Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531774
8 0 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 and post-war Japan, along with every book on the history of Koreans in Japan. I was also able to visit the Korea Museum in Tokyo, which gave me an intense and firsthand understanding of the culture and the hardships faced by Koreans at the hands of the Japanese. The Korean community still exists in Japan, and seeing this history firsthand was invaluable. However, given the very short prep time, I had to constantly push forward without getting bogged down in endless fascinating details. One of the key challenges was scouting locations. Korea is not Japan, and many Westerners assume there are similarities between these countries, both geographically and culturally, but that is far from the truth. Japan has a uniqueness in its architecture, street scale and rhythms, and a cultural essence that is difficult to replicate. My first week on Pachinko was spent traveling in Japan to scout some proposed locations. My head exploded with the colors, sights, sounds and smells of modern Japan, only to be overcome with exhaustion trying to find traces of the Japan of the past. So much of the country was destroyed by America during World War II. I had two Japanese scouts who took me up and down the country on the gorgeous high-speed trains. There are very few remnants of this era and I used every moment of the day to research each town we entered to find little traces of the past. When shooting in Japan ended up not being feasible, I was truly dejected. It was a challenge to make South Korea stand in for Japan, but I trusted Soo, and we made it work. The whirlwind of five round trips across the planet in three months presented an exhilarating challenge. Finding locations that could represent the multiple periods of Japan, 1980s Tokyo and Osaka, 1950s Japan, and more, required creative problem-solving and adaptability. The crew had to create 1945 and 1950s Ikuno Ward (Osaka's Koreatown) and Tsuruhashi Market, both on location and in Toronto. Balancing the demands of scouting in South Korea, overseeing builds in Toronto, and managing a rigorous schedule pushed me to new limits, but it also sparked immense creative growth and innovation. Traveling in a foreign country while designing taught me to choose my words carefully and succinctly. Translators are crucial, but they don't work in the Art Department and don't always understand the nuances of design language. Communication was a constant challenge, especially with Zoom meetings and time zone differences. There was a long lag between questions and responses, and I often lost track of A. BACKLOT MODEL. 1945,1950 IKUNO WARD AND TSURUHASHI MARKET, OSAKA. B. BACKLOT BUILD IN TORONTO. 1945,1950 IKUNO WARD AND TSURUHASHI MARKET, OSAKA. SET PHOTO. C. RESEARCH PAGES FROM THE IKUNO WARD DESIGN DECK. D. IKUNO WARD, PUBLIC SQUARE, OSAKA 1945. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS PENNA. E. IKUNO WARD, PUBLIC SQUARE, OSAKA 1945. TORONTO BACKLOT BUILD. SET PHOTO. F. IKUNO WARD, PUBLIC SQUARE, OSAKA 1945. TORONTO BACKLOT BUILD. SET PHOTO. A