Shōwa Retro Time-Slip — 5 Locations Where the Past Is Still Standing

Art departments can build almost any period set — but a building that has actually stood since 1947 carries something no set dressing can fake: the wear of real decades. These five locations on CREA let you shoot the Shōwa era (and its neighbors) where it never ended.

Hatoya Hotel — Itō, Shizuoka A grand hillside hotel founded in 1947 and an icon of Shōwa-era leisure. Spaceship-like tube corridors in the sky, a chandelier-lit lobby, hot springs, karaoke rooms, a game corner and a bar — the whole building is a time machine.

Otonarisanchi — single-story house studio A wooden home faithfully recreating Japanese domestic life around 1975 (Shōwa 50), filled with period-authentic furnishings. For drama flashbacks and reenactment shoots, this is the family room your script remembers.

Kyū-Kaigan Dai-roku Studio — historic ironworks A century-old building from one of Japan's storied ironworks, furnished with Bauhaus-school modernist pieces, antique furniture imported from Germany and Czechoslovakia, and a collection of vintage cameras.

Studio TACOMA — renovated US-forces house A rental house studio in a former "beigun house" once used by American officers. Living-dining, kitchen, bathroom, a motel-style bedroom and a movable diner area, plus a 168㎡ garden — mid-century America, parked in Japan.

Todoroki House Studio — Setagaya, Tokyo A two-storey, 110㎡ house in a quiet residential street: orange roof tiles, green kitchen tiles and antique furniture in a chinoiserie-tinged retro mood, with make-up and fitting rooms on site.

Shoot the era, not a replica

These are a few of the time-slip spaces on CREA. Browse the locations directory, save the rooms that match your period, and share them with your crew.