Ken Watanabe also praises the film "National Treasure" as "the culmination of his acting career"

Actor Ryo Yoshizawa appeared at the completion report meeting for his starring movie "National Treasure" (directed by Lee Sang-il, scheduled for release on June 6th) held in Tokyo on April 23rd. Yoshizawa, who plays the main character Kikuo in the film, who was born into a family of yakuza but was adopted by a kabuki actor's family and devotes his life to the arts, spoke of his thoughts, saying, "I would say this is the culmination of my acting career so far, and I put everything I've learned into this movie."

Yoshizawa said that he faced the role of Kikuo for about a year and a half, including filming, after undergoing Kabuki rehearsals. "It's not easy to devote a year and a half to one role. I put my all into every production, but the amount of time and energy I spent on this one was on a whole different level. I went to the set with that much on my shoulders," he said. When it comes to playing a Kabuki actor, he said, "I think there are many areas where I'm lacking technically, but I felt our reckless spirit and determination as Kikuo, and that's what I want people to see."

Regarding Yoshizawa, who played Kikuo, co-star Ken Watanabe praised him, saying, "After reading the original work, I thought that no one could play the role of Kikuo, but there he was. I even told the director, 'This will become Yoshizawa's masterpiece.' As a fellow actor, I have a lot of respect for him for creating something amazing."

Appearing at the event were Yokohama, Takahata Mitsuki, Terajima Shinobu, Ai Mikami, Tanaka Min, and director Lee.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Shuichi Yoshida, known for works such as "Parade" and "Park Life." Serialized in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper from 2017, the two-volume series is over 800 pages long and was published in book form in 2018. Set in post-war Japan during the period of rapid economic growth, the story follows the protagonist Kikuo (Yoshizawa), who was born into a family of yakuza gangsters but was adopted into the home of kabuki actor Hanjiro Hanai (Watanabe), who meets Hanjiro's heir, Shunsuke (Yokohama). The epic story follows two men of completely opposite bloodlines who risk their lives to dedicate their lives to the arts.