Bond film house becomes museum
The Akiye village house used in 1967’s You Only Live Twice is now under renovation to become a crowdfunded museum — the viral before/after photos show the early Showa‑era building still standing and being restored (27 likes, 524 views) (x.com). The post even notes actor Tetsuro Tamba’s reported fee for appearances was about ¥300 million, adding local fundraising color (x.com).
The restoration is being led by a nonprofit called “一般社団法人 007 AKIME,” which the organizers say was formally established on July 5, 2024 to manage preservation and visitor plans. (camp-fire.jp) A CAMPFIRE crowdfunding page shows the project set a target of ¥3,500,000, ran from July 1 to September 30, 2024, and closed having raised ¥3,508,007 from 204 supporters. (camp-fire.jp) Project documents on the crowdfunding page list a two‑phase schedule: emergency rain‑season/roof work beginning July 2024 with a first‑phase completion reported in November 2024, and a second phase of structural preservation and museum conversion planned through June 2025. (camp-fire.jp) The site is in Akime (坊津町秋目), Minamisatsuma City, Kagoshima Prefecture — a settlement of roughly 50 residents — and the building is promoted locally as the “Kissy & Bond’s house,” described by organizers as the only surviving house used in the film’s village scenes. (matcha-jp.com) Local reporting says the house suffered serious termite damage and was further harmed by Typhoon No.10, creating an immediate collapse risk that spurred the emergency fundraising; campaigners also cite the April 2024 death of community leader Miyauchi Ichiro (aged 68) as a motivating factor. (fnn.jp) Biographical and retrospective coverage notes Tetsurō Tamba’s payment for You Only Live Twice was reported at about $200,000 at the time (around ¥72 million using the 1960s rate), a sum that commentators have recalculated to roughly ¥300 million in present‑day terms. (gendai.media)
