Completion screening event of new movie "Itsumata, kimi to ~ Herijunzailai~"

The completion screening event of new movie "Itsumata, kimi to ~ Herijunzailai ~" was held on 18 April which was attended by the director Fukagawa Yoshihiro, scriptwriter Yamamoto Mutsumi and cast members Mukai Osamu, Ono Machiko, Kishimoto Kayoko and Narita Ishin. The movie which will be shown in cinemas from 24 June, is based on the life of Mukai's grandmother Ashimura Tomoko. When Mukai was in university, he compiled the diary entries of his grandmother into a book which was published with the pool of funds from the family and presented to Tomoko on her 90th birthday. The book contains stories of Tomoko and her husband Goro during the tough post-war days when resources were scarce and how they tried to survive while supporting each other. Ono plays the role of Tomoko while Mukai plays the role of Goro in the movie. 7 years ago, Mukai came up with the idea of making the book into a real-life movie and participated actively in the production along with Fukagawa and Yamamoto.

Mukai said that he felt responsible in various ways to ensure that the film could be completed as if he was sending his child to see the world. He also revealed that on the last day of the filming of NHK morning drama "Gegege no Nyobo" in 2009, he passed a copy of his grandmother's diary to Yamamoto who was the scriptwriter but it probably turned out for the better that the movie was only completed at this time thanks to the cast and staff members he managed to assemble later. In this era where family ties tend to be weaker than before, he also hoped that the movie will serve as a catalyst to get family members talking to one another. Meanwhile, Ono revealed that she initially thought that Mukai was the one who chose her to play his grandmother but it turned out that he had given up the right to choose the cast lineup right from the start so she was rather disappointed to know about this. Mukai explained that he found it difficult to think of someone to play his grandmother so he had to leave it to others to make the decision.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon / Eiga.com