Where we are: Uruti is approximately 50km north-east of New Plymouth in Taranaki, which is situated in the North Island of New Zealand.
Who we are: We are the Radcliffe family and we own 2,000 acres in Uruti. We farm 600 cattle and 3,000 sheep.
In July 2001, Charlie Harrington (Locations Manager) and Lily Kilvert
(Production Designer) discovered our farm. They thought the landscape was
perfect as it resembled a remote mountain valley that had the
topographical features required for the 'The Last
Samurai' story.
Construction began in July 2002. It involved forming a 3.5km long road along
the bottom of the valley and then making a track up the hill to the Samurai
site. The building crew started work on 1st August 2002 and completed 'The Last
Samurai Village' in January 2003.
