Yōjirō Takita
In 2008 the non-profit Sakata Location Box, tasked with finding shooting locations for the film "Departures", acquired the building, which was little more than an abandoned shell; the film's director, Yōjirō Takita, agreed to take the property on after his first viewing. Minato-za was restored and ultimately used to shoot a scene in which the main character, Daigo (played by Masahiro Motoki), portrays a corpse for a training video.