Tai's Home
Hikarigaoka (光が丘)
Hikarigaoka is located in the northern part of Nerima Ward. Hikarigaoka used to be the site of a United States military housing complex and before that a Japanese airfield and training/testing site. When the site was returned to the Japanese government back in 1973 they started to develop it into a residential area. At first it was really hard to access the area but in 1991 they created a line that was extended to Hikarigaoka from Nerima and build up apartment units in the area. (Wikipedia)Tai and all the original chosen DigiDestined lived in Hikarigaoka before moving to Odaiba. It's also a place where the fight between Greymon and Parrotmon took place in the first movie. As it's said in the first season all the DigiDestined moved from Hikarigaoka, because there was a "terrorist bombing" (actually it was just Greymon and Parrotmon) and the parents didn't feel save any more so they all decided to move from there.
Tai and Kari's apartment in Hikarigaoka looks a lot like the one they have in Odaiba. Tai and Kari are sharing their room and they have a bunk bed with Kari sleeping on the bottom. Their room doesn't have a lot of furniture but they are both still very young and I guess they don't need anything else but their toys. When you come from outside, on the right you can see their father's room where the computer is from which Koromon comes. On the left there is a kitchen that goes to the living room and dining room all in one. It's also shown they live in a higher part of a building.
Since Hikarigaoka really exists I tried to research where their building is located. It's in the Park Town of Hikarigaoka. If you see the buildings they are all very similar. Go check the apartment 2-7-4. I know it's not a perfect match but it has the same entrance as in the first movie. You can check the exact location of the buildings here!
Odaiba (お台場)
Odaiba is part of Tokyo. It is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay. The Rainbow Bridge connects Odaiba to central Tokyo. Odaiba was built back in the 1850s for defensive purposes. In 1860 Odaiba opened its door as a port and shipyard in the city today known as Yokosuka. In the late 20th century it was dramatically expanded as a seaport district and later in the 1990s it has developed as a major commercial, residential , and leisure area. (Wikipedia)
TAI'S HOME IN ODAIBA FROM DIGIMON ADVENTURE & 02 & DIGIMON TRI
Since the Odaiba isn't that big of an island the DigiDestined live pretty close to each other. We can first see the Odaiba in the first season episode 21 when Tai and Koromon come back from the Digital World. It is known that Tai lives close to Odaiba-kaihinkoen Station when the two of them landed in the Center Promenade and walk down to the station and then into his building complex. Since all the building in this area looks pretty much the same we can't really say which one he enters. But we can see the backside of Fuji TV visible behind him as he enters his apartment.
From the inside of his apartment he can see the big Ferris wheel from his window/balcony. In episode 31 in the first season their cat Miko finds Kari's digivice and pushes it off the balcony. We can see the "25 porticos" (Daniel Buren's 25 Porticos: The Colour and its Reflections from 1996 - a public commission that overlooked Tokyo Bay on the artificial island of Odaiba) as the view down from their balcony. To have this view there is only one Searea building (the complex of apartments) that meets the criteria. But there are a lot of other things that don't match. For example the balcony style. So it's possible that their apartment is a mix of the Searea complex buildings.
In the first season Kari and Tai still share their room and still have a bunk bed but this time Tai is sleeping at the bottom bed. Their room and the whole apartment is very similar to the one they had in Hikarigaoka. Only now their room is full of furniture and school stuff, since they are now a bit older and in school. There is only one difference - in episode 21 Tai and Kari's tables are facing the windows but later in episode 31 and on the tables are facing the wall. When you enter the apartment the layout of the apartment is the same as the one in Hikarigaoka. On the left there is a kitchen that ends up in the living room and dining room in one. On the right there is an entrance to Tai and Kari's room.
In season 2 and Digimon Tri, Kari and Tai don't share their room anymore. Tai still has a bunk bed and sleeps on the bottom part of it and uses the upper part of the bed as a little storage. I guess Kari moved out of their shared room to a new one and he just kept all the things like they were in the first season. In Digimon Tri their apartment looks the same just a little bit more modern - furniture, computers ...
To check where exactly the Sarea complex is in Odaiba, click here!
TAI'S HOME IN ODAIBA FROM THE SECOND MOVIE: OUR WAR GAME!
So in the second movie, Tai still lives in Odaiba and everything looks the same and I'm sure it meant to be the same apartment as the one from the first and second season. Everything would be the same if they wouldn't change the view from their balcony and from the entrance to their apartment. In the first and second season their entrance is facing to the back of Fuji TV but in the movie the entrance is facing the Ferris wheel. And the balcony is facing the Rainbow Bridge (but in the seasons the balcony is facing the Ferris Wheel). And if you check the map you will see it's kinda impossible to face both Ferris Wheel and Rainbow Bridge if they would live in the same building as they do in series.
Even when Sora is walking towards Tai's apartment the buildings that are shown are not the same as in the series. They are actually the other three buildings in Sarea complex. So I think they just mixed together the complex's features and create a "new building" where Tai and Kari lives.
In the movie, we can also see the working room, where the computer of Tai's father is located. When you enter the apartment on the left is a kitchen that ends in the living room and dining place. On right it's Tai and Kari's room and on the left it's Tai's father's workplace (this room could later become Kari's room when the two of them get older).
To check where exactly the Sarea complex is in Odaiba, click here!
Asagaya (阿佐ヶ谷)
Asagaya is a residential area in Suginimi ward - west of Shinjuku. Before that Asagaya used to be a simple farming village where people relocated after the big destruction of central Tokyo from the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923. (Wikipedia)
In the movie Digimon: Last Evolution Kizuna, Tai is living on his own in a very cute studio flat in Asagaya (it's not really said he lives there, but his job and his movements are all around Asagaya station). It's a bit far from Odaiba and his university but still a nice location.
It's actually a pretty small apartment (its perfect for one person if you ask me) with small kitchen and a balcony. When you enter the apartment you have a small hallway with kitchen. The hallway leads up to the big room with a bed (with "dirty" magazines under the bed ;)), table, drawers, fridge (filled up with beers), TV ... (all parts of apartment mixed in one room). He also has a balcony and huge windows (love it!). And of course everything is in blue colors.
Click here to check up the Digimon real life location of Asagaya part of Tokyo!
Near Musashi-Kosugi Station (武蔵小杉駅)
Musashi-Kosugi station is located in Nakahara Ward of eastern Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The nearby area is a popular residential area because of its skyscraper-like residential buildings and because of the high convenience of railways. It's located about 20 minutes by train to get to central Tokyo. In the past the area has been attracting attention as an industrial land. (Wikipedia)
In the new reboot of the first Digimon Adventure series the children don't live in Odaiba anymore. Tai and Kari now live in a Nakahara Ward - near Musashi-Kosugi station. They live in one of the residential towers around. It's kinda nice to see and research a new place besides Odaiba even though Odaiba will be missed, a lot.
If you compare the buildings/inside buildings and its surroundings from the series and the real life buildings it's possible that Tai and Kari live in the Kosugi Tower. The tower is close to the Musashu-Kosugi station and it's often shown in the series - the big red tower. To check where exactly the Kosugi Tower is click here!
The apartment has the same layout as before but the furniture and the look of it are different. Somehow it feels like the apartment is more modern and not so Japanese looking as before. The kitchen is still on the left, Tai and Kari's room on the right and in the end a dining place and a living room. Even Tai and Kari's room looks the same as before - I guess all the children's room looks the same because they all need the same stuff.
