m12s) Finally, she is surrounded by beautiful glass bottles in the garbage pickup area. (1h51m59s)

Supposed to be, she is saying that one of precious things in your life is to love beautiful things.

Original story referred to: "Gohda Tetsugaku-doh" by Yoshi-ie Gohda,
published by Take publishing in 2007 (paperback edition) [ Tetsugaku-doh : a hall of philosophers ]

Nozomi took scented
yellow artificial flowers

Nozomi held a ring
up into the sky

Garbage pickup area In the morning when Nozomi gets her 'soul' she goes out of her room and sees garbage collection work at the area in front of the apartment. (0h10m48s) This garbage pickup area appears several times in the film. Nozomi finds beautiful glass bottles later here. The place might suggest that everything, living or not, has its end.

At the end of the story, Nozomi blows dandelion fluffs into the air with breath in her body. The seeds scattered from the garbage pickup area give me a clue that this is not the end and still there is the future. (1h48m38s)

Garbage pickup area in front of Hideo's apartment
( actually used in Minato )

Vehicles Trains and ships often pass by timely in the background of Nozomi and dramatis personae.

Nozomi looks around the town on a rooftop in the evening of the day when she got her soul. When she sits on the edge of the rooftop and glances toward the Sumida river, a boat comes upstream at just the right moment. (0h14m40s)

When Hideo comes with Nozomi on a wheel chair to a park (Yanagihara-higashi Jido park,) trains of Tohbu Skytree line on the ground and Keisei main line on the elevated railroad cross each other on the very exact timing. (0h17m12s)

When Nozomi and Jun-ichi ramble through Mizunohiroba park, a Yurikamome train passes by on the background. (0h34m54s)

Nozomi runs away from the apartment and comes to a park. (Yanagihara-higashi Jido park) Nozomi hides herself behind a concrete post when Hideo comes following her. In this very timing, an up train of Keisei Main Line passes by. (1h21m29s) Then, a down train follows right after it.

I guess there was much difficulty when these scenes were filmed.

Incidentally, in the scene Nozomi hides herself behind a concrete post blinking light is seen on the surface of the post while a train is passing. This blink increases a feeling of reality.

I think the blink is intentionally added by the shooting staff. Why? The blinking light is too intense while the train runs at a distance from the post and the following down train does not generate any blink.

By intentionally taking ordinary vehicles into scenes, the film successfully let us feel as if we were in the scenes with reality.

Water bus Himiko
cruising behind Minato park

Yurikamome running behind
Mizunohiroba park