Top 10 Water & Amusement Parks in Shikoku, Shikoku

Reviewed By jameshuang - Taipei, Taiwan

Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio (二十四隻眼睛電影村, 二十四の瞳映画村とはalso known as Nijushi no Hitomi) is located in the south of Shodo Island, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Shodoshima (小豆島) is the second largest island in the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海). Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio is a historical site of the 1954 Japanese film “Nijushi no Hitomi” directed by Keisuke Kinoshita as an outdoor set for the film. It was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Tsuboi Sakae, a renowned novelist of Japan. The name of the movie “Twenty-Four Eyes“ was chosen because the movie is the story of the teacher and her 12 students (24 eyes). The novel was released seven years after the Word War II and she described her love of the village during the war and disgust the war brought to the general public. Because of its popularity, the novel was used two times in movies, six times in TV drama and once in a TV animation. We took the ferry from Shin-Okayama Port (新岡山港) to Shodoshima Tonosho Port (小豆島 土庄港). It was a one hour and 10 minutes ride, and I went to the upper deck most of the time took lots of photos of the sea, islands and birds. After we arrived at Shodoshima, we went to the most popular tourist destination in Shodoshima - Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio which is 24 km (14.9 mi) by car. We came around 2:10 pm and there were not so many visitors. We got in the site and went to the most important landmark in the studio – Wooden Schoolhouse and House for the Male School Teacher. It was a mimic of the original village elementary school 700 m before arriving at the studio near the old fishing port. The original village school was used from the opening in 1902 until its closing in 1972. In the school building, we saw the equipment used at the time of movie and numerous photos displayed along with the primary schoolchild's work of the time, the student desk/chair, children's art work and the organ in the school building. Sit in the small chair and close your eyes. Feel the good old days of when we were young. Once we left the schoolhouse, there is the observation deck to take photos of the ocean with Fukube Island as a backdrop. Gallery Shochikuza Theater, Tsuboi Sakae Memorial Museum and Cinema retreat “Kinema no Iori” are also popular and worth a stop. There are other buildings inside the studio waiting you to discover. One particular and strange fish I had never seen before was the Asian sheepshead wrasse (金黃突額隆頭魚) we saw in the Shoie River inside the studio. The film" Twenty Four Eyes" was made at this location. All the sets of the movies were reserved. When you enter this studio, you are in the early Showa era (昭和時代), which is before World War II started. There are 2 types of entrance fee. Be sure to buy the package ticket which includes a visit to the original village school – Misaki-no-Bunkyojo schoolhouse (岬分校).