You Only Live Twice (Movie)

You Only Live Twice is a 1967 spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the 1979 film Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore. The screenplay of You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name. It is the first James Bond film to discard most of Fleming's plot, using only a few characters and locations from the book as the background for an entirely new story.

In the film, Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet crewed spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit, each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War. Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators, and comes face-to-face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously a partially unseen character. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers.

Filming

Filming of You Only Live Twice lasted from July 1966 to March 1967. The film was shot primarily in Japan.

• Tokyo: After arriving in Japan at Akime, Bond goes to Tokyo. The initial scenes are set in and around the Ginza area.
  • The Hotel New Otani Tokyo served as the outside for Osato Chemicals, and the hotel's gardens were used for scenes of the ninja training.
  • A car chase using the Toyota 2000GT and a Toyota Crown was largely filmed in the area around the Olympic Stadium used previously for the 1964 Summer Olympics.
  • Tokyo Tower and the centre of Tokyo can be briefly seen in a sequence where the villain's car is dropped in Tokyo Bay.
  • Tanaka's private subway station was filmed at the Tokyo Metro's Nakano-shimbashi Station.
  • A sumo wrestling match was filmed at Tokyo's sumo hall, the Kuramae Kokugikan; this has since been demolished.
• Kobe Docks appears in a sequence when Bond investigates the ship Ning-Po, and is involved in a fight.
• Bond's wedding at a Shinto Shrine was filmed in Nachi.
• Himeji Castle in Hyōgo Prefecture was depicted as Tanaka's ninja training camp.
• The village of Bonotsucho Akime was where Bond and his Ama wife lived and where the Ama scenes were shot.
• The ryokan Shigetomi-so (now known as Shimazu Shigetomisoh Manor) was used as the exterior of Tanaka's house.
• Kagoshima Prefecture was the location for various scenes depicting Little Nellie (see below).
• Mount Shinmoe-dake in Kyūshū was used for the exteriors of SPECTRE's headquarters.

Principals

• Akiko Wakabayashi as Aki
• Mie Hama as Kissy Suzuki
• Tetsurô Tanba as Tiger Tanaka (as Tetsuro Tamba)
• Teru Shimada as Mr. Osato
• David Toguri as Assassin in Bedroom

Smaller Roles

• Yumi Fujiwara as Tanaka's Agent (uncredited)
• Masaaki Hatsumi as Photographic Assistant to Tanaka on Train (uncredited)
• Hisako Katakura as Blofeld's Financier (uncredited)
• Kiyomi Kobayashi as Title Geisha (uncredited)
• Junko Makimura as Tanaka's Agent (uncredited)
• Kikko Matsuoka as Diver Girl (uncredited)
• Yuka Minami as Ginza Girl (uncredited)
• Isaburo Shikimori as Gyoji (uncredited)

• Sumo Wrestlers
  • Takemitsu Fujinishiki as Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Masakatsu Kotozakura as Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Sadanoyama as Japanese Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Akio Tsurugamine as Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)

• Bath Girls
  • Mai Ling as Bath Girl #2 (uncredited)
  • Yee-Wah Yang as Bath Girl #3 (uncredited)
  • Yasuko Nagazumi as Bath Girl #4 (uncredited)