Mishima's novel The Sound of Waves (Shiosai) is set on Utajima, a fishing island based on Kamishima in Mie Prefecture, with a lighthouse, a shrine and a ruined observation post that fans still visit.
The route follows young fisherman Shinji and the pearl diver Hatsue from the island to a typhoon in Okinawa's Unten Port and back to the lighthouse. Kamishima is the model for the island; the novel renames it, so the island stops share one approximate pin.
TBS's spy thriller VIVANT is set in the fictional Republic of Balka but was filmed in Mongolia, at Sükhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar and the Gobi's Bayanzag cliffs, then across Japan, from Kanda Myojin in Tokyo to Izumo Grand Shrine. Its Mongolian shoot alone ran two and a half months.
This route follows Nogi's story from Balka to Tokyo and back through Shimane, with stops in Mongolia and Japan. Some of the Japanese sets are offices and are not for visiting.
