The Singapore Japanese Film Festival 2018 lineup & schedule

The Singapore Japanese Film Festival is back this year after a hiatus of more than one year and it seems like the absence is well-justified probably because the organisers managed to assemble such an interesting line-up of films, some of them being as new as shown in Japan just last year. One major change this year is the removal of free screenings i.e. all screenings need tickets (SGD 13 each). In addition, there seems to be no discounts even for multiple ticket purchases. The venue for all screenings will be at the National Museum's Gallery Theatre which I quite like because of its central location and fine condition of the theatre. If you like Japanese movies and are in Singapore or happen to be here next month, do support this film festival so that it can continue to be held in future. Moreover, some of these films will probably never make it to a commercial release in our cinemas here so you definitely shouldn't miss the chance to catch them.

For more information on the films such as the storyline, you may wish to click on the tabs of the movies' titles at the bottom of this post as I had covered some of them before on this blog or the links to the titles in this post which will bring you to the film festival's site. All movies have English subtitles and are uncut but some of them have restricted ratings (NC16, M18 or R21) so unless indicated otherwise, the movie's rating is PG. Please check this before purchasing tickets especially if you happen to be underage.

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 28th & 29th January 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Doctor Strange (350)

2) Kiseki Ano hi no sobito (156)

3) Kimi no na wa (296)

4) Koisaika Miyamoto (314)

5) Hamon Futari no Yakubyougami (302)

6) Shinjuku Swan II (334)

7) Honnouji Hotel (282)

8) Chinmoku Silence (342)

9) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (68)

10) The Magnificent Seven (291)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 21st & 22nd January 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Kimi no na wa (296)

2) Honnouji Hotel (282)

3) Shinjuku Swan II (333)

4) Chinmoku Silence (342)

5) The Accountant (272)

6) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (353)

7) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (68)

8) Eiga Youkai Watch Soratobu Kujira to Double Sekai no Daibouken Danyan (360)

9) Gekijouban Doubutsu Sentai Juuouja VS Ninninja Mirai kara no message from Super Sentai (322)

10)  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (368)

Source: Eiga.com

First-day-screening event of new movie "Honnouji Hotel"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Honnouji Hotel" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on 14 January which was attended by the director Suzuki Masayuki and cast members Ayase Haruka, Tsutsumi Shinichi, Hamada Gaku, Hirayama Hiroyuki, Taguchi Hiromasa, Takashima Masahiro, Kondo Masaomi and Kazama Morio who were all dressed in Japanese traditional clothing.  When asked about how it felt to be wearing a formal kimono, Ayase stammered at first and said that she was happy to be wear this since it felt like an extension of the New Year but she also felt embarrassed. In response to this, Tsutsumi teased his co-star for being excited as if it was still the New Year holidays even though she should be more serious on the first-day-screening event.

When asked to reflect on the filming of the movie which took place last summer, Ayase recounted that she had been stung by flies and gnats on 8 spots while she was at temples and in the midst of bushes that it was too itchy for her to sleep at night. It got so bad that she scratched herself until she bled. As for Tsutsumi, he revealed what Taguchi, Hamada and he had taken the same Shinkansen train to get to the filming venue but it just so happened that he was in another carriage while Taguchi and Hamada sat together. However, by the time they got to Okayama, Tsutsumi was wondering why his co-stars were not getting off the train and actually ran on the platform to check on them when he saw them in a drunken state. After Tsutsumi knocked on the window, Taguchi managed to get out of the train in time but Hamada actually rode the train all the way to Hiroshima which made the audience gasp in amusement.

Sources: Sanspo / Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 14th & 15th January 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Honnouji Hotel (282)

2) Kimi no na wa (296)

3) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (353)

4) Gekijouban Doubutsu Sentai Juuouja VS Ninninja Mirai kara no message from Super Sentai (322)

5) Eiga Youkai Watch Soratobu Kujira to Double Sekai no Daibouken Danyan (360)

6) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (368)

7) Fantastic Beasts and where to find them (350)

8) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (68)

9) Boku wa ashita kinou no kimi to deeto suru (305)

10) Kaizoku to yobareta otoko (360)

Source: Eiga.com

Completion press conference of new movie "Honnouji Hotel"

The completion press conference of new movie "Honnouji Hotel" was held at APA Hotel & Resort Tokyo Bay Makuhari on 12 December which was attended by the director Suzuki Masayuki and cast members Ayase Haruka, Tsutsumi Shinichi, Hamada Gaku and Kazama Morio. The movie which will be shown in cinemas from 14 January 2017, features Ayase as the heroine Kuramoto Mayuko who goes to stay at Honnouji Hotel but accidentally goes back into time to meet various historical figures such as Oda Nobunaga (Tsutsumi) and only realises after a while that the day she had wandered back to was in 1582 and the day before "Honnouji no Hen" (the forced suicide of Oda by his samurai general Akechi Mitsuhide).

Ayase who is known for her unique sense of speaking in an innocent manner which makes people laugh, tried to explain what kind of movie this was but ended up confusing herself thus making her co-stars burst out laughing and tease her for her messy introduction. Tsutsumi related that when he was talking about the Tiananmen incident with Ayase and Hamada during a filming break in a serious manner, she suddenly asked them if they were talking about Tenyamon (mispronunciation of the name). Tsutsumi said that Ayase is an innocent person who doesn't have any thoughts while Hamada revealed that he had been very eager to meet Ayase today because he was wondering what she might say during the event and commented that there is nobody who dislikes her. Kazama also joined in to compliment Ayase for being a person who is not pretentious at all and even said things which were not typically heard from an actress e.g. telling people that she was having a stomach upset and felt wobbly like water. After hearing these remarks, Ayase laughed to say that although all these comments were supposed to praise her, she somehow felt that she was actually a strange person.

When asked who she would like to meet if she could travel back in time, Ayase chose Oda Nobunaga so that she could cheer him on as he fought to unite the country. As for Tsutsumi, he revealed that it had been 30 years since he last rode on a horse and he only had 1 hour to practise. Although it was very frightening to be riding a horse, he was glad to get a good horse so he was actually grinning while on horseback. However, the filming was done in Kyoto during summer where the highest temperature reached 37.9 degrees Celsius which made Ayase comment that they all had "droplets" on their foreheads. This led Tsutsumi to correct her that she should say that they were sweating so Ayase corrected her statement by saying that it should be "droplets of sweat" rather than just "droplets".

Sources: Nikkansports / Eiga.com / Sponichi / Oricon

Ayase Haruka, Tsutsumi Shinichi & Hamada Gaku to star in new movie "Honnouji Hotel"

Ayase Haruka, Tsutsumi Shinichi and Hamada Gaku will be starring in the new movie "Honnouji Hotel" directed by Suzuki Masayuki which will be shown next year. The actors and Suzuki last worked together in the 2011 movie "Princess Toyotomi" which achieved 1.62 billion yen in box office takings. In this film which is an original story, it will depict what happened one day before the Honnouji Incident which is said to be the largest mystery in Japanese history. It will begin from present-day Kyoto where Mayuko (Ayase) is troubled over marriage and incidentally goes to the Honnouji Hotel to stay where she meets Oda Nobunaga (Tsutsumi) and his guard Mori Ranmaru (Hamada) from the Warring Era.

Ayase commented that as she had worked with Tsutsumi and director Suzuki many times, she is eagerly awaiting the filming taking place this summer and will work hard with the cast and crew to deliver an entertaining and funny film to the viewers. As for Tsutsumi, he praised Ayase for being a wonderful actress and with the addition of good actors like Hamada and Kazama Morio, he is confident that the movie will turn out well. Last but not least, Hamada commented that he is honoured to be playing Ranmaru who was said to be a very good-looking man and thinks that people might be disappointed at first to hear that he is playing this character but he will do his best to make his character come alive and impress the viewers.

Other members in the cast include Kazama who plays the hotel's manager and Hirayama Hiroyuki who plays Mayuko's boyfriend. Filming is going to start in the beginning of July, expected to wrap up by late August and will be done entirely in Kyoto.

Source: Eiga.com