Completion event of new movie "Sekigahara"

The completion event of new movie "Sekigahara" was held at Urban Dock Lalaport Toyosu on 18 July which was attended by the director Harada Masato and cast members Okada Junichi, Yakusho Koji, Arimura Kasumi, Hira Takehiro, Higashide Masahiro, Ito Ayumi, Takito Kenichi and Nishoka Tokuma. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 26 August.

The movie which is based on the same-titled novel by Shiba Ryotaro, features Okada in the leading role of Ishida Mitsunari, a military commander who lived during the Azuchi Momoyama Era and was usually depicted as a shrewd villain in many books and fiction works but will be described in a different way this time. Co-stars include Yakusho Koji who plays Tokugawa Ieyasu, Arimura Kasumi who plays Hatsume, a ninja from Iga and Ishida's maid as well as Hira Takehiro, Higashide Masahiro, Nakagoshi Noriko, Kitamura Yukiya, Ito Ayumi, Otoo Takuma, Wada Masato, Takito Kenichi, Kimura Midoriko, Matsuyama Kenichi, Dan Mitsu and Nishioka Tokuma.

Okada revealed that before the filming, he went to the grave of Ishida Mitsunari and pledged to play this character well. As such, he hopes that views towards Ishida will change as a result of this movie. When he was much younger, he was advised by a senior actor that he should become an actor in future who can take on period movies and dramas. As such, he was glad to be able to do this movie which he felt that was good enough to be watched by that senior. Yakusho also praised Okada for working so hard that viewers will have new discoveries each time they watch this movie.

As for Arimura, this was the first time she participated in a period movie so there were many difficulties she faced but it was also a very stimulating experience for her. Okada also praised her for studying and making extensive preparations for the sake of this movie despite her busy schedule with filming NHK morning drama "Hiyokko" which began in August last year overlapped with the filming of this movie from last November.

When asked about any incidents during the filming which showed Okada's "iron-man" side, Higashide revealed that there was once when they were filming on a mountain and it was already 11pm when they took the ropeway to come down from the mountain and on the way back to their hotel by bus. Although Higashide was already tired and felt like relaxing by having a beer, he was surprised to hear that Okada planned to go back and do physical training rather than rest even though it would be past midnight. Yakusho echoed this and said that when he worked with Okada last time, he also knew about Okada's night runs and bringing a wooden sword for practice purposes. Okada then responded by saying that he did invite Yakusho to join him but was rejected.

Sources: Eiga.com / Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Oricon