I Will Buy Kyoto

I Will Buy Kyoto
Operation: Mystery, episode 25
Information
Airdate	March 2, 1969
Directed by	Akio Jissoji
Written by	Mamoru Sasaki
Special Effects Directed by	Jun Oki
Continuity
Previous	Mad Humans
Next	The Snow Woman

I Will Buy Kyoto is the twenty-fifth episode of Operation: Mystery.

Synopsis

An incident of Buddhist statues disappearing at a temple in Kyoto occurred. Maki visits Dr. Fujimori, an authority in archaeology, and meets his assistant, Miyako. That night, Miyako is seen distributing flyers in entertainment districts with the message "I Will Buy Kyoto".

She expresses her desire to buy the capital city from those who do not appreciate the beauty of the Buddhist statues. While sensing a connection to the disappearance of the statues, Maki finds himself drawn to her.

Cast

• Shiro Maki : Shin Kishida
• Kyosuke Misawa : Homare Suguro
• Tadashi Matoya : Yasumi Hara
• Hiroshi Nomura : Seiji Matsuyama
• Saori Ogawa : Reiko Kobashi
• Taizo Machida : Akiji Kobayashi

Guest Actors

• Miyako Sudo : Chiyako Saito
• Professor Fujimori : Naoji Iwata
• Detective : Yuji Sato

Home Media

• Operation: Mystery Volume 6 features episodes 22-23, 25-26.
• Operation: Mystery Blu-ray BOX features all episodes except 24.

2004 release

2012 release

Blu-ray BOX

Trivia

• According to Akio Jissoji's account in My Television Chronicle, the inspiration for this episode dated back to 1967. At that time, the TBS film division had planned to produce a drama for an arts festival, which was originally intended to be directed by either Hajime Tsuburaya or Toshihiro Iijima. However, when neither of them showed interest, the project was shelved. The scriptwriter, Mamoru Sasaki, had written a screenplay titled "Awoniyoshi" for that project. When the idea was later adapted into this episode, only one concept remained: the notion of 'naïve young people signing a mysterious commission contract'.
  • Jissoji said this was one of the works he cared for most. Though he admitted he could not fully express why at the time, he felt he approached its characters and imagery with a quiet gentleness.

• • Explaining his choice of Shin Kishida as the lead, Jissoji noted: "To capture a romantic tone, I thought Kishida was the perfect fit. Without someone like him in the regular cast, I Will Buy Kyoto would never have been made. He was someone I could completely trust with the episode's emotional tone.”
  • The original concept of Awoniyoshi was set in Nara, depicting the loss of cultural heritage in an allegory where aliens freely purchased the world's treasures. Jissoji regretted abandoning that idea and asked Sasaki to rework the story, relocating it to Kyoto. However, the original concept had been written for a much longer festival drama, making it difficult to condense. As a result, the script became too detailed and lengthy. Jissoji recalled spending considerable effort cutting the runtime, while Sasaki complained that he had “filmed too much unnecessary material.”
• This episode was Tsuburaya Productions' second Kyoto-based project, following "The Cursed Jar," and was likewise co-produced with Kyoto Film Studios. During filming, Jissoji used advanced equipment for the first time, including a high-spec camera crane and a long-range high-speed dolly. These tools later became standard in his work.
  • The episode also used synchronised on-set sound recording for the dialogue. This was an unusual method for other Tsuburaya productions of the era.
• Filming took place across many of Kyoto's well-known temples, including Manpuku-ji, Byōdō-in, Kurodani, Tōfuku-ji, Chion-in, Ginkaku-ji, Kōetsu-ji, Genkō-an, Jōrin-ji, Gio-ji, Nenbutsu-ji, Jōjakkō-ji, Ninna-ji, and Kōryū-ji.

Konkaikōmyō-ji

Konkaikōmyō-ji

Kōryū-ji

Byōdō-in

Byōdō-in

Sanmen Daikokuten Teahouse

Manpuku-ji

Manpuku-ji

Tōfuku-ji

Tōfuku-ji

Chion-in

Ginkaku-ji

Nene no Michi

Adashino Nenbutsu-ji

Jojakkoji-ji

Nison-in

Nison-in

Kōetsu-ji

Hiranoya

Giō-ji

• The conclusion juxtaposes the cultural beauty of Kyoto with the realities of urban growth. The visuals transition from serene temples and shrines to industrial scenes, such as factory smoke filling the sky, concrete high-rises and the darkened Kamo River, polluted by industry. The Shinkansen also cuts through the evolving cityscape.

Kyoto Tower

• Cinematographer Yuzo Inagaki said that the scene with Maki and Miyako at the 'Sanmen Daikokuten Teahouse' was probably filmed on the first day. As the camera position had yet to be decided, Jissoji rolled a stone on the ground and said, 'Let's place it where it stops.' This frustrated Inagaki, who afterwards vowed to plan every setup carefully.

• Art director Noriyoshi Ikeya noted that many of his ideas made it into the episode. For the scene in which the Buddha statue vanishes, he suggested to the optical photographer Minoru Nakano, that the statue should first blur and expand slightly before fading away to enhance the effect. Although he implemented this idea without Jissoji's approval, Ikeya felt that the art team was also responsible for the visuals. Co-art director Toshiaki Kurahashi assisted Ikeya and recruited Kyoto craftsmen to support production, a collaboration made possible by Jissoji's previous work on the period drama Kaze.

• The Buddha statue itself was a last-minute addition proposed by Jissoji just a week before shooting. Sculpture students from a local art university built it, modeling the face on actress Chiyako Saito. The team took reference photos of Saito to ensure a realistic likeness.
• Instead of using an original score, the episode features Fernando Sor's Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart.
• The original script title was "The Vanished Buddha Statue" , but Jissoji felt it revealed too much and changed it before broadcast.
  • Three versions of the script were produced: a draft, a final version, and a shooting script for the Kyoto crew. The latter two were nearly identical, differing only in staff listings.
  • The draft contained scenes later cut from the final version, such as the SRI team's arrival at Kyoto Station and several scientific explanations. These removed scenes included:
    • Local residents complained about television interference on the night the statue disappeared.
    • A transmitter at Byōdō-in activated by accident, erasing a temple pillar.
    • Misawa visits Professor Yamazaki at Osaka University for analysis.
    • Miyako is holding another contract-signing event at a jazz café.
    • The team are tracing the suspect's hideout using clues from the crime scene.
  • These sequences were condensed in the final cut, and a new montage of Maki visiting temples was added. The idea of Miyako transforming into a Buddha statue was not present in the script.