| Koji Yakusho News 7 (Nov. 7, 2005 -- Jan. 3 2007) |
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| (From June 2001 to December 2007) |
| Updated on June 2, 2008 |
| December 28 Here is Pymmik's new page for "Mt. Tsurugidake" December 26 The talk show by Koji Yakusho and the soundtrack music composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto ("SILK" and "BABEL") will be shown on NHK TV from 0:06 on January 13, 2008!! Here's the photo. December 26 I found the official website for this "Mt. Tsurugidake" On the news page, there are comments by Aoi Miyazaki, Koji Yakusho and Daisaku Kimura. December 25 Here is the info on Koji Yakusho's new film: "On Monday, Toei announced two additions to the movie "Tsurugidake: Ten no Ki." Koji Yakusho and Aoi Miyazaki are both joining a cast that stars Tadanobu Asano, Teruyuki Kagawa, Ryuhei Matsuda and Toru Nakamura. Based on a novel by Jiro Nitta, the film is the directorial debut of veteran cinematographer Daisaku Kimura. The story, set in the Meiji era, focuses on an exploration team in the Hida Mountains. Filming has been under way since April and is scheduled to continue until July 2008. Yakusho and Miyazaki will join around the end of March. The movie is expected to open in 2009." (Source: TOKYOGRAPH) Twitchfilm.net) "Sankei Sports" reports that Koji's role in this movie is that of a veteran former surveyor. IMDb: Tsurugidake: ten no ki The international title is "Mt. Tsurugidake". December 19 The "Zo no Senaka/The Back of the Elephant" DVD (The special edition and the standard edition) will be released on March 19, 2008. December 19 On December 18 the nominees for the 31st Japanese Academy Awards were announced. Koji was nominated for the the best actor award for "The Back of the Elephant". The other best actor award nominees are Sadao Abe, Ryo Kase ( Soredemo Bokuwa Yattenai), Joe Odagiri and HidetakaYoshioka. "Soredemo Bokuwa Yattenai" was nominated for the best film award and Masayuki Suo was nominated for the best director award. Here is the report about the 31st Japanese Academy Awards and here is the full list. December 13 Koji Yakusho started his career as a historical period TV drama star in the early 1980s. Here are two You Tube video clips:"Miyamoto Musashi" (1984) and "Sanbikiga Kiru" /The Three for the Kill (1987). (Sanbikiga Kiru was deleted.) December 10 If you want to watch Koji's TV commercials for AOKi, click here. You can watch three versions. (This site was deleted.) November 30 Koji Yakusho's office publicly announced that Koji won the 2007 Best Dresser Award. Here are the photos. November 29 Together with six others, Koji Yakusho has won the 36th Best Dresser Award given by the Japan Men's Fashion Association. The award ceremony was held in Tokyo on Nov. 27 . Here is the site for those people who won the 2007 best dresser award . Click here for the photo taken at the ceremony. November 23 I just found the video clip site of the audience greeting session by the main cast members before the showing of "SILK" at the Tokyo Intetnational Film Festival on October 28. (This site was deleted.) November 8 If you are interested in the storyline of "Hachiko:A Dog's story", click here. It is still in the pre-production stage, though. November 7 Here is the latest info on "Beast of Bataan". It is the REUTERS/Hollywood Reporter news under the title of "Christensen retained for Bataan Death March film" dated on Nov. 6. It says, Koji Yakusho, who played the father of Rinko Kikuchi's character in "Babel," is in negotiations to portray Homma. Willem Dafoe and William Hurt also are in talks to join the film. Regarding the film shooting time and place, it also says, "The independently financed production is eyeing a February start date in Australia. Fred Schepisi will direct from an adaptation of Lawrence Taylor's tome "A Trial of Generals."" Here's another news site on this film. November 7 I have just found a list of the cast members for this film on Hollywood.com: Koji Yakusho Masahura Homma William Hurt - Cast Charlie Hunnam - Cast Willem Dafoe - Cast Hayden Christensen - Cast On the Koji Yakusho page on the Hollywood com website, I have also found info on Koji's new film, entitled, "Hachiko: A Dog's Story", co-starring with Richard Gere. This film is listed below "Beast of Bataan". The IMDb site for this film is here. (November 3) If you click here, you will be able to see some nice photos of Koji and his wife, Saeko! (Thanks, ddp5373) (October 16) You can now see the seven-minute long interview with Koji Yakusho about "The Back of the Elephant on this site. You will see that Koji has become extremely slim! In some of the magazine interviews, Koji said that he had lost seven kilos before the shooting of this film and another five kilos by the time of the shooting of Yukihiro's death scene. (October 11) The cover page photo of the November issue of "MEN'S EX" is Koji Yakusho. Lots of magazines now put interviews with Koji about "The Back of the Elephant/Zo no Senaka". (September 28) If you want to see the latest photo of Koji, here it is. Koji greeted the audience from the stage after the premiere showing of "The Back of the Elephant" on September 27. (September 20) The opening ceremony of the first Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta) was held on September 19 in Tokyo and Koji Yakusho as the 'main character' made a speech. You can see some photos of Koji. On September 4, Koji Yakusho was officially appointed to become "the symbolizing main character" for the first Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta) to be held from September 19 to October 28. (September 1) It was announced today that "SILK" was selected as the closing film at the 20th Tokyo International Film festival to be held from October 20 to 28. (Source: Sports Hochi) (August 22) The official site for "Silk" is now open and we can see the trailer. (August 22) The DVD ( R 2 ) of "Argentine Hag" will be on sale on October 3, 2007. It has no English subtitles! (August 19) I have just set up the English translation page for the trailer for "The Back of the Elephant". (August 18) We can now see the trailer for "The Back of the Elephant/Zo no Senaka." Koji has lost weight ( 10 kilos) for this film. What a day today! We can now see the trailer for"SILK". (August 21:The Silk American trailer seems to have been put out a little early. It has been deleted from the yahoo movie site. Let's wait for a little while longer!) (August 16) Koji Yakusho's official website reported that on August 15, Koji finished shooting "The Back of the Elephant. Here's the photo of the bouqet Koji was given by the filming staff. (July 29) Koji Yakusho's official website has now got an English version with his biography and filmography. (July 6) Koji Yakusho has been chosen as the "main character" of the Japan International contents Festival. (September 19, 2007 to October 28) About this Festival, click here. About Koji Yakusho as the "main character", click here. (It's in Japanese.) (June 21) The press conference for "Zo no Senaka" was held today with the presence of director Satoshi Isaka, author Yasushi Akimoto, Koji Yakusho and singer/actress Miki Imai. Here is the photo. The filming will start in early July and end in late August. It is due to be released on October 27, 2007. This photo is also good! (June 6) Retribution/Sakebi by Kiyoshi Kurosawa will be shown during the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival. (June 2) Koji Yakusho's son, Ichiro, in a movie. If you want to see what Koji Yakusho's son Ichiro Hashimoto looks like, you should go to see a film, entitled,"Ore wa Kimino Tamenikoso Shinini Iku" (For Those We Love) starring Keiko Kishi and Satoshi Tokushige (directed by Taku Shinjo), which has been being shown nationwide in Japan since May 12. (The Japan Times Review) On May 8, Koji Yakusho fans became excited with the Nikkan Sports report that Ichiro Hashimoto (aged 21) had joined in the shooting of this film. The Nikkan Sports states that Ichiro's cameo role in this film is that of a Kamikaze airplane pilot appearing only in a couple of scenes. The Nikkan Sports also reported that Ichiro applied for the audition for this film two years back, in 2005 without mentioning his father, and that he passed it owing to his masculine outlook and very mature and polite attitude. In a recent interview with Nikkan Sports, Ichiro, now a university student, mentions that he was impressed by the fact of this film being based on the real story about the mother-like figure, Tome Torihama (played by Keiko Kishi) who used to run a cafeteria near the Kamikaze pilot air base at Chiran, in Kagoshima prefecture during the wartime. He therefore decided to apply for the audition for this film. Ichiro said that he had learned quite a lot through the shooting of this film, adding that he had long been interested both in movie staff work and in acting as his future career. On his official blog dated on May 9, under the title of "Our family's big happenings" Koji Yakusho referred to Ichiro's appearance in this film: His son has joined in a movie study club at his university and has been doing various jobs relating to film-making, such as directing, acting and lighting. On the same blog, Koji gave a rather stunning piece of info in relation to his cameo appearance in the film, "Kokoro/Heart" directed by Sho Tsukikawa, a Tokyo Art University post-graduate student. Everybody must have thought that he appeared in Tsukikawa's film at the request of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a professor at that university; but Koji said that director Kurosawa had actually been surprised to find Koji in this film. The truth was Sho Tsumikawa was a graduate from Ichiro's university and a senior member of the same movie study club. Sho Tsukikawa and Ichiro were friends and he came to visit Ichiro's house quite often. Therefore obviously Koji decided to appear in Tsukikawa's film at the request of Tsukikawa himself! Talking of Keiko Kishi, she starred in Koji's first film, "Hunter in the Dark" (1979). In the same year, Koji appeared in a film, "Eirei- tachi no Oenka" directed by Kihachi Okamoto as a Kamikaze pilot. (May 30) Koji Yakusho's next film seems to be "Pako to Mahou no Ehon" by Tetsuya Nakashima. Here is the info from TOKYOGRAPH. I wonder what sort of role Koji will play in this film! "Child model Ayaka Wilson has been chosen to play the heroine in "Pako to Mahou no Ehon" ("Pako and the Magical Picture Book") a fantasy film directed by Tetsuya Nakashima ("Kamikaze Girls," "Memories of Matsuko"). This is the first acting role for the half-Canadian, half-Japanese 9-year-old, who began modeling at the age of 3. The part is a difficult one - her character, Pako, has a memory limited to one day, due to an accident. The rest of the movie's cast includes Koji Yakusho, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Anna Tsuchiya, and Sadao Abe. Filming began on April 10. The movie is scheduled for a fall 2008 release." (May 9) On May 8 Koji Yakusho's official site announced that Koji has a small role in Sho Tsukikawa's film ,"Kokoro (Heart)" , which is due to be shown in Tokyo at the Euro Space movie theater in Shibuya, from May 19 to 24. This is one of six films directed by Graduate School students of the Film Departmen of the Tokyo National Art University, where Kiyoshi Kurosawa teaches as a professor. Koji appears in "Kokoro" briefly as a psychiatrist. Here is the website for the six films by the University's Film Department. Professor/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has written an introduction to those films, which were made to commemorate the graduation of this group of Graduate School students. (May 3) Koji's official blog is actually a part of his official website. Click here and you'll see the larger photo of him. Please enjoy thi super photo! (April 30) I was astonished to open the IMDb's "Beast of Bataan" site this morning. The cast of this movie was announced and I found that Koji Yakusho would perform the role of Gen. Masaharu Homma! On April 18 Koji's office announced that he had started shooting a new fim. IMDb still says that "Beast of Bataan" is in the "pre-production" stage. Has the production of this film really started? I wonder if it is true. One clue is that Koji Yakusho did not turn up at the Japan premiere of "Babel" which was held in Tokyo on April 26. Koji may be overseas now. (April 26) Koji Yakusho's official website has become the official blog. Please click the URL and you'll see his new photo. (April 21 ) Koji Yakusho's official website was renewed on April 18. The press have previously announced that Koji Yakusho's next film, "Zou no Senaka" (The Back of an Elephant) is due to be filmed in early July. However, the April 18 news is that there was actually another film planned prior to "Zou no Senaka" and that Koji had already participated in shooting this film. His site says that this other film will be released in 2008 and that Koji's role is a type that he has never performed before. Let's wait and see what sort of movie this new film will prove to be! (April 13) On April 10 the press announced that Koji Yakusho's next film would be "Zou no Senaka"(The Back of an Elephant), which is due to be released in Autumn 2007. Koji's role is that of a 48-year-old real estate company project department chief, named Yukihiro Fujiyama. The drama starts when Fujiyama is diagnosed as having lung cancer and is told that he will die within six months. Fujiyama declines any life enhancing treatment ... (April 7) Here is Koji's new TV commercial for AOKI. (March 30) An interview with Koji Yakusho on "Argentine Hag" (No video clip) (March 21) On March 13 Koji Yakusho's official website reported that the magazines listed below (with dates given in parentheses) would have feature pages on 'Babel.' As a matter of fact, Koji did mention on January 29 that he had been quite busy with magazine interviews for his new movies, 'Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai' (I Just Did Not Do It), 'Sakebi' (Scream or Retriution), 'Argentine Baba' (Argentine hag)and 'Babel'. I, therefore, expect that we will be able to read more about 'Babel' and Koji's thoughts on this movie in these magazines viz:- Switch (April 20) Pia Plus Act (April 2) Kinema Jumpo TV Life (April 25) Screen (April 21) and the 'Babel' special edition of Screen (April 18) Lee (April 7 ) Terebi Taro (March 24) (March 21) 'Argentine Hag' will be released on March 24 in Japan. Director Naoki Nagao, Koji Yakusho, Kyoka Suzuki and Maki Horikita will greet the audience at two movie theaters in Tokyo on the opening day. You can watch a video clip of the interview with Koji Yakusho and Kyoka Suzuki. Please click 再生(1Mbps) under the picture. (March 9) Please enjoy the video clip of the press conference for "Babel" , which was held on March 7 in Tokyo. There is also the video clip for "Argentine Hag", when the cast and director Nagao greeted the audience from the stage at the time of the premire showing. Click the picture of Koji Yakusho, Kyoka Suzuki and Maki Horikita which is under the picture of "Babel" . Koji is on the cover of the April issue of a magazine named, "Straight". There's a five-page interview with him about "Retribution". (March 8) On March 7 the press conference for "Babel" was held in Tokyo with the following persons present; director Inarritu, Koji Yakusho, Rinko Kikuch and Satoshi Nikaido. Here's the photo. This site has got more detailed comments and photos. The site reports that each person was asked to write one word on the board to express the message of "Babel". Here are the words. (Japanese in parentheses). Director Inarritu; Compassion Koji Yakusho; Human ties (Kizuna) Rinko Kikchi; Forgiveness (Yurushi) Satoshi Nikaido; Soul (Tamashii) (March 1) Koji Yakusho did not attend the Oscar ceremony which was held on February 25 in Hollywood. Instead he attended the three greeting -the audience- sessions for his new starring movie, "Sakebi (Scream) /Retribution" directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa on February 24 in Japan. I was able to see Koji Yakusho greeting the audience immediately after this movie was over at a theater called TOHO Cinemas Kawasaki in Kanagawa prefecture, around 17:30. Here is the photo, taken at Cine Sezon Shibuya Theater in Shibuya, Tokyo on the afternoon of Feb. 24. I was enthralled by Koji's peformance in this horror movie and enjoyed Koji's speech to the theater audience after the showing. If you want to see the full trailer of this movie, click here .(Twitch film. net) (Feb.12) The BAFTA awards were announced! The best film was "The Queen". As for "Babel", Mr. Gustavo Santaolalla was awarded THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music. Congratulations! (Feb. 11) If you click here, you can watch Koji's short commercial movie for Chuo Mitsui Shintaku Bank. It is entitled, "Mr. Y's six dreams." It's all in Japanese but surely you can enjoy Koji's superb acting! Please click each of the columns, and wait!" (Feb.7) I was stunned to find this piece of info on Hollywood. com. site as well as Film Bridge International site. On his renewed website, Koji Yakusho recently mentioned that the plans for shooting a new film, which was supposed to be taking place during February and March had been sent back to the drawingboard. Does he mean this film, "Beast of Bataan"? Well, let's wait and see! (Feb.2) On the Twitch Film net, I found that Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Ningen Gokaku/License to Live" is to be shown in the UK, together with five other Japanese films. Koji Yakusho co-stars in this film as Fujimori. The six selected films are: Hush! (Ryosuke Hashiguchi) Sway/Yureru (Miwa Nishikawa) Hanging Garden/Kuchu-Teien (Toshiaki Toyoda) A Laughing Frog/Warau Kaeru (Hideyuki Hirayama) License to Live/Ningen Gokaku (Kiyoshi Kurosawa) Canary/Kanaria (Akihiko Shiota) The Twitch Film net introduces the following comment: "Does modern Japanese cinema have more to it than ghosts, guns and gangsters? The 4th Japan Foundation touring film programme concentrates on the idea of family in modern Japan and aims to showcase an alternative to the Japanese films that we are usually exposed to in the West. From comedy, to drama, to social criticism, the programme tries to portray the change in attitudes and relationships in today's’ Japanese society. " (February 1) On his official website, (renewed on Jan.29), Koji Yakusho recollected his first meeting with director Inarritu: (Pymmik's unofficial translation) "While I was staying in Los Angeles for the filming of 'Memoirs of Geisha /SAYURI' (2004), I received a word that director Inarritu wanted to meet me, so we met at a bar in a hotel in Santa Monica. At that time he explained to me the rough synopsis of his new film. Its screenplay had not yet been completed then, but to understand the charm of that film, his explanation was more than enough. He said, "Your role is that of a father who has a deaf-mute daughter. He only appears only at the first and last scenes of the film, but he must be a person who makes his presence felt. Since I liked one of his films, 'Amores Perros', and was very impressed by his enthusiasm toward this new film, as well as his personality and his outlook (not to mention his hairstyle, which gave people the impression that he must have just got up), I told him at once that I would like to appear in his film. This new film, Babel, will be at last released in Japan during 'Golden Week' (May). This is a film with the underlying theme that in this seemingly hopeless world where one person cannot understand another, we can still find a small ray of hope. It is a great pleasure to me that the film, the staff, (especially Rodrigo who is an excellent photographer) and the main cast ( including Ms Kikuchi in the Japan part) are all highly regarded." (I have posted the same translation on my Babel site.) (January 3, 2007) The Koki Mitani page on the PARCO Theater website recently announced that the English version of University of Laughs is due to be performed in the West End of London under the title of "The Last Laugh" from March, 2007. The page also reports that prior to the West End performance, some performances are due to be held for a short period at some cities near London. From 13th to 17th February, The Last laugh is due to be performed at Milton Keynes Theatre Continued to Koji Yakusho news 2 |
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| Ryuichi Sakamoto & Koji Yakusho |