How did “Black Rain” become “Osaka Noir”?

Shooting in Kansai, where there were many restrictions

``Black Rain,'' whose story unfolds throughout the Kansai region, was shot on location in Osaka as a Hollywood movie. However, at the beginning of the project, the story was set in Tokyo, and filming locations were scheduled to include Narita Airport, Ginza, and Shinjuku Kabukicho. Below, I will describe the changes in the shooting plan in Japan starting from the period of consideration.

March 1, 1988

Producer Stanley R. Jaffe, director Ridley Scott, and others came to Japan for location scouting. They tour potential filming locations mainly in Tokyo, but there are concerns that all of the locations have been modernized and do not match the image. At the same time, in Tokyo, it is difficult to obtain permission from the metropolitan police for location filming, and the uncooperative system is also seen as a problem.

April 24th-25th

Jaffe, Scott, and others visited Japan again, this time conducting location scouting mainly in Osaka. We will visit Abeno Police Station, Nakanoshima Public Hall, Osaka Castle, and Kitahama. Since Osaka's administrative jurisdiction is not as complex as that of Tokyo, they determined that permission would be easier to obtain, so they requested formal cooperation from Osaka Prefecture for filming, and obtained full cooperation from then-Osaka Prefectural Governor Masaru Kishi.

During this location scouting in Tokyo and Osaka, filming in Hong Kong was considered, and Jaffe and Scott quickly scouted the location there. At this time, they met with actor Jackie Chan and negotiated with the Hong Kong side to include him in the film, but they needed to consider the location, so they ended up in Osaka.

"Black Rain" TM & Copyright (C) 1989 by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. TM,(R) & Copyright (C) 2013 by Paramount Pictures.All Rights Reserved.

The filming process in Japan is as follows.

October 28th

Started filming in Japan. The scene is Osaka Prefectural Office. However, the filming area was limited to the collective bargaining room on the first floor of the main building of the prefectural government building, but the production company, Paramount, occupied the entire basement floor, including the surrounding area, and the prefectural office fell into a state of paralysis.

November 1st

During filming on the third floor of the government building, vegetable oil was vaporized and Smoke was produced, creating a pungent odor and causing an uproar in the building. In response to this, Osaka Prefecture will issue a warning to Paramount.

November 7th

The shooting scenes were filmed at Nippon Steel's Sakai Steel Works, but because the use of firearms was strictly prohibited, the most important shooting scenes were filmed at the Fontana (California) steel works.

November 11th night

The scene where Nick seeks an audience with Sugai (Tomisaburo Wakayama) is filmed at Golf City, a three-story golf driving range in Toyosaki, Oyodo Ward.

November 13th

Michael Douglas' solo parts were filmed at Printemps Namba and Naganuma Kimono Gakuin Shinsaibashi School in Dotonbori.

November 21st to 24th

A photo shoot will be taken in front of the Ebisubashi Kirin Plaza Building designed by Shin Takamatsu. In order to avoid crowd confusion, extras were mobilized to begin filming at 3 a.m., but they were unable to obtain permission from the prefectural police to film in heavy rain. In addition, the plan to film a shot of Nick and Charlie surrounded by biker gangs in one shot of the Kirin Plaza Building was also not approved (there were even detailed restrictions on the area where the camera could be installed). Therefore, the scene of the biker gang attack was filmed on another day at Juso (this is the reason why the scene immediately jumps from Ebisubashi to a shot of Nick and Charlie (Andy Garcia) walking around Juso. ).

"Black Rain" TM & Copyright (C) 1989 by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. TM,(R) & Copyright (C) 2013 by Paramount Pictures.All Rights Reserved.

In addition, permission was not granted for a large-scale car chase in Dotonbori, where the road was covered with sand, and the scene of Charlie's death, which had been scheduled to be filmed on the Midosuji subway line, had to be filmed in the United States.

In the end, almost none of the planned action scenes could be filmed, and the cost was enormous, with the budget jumping from $20 million at the start of production to $30 million. The original plan was to shoot in Osaka until late December, but Paramount ended on-location filming for the Japanese part on the 6th of the same month.

Cinematographer Jan de Bont was hired as a pinch hitter.