The House That Goro Built still stands in Tokyo to this day. Photo by Brett Homenick.
One of the most interesting and memorable filming locations in the entire Godzilla series was the house used for inventor Goro Ibuki (played by Katsuhiko Sasaki) and his much younger brother (played by Hiroyuki Kawase). I've been asked about it in the past, but with no information available at the time, it seemed just about impossible to find it (if it even still existed).
Well, I'm pleased to say that it does exist to this day. As a matter of fact, it looks largely the same as it did in the movie (just without all the paintings). The biggest change I noticed is that the house now sits in the middle of a bunch of other houses in a residential area. In the film, the house appeared to be rather isolated, out in the middle of a field.
The stairs that Hiroshi Jinkawa (Yutaka Hayashi) ran down, as they appear today. Photo by Brett Homenick.
The house is still used as somebody's private residence, and as such I was politely asked not to divulge any info regarding its specific location. That's fair enough; I certainly wouldn't want to trouble the owners by directing a bunch of crazy fans their way.
Of all the locations I've visited in Japan, I would have to rank this one as my favorite. I honestly thought I'd never get to see it in person for myself. I've never been happier to be wrong!
