You Only Live Twice (film) Mie Hama were eventually chosen and started taking English classes in the UK. Hama, initially cast in the role of Tanaka's assistant, had difficulty with the language, so the producers switched her role with Wakabayashi, who had been cast as Kissy, a part with significantly less dialogue. Wakabayashi only requested that her character name, "Suki", be changed to "Aki". Filming of "You Only Live Twice" lasted from July 1966 to March 1967. The film was shot primarily in Japan. Himeji Castle in Hyōgo Prefecture was depicted as Tanaka's ninja training camp. His private transportation hub was filmed at the Tokyo
You Only Live Twice (novel) Sunday Times" in 1959, although his visit only lasted for three days. He returned in 1962 and was accompanied on his trip round the country by Australian friend Richard Hughes and Tiger Saito, both journalists. In "You Only Live Twice", these two characters became Dikko Henderson and Tiger Tanaka, respectively. Hughes was also the model for "Old Craw" in John le Carré's "The Honourable Schoolboy". The novel contains a fictional obituary of Bond, purportedly published in "The Times", which provided details of Bond's early life, although many of these were Fleming's own traits. These included Bond's expulsion from Eton College,