In the movie “Close-Knit” (2017), the mother (Mimura) of Tomo (Rinka Kakihara) runs away from home. Tomo ends up living with her uncle, Makio (Kenta Kiritani), and slowly opens up to his lover, Rinko (Toma Ikuta), a transgender. The cherry blossoms viewing scene in which Tomo takes a box lunch filled with her favorite food prepared especially for her by Rinko was filmed at Inagikita Ryokuchi Park in Inagi City.
‘When I was looking for a cherry-tree-lined path for the scene in which the protagonists head to the park to have lunch under the cherry trees in full bloom, I decided, on a recommendation of cameraman Shibasaki, on the Omaru embankment in Inagi and Inagikita Ryokuchi Park as they had favorable filming conditions. What was ideal about this location was that we could film the scene from the street that runs parallel to the bicycle path.
It was quite difficult to adjust the schedule to be able to shoot the scenes during full bloom. Sure enough, the flowers began to bloom late, and we had to change the schedule. Because we had to move the schedule around, other scenes had to be filmed here.
Every day, the production team kept a close eye on the blooming conditions to get the best timing. We were blessed with great weather on the day of shooting. Moreover, it was a weekday, so the park wasn’t overcrowded with people eating under the trees. We were also able to film the bicycle scene from the street that runs along the path as well as the scene on the embankment with the cherry trees in full bloom as the backdrop.
I was really hoping to shoot the scenes when the cherry trees would be in full bloom, which we managed to do. We were also able to find music that matched the scene perfectly. It all converged to create a scene that conveys a beautiful moment of happiness for the three characters.’
{Naoko Ogigami, director of “Close-Knit”}
© 2017 “Close-Knit” Production Committee