Aichi Prefecture

Judging by any popular culture you may come across, you could be fooled into thinking that Japan is separated into two camps: the sprawling, futuristic metropolis of Tokyo, and the nondescript, unnamed countryside of the samurai. However, you may be surprised to discover that Aichi Prefecture (as well as neighboring Gifu) also crops up quite a bit in pop culture. Here are a few examples that you can see, watch or read as you shout ‘Hey! I know that place!’ The Fifty-Three Stations of Tokaido (34-42) – 1833-1834 Documenting legendary ukiyo-e woodblock painter Utagawa Hiroshige’s journey along the Tokaido trade route from Edo to Kyoto, the Fifty-Three Stations of Tokaido is a seminal series of works depicting every major stop along that route. Nine of those stops (numbers 34 to 42) are in what is now Aichi Prefecture, from Futagawa in modern-day Toyohashi to Miya in what is now Nagoya’s Atsuta Ward. Of course, some are unrecognizable as their contemporary conditions, but some aspects – such as the torii gate in Miya (above) – remain to this day. Mothra vs. Godzilla – 1964 We all know the story of how Godzilla rose out of the ocean and destroyed Tokyo, right?…