Keisuke Watanabe Relishes Joy of Acting in ‘Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality’

By Yayoi Kawatoko / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:00 JST, December 6, 2024

Actor Keisuke Watanabe’s latest film role is Inuzuka Shino in “Hakkenden” (“Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality”), which is currently showing in theaters. The character is one of the eight kenshi, or warriors, linked by fate to a certain dog.

In the six years since he made his acting debut, Watanabe has given outstanding performances in many widely talked-about works, such as NHK’s annual Taiga epic historical dramas. He recently sat down with The Yomiuri Shimbun for a leisurely chat about “Hakkenden” and his career to date.

The film is based on the novel “Hakkenden,” written by Futaro Yamada, which was itself inspired by the 19th-century novel “Nanso Satomi Hakkenden” by Takizawa (Kyokutei) Bakin (1767-1848), with a twist.

The movie’s story alternates between two parts — “reality,” in which Takizawa (played by Koji Yakusho) writes the novel, and “fiction,” in which the story of the eight warriors unfolds. Takizawa, a popular novelist during the Edo period (1603-1867), talks about the novel he is planning with his artist friend Katsushika Hokusai (played by Seiyo Uchino). In the story, Fusehime (played by Tao Tsuchiya), a princess of the elite Satomi samurai clan, infuses eight orbs with prayers to lift a curse on the family. The story follows eight warriors who carry these orbs as they fight a war on an epic scale.

Watanabe described the Edo period novel that became the basis of the film as being filled with “friendship, victory and effort,” which are “the three basic concepts” that are referred to in the famous motto of “Shonen Jump” manga magazine, “plus romantic elements.” He added, “It’s like the grandfather of shonen [boys’] manga.”

Watanabe plays Shino, who is almost like the leader of the eight warriors who appear in the fiction part.

“I thought I would play him as a straightforward person,” he said. “I learned from the director, Mr. [Fumihiko] Sori, about the mindset and determination of the central character. The details are my secret.”

He said he is usually not overly self-conscious, no matter how big a role he is playing. But this time he learned about the importance of asserting himself during the shoot.

“I thought I could be a little bit more selfish,” he said. “I thought of trying to change myself, and perhaps that allowed me to grow.”

Shino carries the famous sword Murasame, and he and his comrades defeat the enemies who stand in their way. What Watanabe struggled with most in portraying the character was the sword combat scenes — this was the first time he had ever used a Japanese sword. But he took on the challenge and spent two months practicing with it before the shoot.

“There were so many [sword fight] scenes that now the sword combat is almost the only thing I remember from filming. It was difficult to get each movement well-timed and well-spaced, but I gradually got in sync with the others,” he reflected.

Particularly exciting is one sword fight scene involving Shino and Genpachi, another of the eight warriors, which unfolds on a high place.

Japanese period dramas are attracting a lot of attention these days, a trend which has been boosted by the recent triumph of the drama “Shogun” at the Emmy Awards. Of course, “Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality” was shot before that. Still, the ardor of the creative staff was so intense that even Watanabe caught some of their fever.

“[Period dramas] are something Japan can be proud of, but we shouldn’t just make the same thing over and over. We’ll produce something that wins over the younger generations, too. I think it would be meaningful to have period dramas made by younger people,” Watanabe said.

An experience like no other

It’s been six years since Watanabe made his acting debut in the role of Woz in the superhero TV series “Kamen Rider Zi-O.” Since then, he has steadily built his career and made appearances in popular productions. He plays Fujiwara-no-Yorimichi in “Hikaru Kimi e” (“Dear Radiance”), this year’s Taiga drama, now airing on NHK-G at 8 p.m. on Sundays.

When an actor appears in a Taiga drama for the first time, people tend to think, “Finally!” and get the feeling that he or she has now truly arrived.

But it doesn’t seem to make a difference to Watanabe. “There’s no ‘higher’ or ‘lower.’ A production is a production,” he said. “Still, this Taiga series and ‘Kamen Rider’ have been my only experiences playing one role for a long period of time. But ‘Kamen Rider,’ which I did when I was clueless in this job, and Taiga, which I’m doing after having gained some experience, are different in the amount of information I’ve been able to get from them, so the experience I’m getting [from the latter] is like no other.”

He said he is having a great time as an actor right now.

“Through each role I play, I accumulate a variety of experiences, so I find it fun to be able to learn many things even after becoming an adult. I have a feeling that I can also cultivate ways of building relationships with other people, and there are even times when [a role I play] serves as a good example of what I shouldn’t do,” he said.

Looking ahead, he said he wants to be an actor who is sought after, an actor who can achieve a feeling of trust.

“I’d like to appear in productions that have a powerful sense of the human experience. I want to appear in productions that depict not just the world of glitz and glamor but also people with dirty sides, people who are struggling,” he said.