Winners of the 9th TAMA Movie Awards (2017)

Best Movie
- Sanposuru Shinryakusha
- Eiga Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da

Special Award
- Director Yuasa Masaaki & the staff of the movies "Yoru wa mijikashi arukeyo otome" & "Yoake tsugeru ruu no uta"
- Director Tomita Katsuya & the staff of the movie "Bangkok Nites"

First-day-screening event of new movie "Umibe no sei to shi"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Umibe no sei to shi" was held at Theatre Shinjuku on 29 July which was attended by the director Koshikawa Michio and cast members Mitsushima Hikari, Nagayama Kento, Inowaki Kai, Kawase Yota and Tsukayama Masane. The film is based on the book "Shima no Hate" by the late Shimao Toshio who was a navy lieutenant sent to Kagoshima's Kakeromajima towards the end of WWII and later became a writer after the war ended as well as his wife Miho's book "Umibe no sei to shi". The movie uses the Shimaos as a model to describe how Toe (Mitsushima) falls for a man named Saku (Nagayama) in the last days of the war. Toe is a teacher at a national school who meets Saku who is newly posted to the island and becomes drawn to him when she sees him learning how to sing the island's songs while being slightly intoxicated. However, when the couple finally get together, Toe is torn by her love for Saku who is awaiting orders to go out to battle.

Mitsushima who appeared at the event in a kimono, said that she was filled with happiness and sadness at the same time since the release of a movie also marked the day when they get separated from it. Reflecting on the screenings they held at Amami Oshima and Kakeromajima where they filmed the movie, Mitsushima said that she was happy to reunite with the child actors who participated in the filming and see how much they had grown since their last meeting. When asked to describe the movie, she said that the movie had a very strong feminine feel with Toe being a woman who stands by her love despite the challenges imposed by society and the war set against the beautiful scenery on the islands looking like a cute girl. Nagayama commented that he found the stay on the islands very comfortable as he got used to life there and it had been a very valuable experience to be able to participate in this movie. Tsukayama then said that he has been an actor for more than 50 years since he left Okinawa and praised Mitsushima for being a naturally-born actor just like Nishida Toshiyuki with her aura and the strength of her gaze.

Asazaki Ikue who coached Mitsushima on how to sing the island's songs, made a surprise appearance at the event and presented flowers to the latter. Asazaki also performed a song live which led Mitsushima to say that she still continues to sing the island songs to this day especially when she's feeling tired and needs to relax.

Sources: Eiga.com / Oricon

Completion screening event of new movie "Umibe no sei to shi"

The completion screening event of new movie "Umibe no sei to shi" was held at Theatre Shinjuku on 27 June which was attended by the director Koshikawa Michio and cast members Mitsushima Hikari, Nagayama Kento, Inowaki Kai, Kawase Youta and Tsukayama Masane. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 29 July.

The film is based on the book "Shima no Hate" by the late Shimao Toshio who was a navy lieutenant sent to Kagoshima's Kakeromajima towards the end of WWII and later became a writer after the war ended as well as his wife Miho's book "Umibe no sei to shi". The movie uses the Shimaos as a model to describe how Toe (Mitsushima) falls for a man named Saku in the last days of the war. Toe is a teacher at a national school who meets Saku who is newly posted to the island and becomes drawn to him when she sees him learning how to sing the island's songs while being slightly intoxicated. However, when the couple finally get together, Toe is torn by her love for Saku who is awaiting orders to go out to battle.

Mitsushima who was born in Okinawa, revealed that her family's roots are actually in Amami Oshima so going there for the filming of this movie was a very different feeling as compared to filming in Tokyo. Hearing the familiar dialect and songs and seeing the dances there was a fascinating experience for her as it seemed to bring her back to the days she was in Okinawa before she went to Tokyo at the age of 13. With regard to her character Toe, Mitsushima described her as someone who lives for love and seeks a place of her own. In that sense, she felt that she could identify with Toe's thinking.

As for Nagayama who is playing a person who existed in real life for the first time, he revealed that he had asked fellow actors for advice but he realised that there was more he could do to play this type of roles. Luckily, the island where they were at for the filming contained many references to Shimao so it helped him to fill in the missing bits and pieces needed for him to play this character.

As this was also the first joint public appearance of Mitsushima and Nagayama since they were reported to have started dating in May 2016, Mitsushima revealed an interesting episode during the filming when she was asked by the children on the island if Toe was going to die for the man she loved. Upon hearing an affirmative answer, the children were quick to say that she shouldn't do that for such a man which made her very amused and she was quick to clarify that this remark wasn't directed at Nagayama. When asked about rumours of them having broken up, Mitsushima gave an OK sign with a huge smile on her face while Nagayama also smiled but did not say anything as they left the event venue's stage.

Sources: Nikkansports / Eiga.com

Mitsushima Hikari to star in new movie "Umibe no sei to shi"

Mitsushima Hikari will be starring in the new movie "Umibe no sei to shi" (The beach's life and death) which will be her first solo leading role in a movie in 4 years. The film is based on the books "Shima no Hate" by the late Shimao Toshio who was a navy lieutenant sent to Kagoshima's Kakeromajima towards the end of WWII and later became a writer after the war ended as well as his wife Miho's "Umibe no sei to shi".

The movie uses the Shimaos as a model to describe how Toe (Mitsushima) falls for a man named Saku in the last days of the war. Toe is a teacher at a national school who meets Saku who is newly posted to the island and becomes drawn to him when she sees him learning how to sing the island's songs while being slightly intoxicated. However, when the couple finally get together, Toe is torn by her love for Saku who is awaiting orders to go out to battle.

Mitsushima revealed that as her grandmother comes from Amami Oshima, she feels that part of her roots are from there too so she was really happy to be able to film there and sing the folk songs of the island. In addition, she wants to show the conflicted emotions experienced by Toe through the movie.

The movie will be shown in cinemas from July 2017.

Source: Eiga.com