J-Drama Pilgrimage | 下町ロケット Shitamachi Rocket (2015) — 桂川精螺製作所 / The Original Tsukuda Manufacturing Exterior

Drama: TBS 日曜劇場『下町ロケット』 / Shitamachi Rocket (2015), scoped specifically to the 2015 TBS series starring Hiroshi Abe, not the separate 2011 WOWOW adaptation or the 2018 TBS sequel.

From the premiere on 18 October 2015, the drama’s emotional and industrial center is 佃製作所 / Tsukuda Manufacturing, the small factory run by Kohei Tsukuda. The Nationwide Filming Location Guide identifies the real 桂川精螺製作所 / Katsuragawa Seira Co., Ltd. in Yaguchi, Ota as the principal real-world exterior for Tsukuda Manufacturing and credits the company as filming support from Episode 1 through the finale.

This location needs an important present-day caveat. The atmospheric old company building seen in the 2015 drama no longer survives in that form. Ota tourism/industrial sources confirm that the old building used for 『下町ロケット』 was replaced by a new company building; a surviving tip from the old tower has been preserved by the company as a symbol. Katsuragawa Seira nevertheless still operates at the same Yaguchi address, so this remains the correct pilgrimage anchor even though the exact 2015 façade has changed.

Pilgrimage note: treat this as an active private factory, not an abandoned film set. View from lawful public space unless the company is explicitly hosting an open-factory event or has granted access. Do not enter work areas, photograph employees or production spaces without permission, or present the current façade as unchanged from 2015.

Location scope: the stored pin is the current Katsuragawa Seira site at 3-24-1 Yaguchi. It is not an actor mark, doorway, camera position, or the footprint of every 2015 interior shot.

Photo: Doricono, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.