Where did Zhang Ziyi shoot memoirs of a geisha in Japan?

How to put Memoirs of a Geisha on the big screen is a challenge for the director, and the importance of the scenery is self-evident. The rich Japanese style in the film confuses many viewers, and even some Japanese viewers think that the filming place of this film must be Japan. But in fact, most of the scenes of this film were shot in California, and only a few locations were shot in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan. Director Marshall believes that the film wants to reproduce the Japanese style of the 1920s and 1930s, and such scenes are hard to find even in Japan. The only way is to rebuild a new "geisha area" in the studio, so as to find the feeling. Finally, the address of the studio was chosen at Ventura Racecourse, which is an hour away from Los Angeles. In just 14 weeks, this ranch in full of green has become a geisha area full of Japanese flavor. "This is the biggest town I have ever built," said John, the building coordinator. Hollins said, "When I first came here, there were rolling hills and weeds everywhere. We used heavy equipment to add a 400X400-foot mat here, and then dug a river on it that flowed through the town. " This river is about 250 feet long, 22 feet wide and 8 feet deep-this river is an important visual symbol of Memoirs of a Geisha, and a circulating system is installed on it to create the visual effect of flowing water.