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Tracking Highway Sequence from Solaris

The Tokyo expressway locations behind the highway sequence in Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972), traced on Google Maps.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) was set in a future that should have felt distant to the audience when the film was released. To depict this future, Tarkovsky needed a modern, unfamiliar cityscape—something Soviet citizens had never seen. Instead of building a set, he turned to Tokyo’s newly constructed expressway system for an infamous highway sequence.

I know Tokyo well enough to recognize those places, so I set out to trace their locations on Google Maps.

The Sequence

Locations

Unfortunately, the most places you cannot go by foot, by it is possible to drive through the same places while listening to Bach.

Map of central Tokyo from Yotsuya to Azabu-juban with the expressways in gray, and six numbered places: four around Akasaka-mitsuke and two at Azabu-juban
The places below with a map link, north up: 1 the view from Minami-motomachi Park, 2 the exit on the other side of the tunnel, 3 approaching the Benkei Fishing Club, 4 the slope above Akasaka-mitsuke, 5 the off-ramp into the tunnel at Azabu-juban, 6 the Iikura exit ramp. Expressways in gray. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Akasaka Sequence

View from Minamimotomachi park: (map)

Street View: The view from Minami-motomachi Park in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The view from Minami-motomachi Park in Solaris and on Street View

Exit on the other side of the tunnel: (map)

Street View: The exit on the other side of the tunnel in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The exit on the other side of the tunnel in Solaris and on Street View

Approaching Benkei Fishing Club; Yahoo Japan HQ is on the left across the pond:

Street View: Approaching the Benkei Fishing Club, the pond on the left in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: Approaching the Benkei Fishing Club, the pond on the left in Solaris and on Street View

Slope leading to tunnel directly above the Akasaka Mitsuke station, Exit D (map)

Street View: The slope leading to the tunnel above Akasaka-mitsuke in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The slope leading to the tunnel above Akasaka-mitsuke in Solaris and on Street View

Cut to Azabujuban Sequence

Location of off-ramp going into the tunnel: (map)

Street View: The off-ramp going into the tunnel at Azabu-juban in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The off-ramp going into the tunnel at Azabu-juban in Solaris and on Street View

Shortly after the turn:

Street View: The expressway shortly after the turn in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The expressway shortly after the turn in Solaris and on Street View

Even bit more forwards, Iikura exit ramp: (map)

Street View: The Iikura exit ramp in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The Iikura exit ramp in Solaris and on Street View

End of sequence:

Street View: The end of the sequence in Solaris and on Street View Solaris, 1972: The end of the sequence in Solaris and on Street View

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