Lost in Translation is one of my all-time favorite movies. I love Bill Murray, Sofia Coppola, whiskey, Japanese culture, and the entire Lost in Translation soundtrack, which was on constant replay at one point in my life. I first watched the movie in the tiny old-school 4-star Theatre located only a couple blocks from my first apartment in SF. I was still new to the city at that time and still trying to figure it all out (still am). What I remember most about Lost in Translation, and probably what I most identified with, was that the movie seemed to visually capture so much of what I felt at the time: young, unsure, and slightly “lost” in a strange but wonderful new city.

Before visiting Japan I re-watched Lost in Translation, this time to make note of all the places featured in the movie so I could see them in real life. Most of the filming took place in the Shibuya and Shinjinku districts of Tokyo with a day trip to Kyoto. My list included visits to some of the most familiar backdrops from the movie: drinks at the Park Hyatt, walking across Shibuya Crossing, shabu shabu at Shabuzen, karaoke at Karaoke-kan (pink wig optional), and running through a video arcade while kids played a taiko drum game.  I knew we didn’t have time to travel to Kyoto on this trip but since we were staying in Shibuya I figured we could still hit up a majority of the places on my list.

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