Shochiku film "Sand Vessel" (1974) location exploration Shimane Prefecture correction Sergeant Imanishi (original story) → Detective Imanishi (film) The flashback scene in which the Motoura family leaves their hometown and continues their pilgrimage and wandering journey ends in a place along the Kishi Line in Shimane Prefecture. This time, I went to explore the location in Shimane Prefecture during the May holidays, prepared to sleep in my car. The location filmed 50 years ago was overgrown with weeds as usual, and my attempts to shoot from the same position as the location camera were unsuccessful in several places. The first railway scene is the Hino River in Yonago City. I have almost no knowledge of railways, but when I visited the location, several people who seemed to be train photographers were setting up their cameras. Since a memorable moment was coming, I became a sudden train photographer and was lucky to capture the memorable train car. Mt. Oyama is in the background. I was able to talk to someone who had returned to his hometown for work about railways. I was really surprised when I saw a picture of the train that appears in the movie and was able to guess the model and name of the train in one shot. Train photography is amazing. From Shinji Station, I moved along the Kishi Line to Kishi Station and Amanokan. I happened to meet the president of Amanokan, who told me about this historic inn and the filming crew of "Sand Vessel". He is young, so he said he had heard a lot from his parents' generation. I couldn't see the room because it was booked, but I decided that I would definitely make a reservation and stay there next time, and continued exploring the filming location. It seems to be like a "Sand Vessel" museum. Apparently, Ogata Ken and other actors went to the nearby izakaya "Misono" almost every day. It must have been lively and glamorous at the time of filming. The police station and the scene where the boy makes the sand vessel on the riverbank were filmed around Kuno Station on the Kishi Line. Even though it was May, the area was overgrown with weeds, so I tried to take photos from the same perspective as the location camera, but it was extremely difficult. I was able to talk to people living near the police station, and they told me many anecdotes about the location. At Yuno Shrine, where the shrine scene takes place, an old man approached me and started explaining various things to me, so I thought he was a local resident, but he guided me to the main hall and then even performed a prayer. I think he was the chief priest of Yuno Shrine, but I missed what he said. Thank you very much. There was a soba restaurant at Kamedake Station, and the food was very delicious. Another location shoot at this station was for another movie, "Sand Vessel," and many tourists took commemorative photos there. It seems that this station was originally planned to be the location for the shoot, but because the station is located next to the road and the ground is low because of rice fields on the other side of the road, it was not suitable for setting up a camera, so they changed to another station, "Yakawa Station." During the filming of the Kirihara House, a conversation scene between Kirihara, played by Ryu Chishu, and Sergeant Imanishi was originally planned to be shot in the tea room of the house, but because the roof of the tea room was not tiled, it was different from the image of the movie, so it was not used. In the movie, the conversation scene was shot on a set at Shochiku Studios. By chance, I was able to talk to the owner of the house used for the exterior of Kirihara House, and he told me some secret stories. I was surprised to learn that the house the owner lived in when he lived in the Kanto region was coincidentally a neighbor. What a coincidence. This area is located in a valley surrounded by mountains, and it was a really beautiful and mild environment, but it reminded me of the Hobbit village in the movie "Lord of the Rings". The mild air of spring, the smell of grass being cut for rice planting, the birds' voices, the gentle sun. I would like to live there. Apparently it is famous for picking wild vegetables. Izumo Mitsunari Station has been completely modernized, and there is almost no trace of its former appearance. However, a small waiting room-like building on the old platform still remains. Images from Mitsunari Station during filming can be seen at the following URLs: http://blog.livedoor.jp/massi1-houmu/... https://kisuki-line.jp/know/history/p... In the final scene at Izumo Yatsushiro Station, the main building with the ticket gates for the station appears to remain as is. The video mistakenly states that everything is gone, but that is incorrect. There are rumors that the Kishi Line will be abandoned. Looking at the records from the time of construction, it seems that the work was extremely diff