JAPAN – Akime // You Only Live Twice (1967)
Not Tokyo, not Himeji, not Kobe – but the really remote fisher village Akime is one of the key filming locations in “You Only Live Twice”. No wonder, locals are going crazy with worshipping the movie.
Why Bond was here
Investigating the theft of spacecrafts, James Bond (Sean Connery) travels to Japan. He soon is on the trails of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasance), but has to disguise himself. With the help of the Japanese secret service, Bond turns himself into a – somewhat – Japanese looking man. He even fakes a marriage and the life of a simple fisherman. The village of Akime is the scenic backdrop of Bonds double life.
How you gonna get there
Akime is a really small village in the Kagoshima Prefecture on Japans southern island Kyushu. There are local buses stopping by – but since Akime is so far of any mayor train lines we highly recommend coming there by car.
We stayed at Kagoshima, the southernmost city connected with the Shinkansen bullet train network. From there it is a scenic two-hour-drive down to Akime. You wouldn’t want to skip Kagoshima itself as well: Tanaka’s house was filmed at the city’s Shimazu Shigetomisoh Manor. And also Blofeld’s volcano base isn’t far off.
Good to know
Akime is a key filming location from “You Only Live Twice”. So much, that the local youth organized a fundraising for a filming monument. The autographs of the actors are engraved on the monument. You can find it at the Akime harbour on the western side. There are also little information plates at the harbour.
When we visited the place and had lunch there, several visitors showed up, just to take pictures – so Akime seems to be quite famous in the region.
Akime has several appearences in the movie. When Bond comes ashore after faking his death, it was filmed on the little Okiakime Island west of the bay. Then, parts of the Little Nellie flight were also filmed at the Akime bay. And of course, it served as the backdrop for the scenes depicting Bond’s life with Kissy Suzuki. The house, they were living in, is the Yamashita House east of Akime Park in the city center. It is close to a small 007-themed café directly at the port.
Kissy is an Ama, the Japanese free-diving fisherwoman. The Ama collect pearls underwater and can hold their breaths for several minutes while diving into the deep. The women have to endure harsh conditions like cold temperatures and great pressures. When they resurface they release a long whistle to breath out. The tradition of the Ama divers dates back 2000 years ago. Till the 1940s there were thousands of Ama women active in Japan, now it only a handfull uphold the sisterhood of the fisherwoman. They are not active in Akime though – but in the Mie Prefecture on central Honshu.
Akime is a very quiet place. That is good for a day trip, but nothing you should rely on for an over-night-stay. We drove down the hills, with sweets and bento boxes already at our side. Next to the 007 monument is a small table. It was perfect for a little lunch by the sea.
© 2025 Huntingbond (1,3,4,5), © 1967 Danjaq S.A. (2)