WIT Life #219: Yakusho Koji’s newest flick
Film, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life, Writers 
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
I’m currently in Japan on an interpreting assignment, and am loving eating washoku and getting my fill of Japanese tv on a daily basis. I’m also happy to be able to catch up on Japanese pop culture while I’m here, and I recently caught a Yakusho Koji movie out in theaters now. I’ve written about how much I enjoy Yakusho’s work as well as having the chance to meet the man himself, and his latest film did not disappoint.
Masayuki Suo of “Shall We Dance” fame is the director of 「終の信託」 (Tsui no Shintaku, or “Trust in the End”), which reunites the two stars of that movie. Yakusho appears alongside Tamiyo Kusakari, who played his dance instructor in the former film, and they are pictured here along with Suo. (The fabulous supporting cast includes Tadanobu Asano as Orii’s vile lover and Takao Ozawa as the intimidating prosecutor).
Their collaboration 16 years later was worth the wait. Yakusho plays chronic asthma patient Egi who is assigned to Kusakari’s internist Orii at the hospital where he receives periodic treatment. Over time his attacks get worse and his visits become more frequent, and he begins to rethink the value of treatment considering the costs and the toll it takes on his family. One day Egi happens to meet Orii outside of the hospital, and by this time they have formed a special bond during the course of his treatment. He entreats her to end his life when he is in extreme pain and there is no point in prolonging it, a day he doesn’t see as being very far off. Orii agrees to his request, but when the time comes things don’t go as smoothly as expected. She ends up being under investigation for her involvement in Egi’s death (this is not a spoiler as the story is told in flashbacks).
Suo also directed the 2007 movie 「それでもボクはやってない」 (Sore de mo Boku wa Yatte Nai, or “I Just Didn’t Do It”), which depicted the wrongful conviction of a young man as a groper despite the lack of evidence to support his guilt. Both films are said to be based on true stories, and the investigation scenes in Tsui no Shintaku are reminiscent of Suo’s former film. Not sure when Tsui no Shintaku will make its way to the States, but in the meantime you can check out Suo’s engrossing previous work.
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