A few days ago, the family being fans of Miura Haruma (三浦春馬), some more, some less, we took a trip to Tsuchiura, the town where he was born and raised. Given the current pandemic, we decided not to take the train and risk having to go through the crowds of Tokyo. Instead, we drove ourselves to Tsuchiura, which took slightly more than 2 hours each way.
The main purpose of the trip was to catch a movie at Tsuchiura Central Cinemas (土浦セントラルシネマズ; official Twitter account here).
As the local cinema of his birthplace, the cinema has been showing Mori no Gakkou (森の学校) and Tengaramon (天外者), the first and last movies where he played the leading roles.
The cinema is practically a shrine to Miura Haruma, where fans can leave messages.
After filling up one wall, messages are being left on another wall.
There is also a small exhibition area where the cinema's owner puts up items related to Miura Haruma, like behind-the-scenes photos. The exhibits on display are rotated from time to time.
We were a bit early for the next show, so we decided to grab a quick lunch nearby. We walked through MALL505 (モール505) and only realized that this was where Miura Haruma's mother used to run a shop. After a ramen lunch, we headed back to the cinema.
This time, we watched Tengaramon. It was my second time catching this movie. At the end of the movie, the cinema's owner went to the front and talked to the audience about his impression of Miura Haruma, who participated in movie launch events at this cinema. The first was for Mori no Gakkou, when he was still a boy. Several years later, he was back for another movie launch event. The owner said he was very impressed by this well-mannered young man. I think we all mourn his early departure.
After the movie, we went to take a look at Manabe Elementary School and Tsuchiura Second Junior High School. These were the schools that Miura Haruma attended. They are still being used today, so while we took some photos from outside the schools, I won't be posting them here.
By then, it was getting a bit late. We dropped by a nearby Starbucks for some coffee before embarking on the two-hour drive home.
It was a long day and I was a bit tired from the drive, but I think it was a fruitful trip. Miura Haruma was really a good actor, and his portrayal of characters with a melancholic side was especially impressive. He had an extremely wide repertoire of expressions which brought to life the characters he portrayed. Every time he appears on screen, I feel that he steals the attention of viewers with his presence. Which makes it all the more sad to know that we will never be able to see any more new portrayals by him, since he passed away on Jul 18, 2020. I think our visit this time happened to be 100 days before the first anniversary of his death.
Anyway, the cinema's owner said he will be showing Miura Haruma's films for the time being. So fans who wish to see him can always drop by Tsuchiura Central Cinemas. I think we will be back again.
Side note: Tsuchiura Central Cinemas was also the venue for events which featured the directors of Mori no Gakkou and Tengaramon who made their way down there for Miura Haruma's birthday on April 5. The string of events took place from April 4 to 6, 2021.
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