From the moment the Max team took on Tokyo Vice, their determination was to ensure authenticity and to accurately portray the essence of the story. Thus, what better way to showcase Tokyo Vice than by shooting it in Japan? Although it may have initially sounded like a thrilling adventure, it turned out to be one of the most challenging aspects of the project for the team.
Why Was It So Necessary to Shoot Tokyo Vice in Japan?
What the recent typical pop culture media portrays Japan to be was not the angle Max wanted to approach Tokyo Vice from. Instead, they aimed to delve deep into the extensive crime world and darker aspects of the beautiful land, juxtaposing the serene and aesthetic views with cherry blossoms.
Thus to achieve this vision, they realized a set in America would not do justice to the real stress of Japan and the vibrant neon lights of its nightlife. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sarah Aubrey, one of Max’s executives, revealed,
“The was never a question about whether we were going to shoot Tokyo Vice entirely in Japan,–This wasn’t going to be a story set in the American embassy with few excursions out into the rest of Tokyo. It’s an immersion into Japanese culture through that city’s crime world — and that was the main selling point for me and the network.”
She further explained,
“Audiences have already seen so much on television — we’ve all had seven or eight years of peak TV — so the bar keeps rising for how you bring fresh storytelling to people. We knew that if we could go deeper and deeper into the real Tokyo we would be able to deliver just that.”
Aubrey believed the essence of the story lay in its location and thus wanted to ensure they captured everything. This approach might have been successful in depicting Japan in a manner unlike any show had done previously.
Challenges Faced While Shooting the Series in Japan
Shooting in Japan was a uniquely challenging experience for the Tokyo Vice team, not only because it was a foreign country, but also due to the distinct operating procedures. While weather conditions were a significant challenge to face, there were millions of other concerns, such as a supposed yakuza subtly dropping by to observe the shooting, extending beyond just the weather.
Contrary to the typical approach where international TV series would first approach the local film commission and then scout desired locations, Alan Paul, who directed many episodes of the series, revealed in the same THR conversation, a different process for Japan,
“Everything in this country is local, and everything runs on precedent,–With anywhere you want to shoot in Tokyo, the decision comes down to the local police station in that neighborhood. And if no one has shot there before, their instinct is always to say no. They operate by considering the worst-case scenario and the fact that responsibility will fall on them if anything goes wrong.”
He further adds,
“The only way to work here is to assuage every concern, and demonstrate extreme conscientiousness at all times — and let’s be honest, that’s not how everyone in this industry tends to behave.”
J.T. Rogers, the creator of Tokyo Vice, also revealed the significant challenges involved in shooting. He said,
“I wrote the whole show without realizing how difficult any of this would be to shoot in Tokyo,–And this being Japan and such a polite society, when I got here, nobody came up to me from the position of, ‘Are you f–king crazy? How do you think you can make this here? Of course, I soon realized it was unbelievably difficult,—But in a way, I think the show lucked out, because I came at it from a naive place of simply writing the show as I imagined it, rather than trying to cut corners in advance — so we had no option but to try to be very bold with what we attempted.”
But they didn’t give up, rather they began preparations six months beforehand, from discussions with local stations to submitting proposals for space usage, and eventually, everything came together perfectly.
Tokyo Vice is streaming on Max.
