This is the rumor…
Be Forever Yamato Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki
Author: Kunio Nishina
Photographer: Kimiyuki Fujita
The pre-release reviews for Be Forever Yamato, the third film in the series, seem to be good, right? Just saying the title gets fans singing the Yamato theme and talking about their generation. So we’ll just let him speak. The pen follows.
“Yes, this time, in terms of the advance ticket sales, we’re selling 10% more than last time. The core generation of Yamato is 13 to 15 years old, the generation that’s entering adolescence after elementary and middle school. But when I went to a local fan club general meeting, only 15% of the people there saw the second movie two years ago. The next generation is filling the gap left by those who graduated from Yamato.”
The theme that runs through the series is love.
“Love is a word that’s often used cheaply, but isn’t love what humans ultimately need as they go through trial and error to survive? I tried to portray that through specific acts of love.”
While enrolled in Nihon University’s drama department, he also trained as an actor at Bungakuza Theater.
“I was not good at acting. The only person who told me I might make a good actor was Shishi Bunroku.”
After that, he hosted at a jazz cafe. “I was an unpopular host.” So he became the manager of a jazz orchestra. “Either the way I sold it was bad or the product was bad. I wasn’t a manager with a good reputation.” In that case, he went ahead and became a promoter. “It was still the heyday of the Yakuza gangsters, so I was threatened at knifepoint and kidnapped.”
Rather than promoting, he decided to produce his own work and became a producer at the pioneering Min-On Music.
“I mounted 260 stage productions in three and a half years.” But he wasn’t satisfied working within the framework of an entertainment group. “I started a company and put works on stage in commercial theaters. But even if you make something good, it doesn’t mean it will be a success.”
He liquidated his company and went to Europe. After returning to Japan, he became a secretary to a certain business person.
“I learned to be effective rather than just attentive.”
After serving as general manager of Mushi Pro, he is now here after the long journey that led to Yamato.
As a producer, “I think I’m the only one who can put everything together, from music to shooting to supervising the finished film. Haruki Kadokawa is a producer with a strong directorial touch, while I’m a producer who comes from a creative background.”
He argued with composer Hiroshi Miyagawa, his friend of 20 years, over the music for Yamato. “The music that came out was different from what I ordered. On the day of recording, we got into an argument, and I kicked him out of the room. As a result, the recording was cancelled. About 7 million yen was wasted. Even if it’s Hiroshi Miyagawa, I’ll stand up for what I need to stand up for.”
Is arguing also a form of “love”?