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LMGI COMPASS Spring 2024
In expanding the world of the show's second season,
supervising location manager Masanori "Masa" Aikawa, the
LMGI's first-ever Japan-based member, and his team made
it possible for production to feature numerous locations
throughout the city—some of which have never, ever, been
photographed before.
"I love finding and sharing a location with the team," says
Aikawa via a translator, "and then the process of planning
and cooperating with all the various entities that make it all
come together, from the residents to the local government
and police. It's all very exciting for me."
"Everyone who loved Season 1 said, 'Wow, I've never seen
so much of the city on screen before,'" says veteran EP and
director Alan Poul (The Newsroom, Six Feet Under), "but my
feeling, watching the season as many times as I did, was that
we didn't show enough."
"It became abundantly clear that even though we felt we
Loosely inspired by American journalist Jake Adelstein's
firsthand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat,
Season 2 of the HBO/Max series Tokyo Vice continues
to follow reporter Adelstein (played by Ansel Elgort) and
his relationship with detective Hiroto Katagiri (played
by actor and executive producer Ken Watanabe) as they
delve into Tokyo's dangerous underworld.
While the premiere season had a fair amount of Tokyo
exteriors, this highly anticipated return takes viewers deeper
into the high-rise glass and steel offices of the brutally violent
Yakuza crime syndicate, the bustling bullpen of "The Meicho"
newsroom, the darkened corridors of the Metropolitan Police
Department, an exclusive hostess club on Tokyo's famed
Akasaka Street, and a stunning historic temple where an
elaborate funeral takes place.
L-R: Ansel Elgort with Rinko Kikuchi at The Meicho office
