Explaining architectural dimensions based on visual semiotics (Case study: Tokyo city)

With the passage of time and the increasing age of cinema, films become important historical treasures, and the mounds of ancient cities become areas that can be studied and explored. Knowing the ways of life, economy, culture, and art are all areas that can be studied in the film. In the meantime, Japan has introduced important filmmakers and films to the world of art with its unique culture and identity. The film Ran (1985) by Akira Kurosawa, a famous Japanese filmmaker, is considered one of the best films of Japanese cinema. The present research aims to examine the content of the Ran film based on the concept of architectural semiotics in the context of urban elements. The current research aims to evaluate the structure of the meaning in the image, and searches for the concept of sign in the media. At the same time, it can also be said that it is a developmental feature. The methodology used in the current research was qualitative and content analysis based on semiotics. MaxQDA2020 software has been used to analyze the verbal content (using English subtitles of the dialogues of our film between the actors and also to extract signs in the elements presented in the images and visual content of the film. In total, 7 filmological dimensions were examined and the Historical dimension, intellectual philosophical and metaphorical dimension, intellectual-philosophical foundations, house components, the use of Buddhist symbols, and finally the use of Buddhist color symbolism are the main categories identified in the movie Ran. This research can be used in the fields of cinema studies, architecture, anthropological and historical studies related to Japan.