Actor Tetsuya Takeda appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on March 10th. He talked about his nearly 50-year relationship with actor Toshiyuki Nishida, who passed away last year.
Nishida-san was like an older brother to me, always teaching me things with a smile, like "It's good to do it like this," "You're not wrong here," or "You should think a little more about this." "I feel like we started walking together from the start of the hill and climbed the hill of popularity together."
He was taught how to drink: "Make sure you take your wife to the bar you often go to at least once and drink with her." "Make sure you create an opportunity like that. Then, if you call her from there, she'll be able to see where you are, so she'll feel at ease." "They taught me things like that, and I learned a lot."
When I was in my 40s, Nishida-san built his own home and invited me to come. "Nishida-senpai always showed me around his house." Nishida-san's dream was to have a small home bar, billiards, keep tropical fish, and if he had the chance, a fireplace. Although he had a billiard table, he was trying his best to keep tropical fish. I followed his example and kept tropical fish.
When we built our house, I invited Nishida. "My brother is a very stylish man, so he gave me a telescope as a housewarming gift." Since we had a balcony, he told me to look at the stars or the moon. "We spent many days gazing at the night sky with great care."
Nishida told me about a time when he was unsuccessful, when he and his friends pooled their money together to rent a small theater and perform a Russian play. After thorough rehearsals, the play opened in a small theater that could fit less than 100 people, and there were only about 10 people in the audience, even though there were only about 20 performers. However, someone noticed that Kiyoshi Atsumi was in the front row, and the dressing room erupted in excitement. When Nishida appeared and performed, the audience, befitting Atsumi, gave him a huge ovation. Nishida was the only one who was surrounded by special laughter. When it was over, someone said, "Nishida, that character was the only one who laughed at your part." Nishida said that made him very happy.
We were drunk when we listened to this story, but we vowed to each other, "Mr. Takeda, let's follow in his footsteps. Let's follow the footsteps of Atsumi Kiyoshi. Everyone wants to play the cool guys, but the one who is truly amazing is that man. No one else realizes that, so let's be the two of us following in his footsteps."
I once accompanied Nishida to Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, on a trip home to his hometown. I went my own way and had a chance to drink a lot with Nishida's old friends and teachers, and I asked him what kind of young man he was. According to him, he left his hometown of Koriyama, Fukushima, for Tokyo when he was young to become an actor, but he didn't do well in theater, so he would sometimes return home alone. Without contacting anyone, he would look at the mountains and rivers of Koriyama, Fukushima, sit by the Abukuma River, or look up at Mt. Adatara, and then return to Tokyo. Even when Nishida's friends found him like that, no one would say anything to him.
Nishida would apparently shout loudly, "Mt. Adatara! I'll be a great actor, so watch me!" or "Abukuma River! I'll become a pure stream, just like you!" A humorous classmate explained, "Nishida was the kind of guy who would act even if no one was watching." I think this best describes Nishida. "Nishida was someone who lived for theatricality, who loved the dramatic. I can't help but feel that he lived out his life as a character in a play until the very end."
