Japan unveils 007 museum and bids for James Bond in 2008

26-Jul-2005 • Bond News

The tiny island of Naoshima (population 3,400) is spearheading a bid to bring James Bond back to Japan in 2008, 40 years after You Only Live Twice was filmed there - reports The Telegraph (UK).

Naoshima, six hours from Tokyo, underlined its enthusiasm for 007 yesterday by opening the world's first museum dedicated to the fictional secret agent. Japanese film-goers lap up films set in Japan or featuring Japanese stars. They are even prepared to overlook such offences against common sense as Sean Connery's 007 successfully passing himself off as a Japanese fisherman in You Only Live Twice.

The island's connection to Bond stems from its appearance at the climax of the novel The Man with the Red Tattoo, by Raymond Benson, one of the officially sanctioned authors of Bond novels appointed by the Ian Fleming estate. Local people hope that Mr Benson can put Naoshima on the map.

The novel imagines a Japanese ultra-nationalist plotting to assassinate western leaders at a G8 summit, held on Naoshima, by releasing mosquitoes bearing the deadly West Nile Virus.

While the book has excited Japan, it has left some reviewers cold. "It's Bond himself who propels readers along, and here he is a mere facsimile of the real thing," said a review in Publisher's Weekly.

Teruhito Oka, from the Kagawa prefectural government, is helping organise the campaign.

"We know there are hurdles but you can't achieve anything without trying," he said. "It may be expensive to film in Japan, but the potential Japanese audience is huge."

The Man with the Red Tattoo races through some of Japan's most filmable sites, including the giant Buddha at Kamakura, Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, the steaming geysers of Nobribetsu and the neon-lit Kabukicho district in Tokyo.

Japanese media are already speculating about who might make the ideal Bond girl, typically citing the actress Norika Fujiwara. She may be a more reliable choice than Mie Hama, the last Japanese Bond girl, who played Kissy Suzuki.

Hama reputedly threatened to commit suicide when she was nearly dropped because of her poor English.

The centrepiece of Naoshima museum's Bond collection is a sculpture of a human heart, within which, in the novel, an assassin lurks waiting for world leaders.

Women at a local noodle shop were excited by the media gathering for the museum's opening. One said: "Bond is so handsome. It was wonderful when he came to Japan. If only he would come here."

Thanks to `Kyvan` & `Michael` for the alerts.