"Simulation - Defeat in the Summer of 1941" Press Conference: Comments from Taiga Nakano

Actor Taiga Nakano attended a press conference for the NHK drama "NHK Special: Simulation - Defeat in the Summer of 1941" held at the NHK Broadcasting Center in Shibuya, Tokyo on August 8th. He looked back on his scenes with his father, actor Hideo Nakano.

The drama is based on Inose Naoki's best-selling non-fiction book, "The Defeat in the Summer of 1941" (Chuokoron-Shinsha). In April 1941, eight months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, young elites from all over Japan were gathered at the "Total War Research Institute" under the direct control of the Prime Minister. They formed a mock cabinet, collected confidential information from their former government agencies and companies, and simulated every possible outcome if Japan went to war with the United States. Having concluded that Japan would suffer an "overwhelming defeat," the young people then faced off against the military and the real cabinet, which were pushing forward with the outbreak of war... This is the story. The drama will be broadcast on NHK General TV from 9pm on August 16th and 17th.

Nakano plays Shigeo Kabashima, a researcher at the Total War Research Institute, and his father, Nakano, plays Akira Muto, a senior executive at the Institute. Nakano honestly revealed his thoughts, saying, "When I first heard that we would be co-starring, I thought, 'Seriously?' (laughs)."

"We've appeared in separate scenes before, in a film directed by Ishii Yuya (who also directs the drama), called 'Inazuma to Ai' (Lightning in Love)," but this was the first time we'd appeared together in the same scene, so it was a bit of a strange feeling."

Regarding the scene where we co-starred, he revealed, "My father and I were positioned directly in front of each other, and I thought for a moment, 'Is this someone's prank?'" He added, "But personally I was very happy to have been given this opportunity. I felt very emotional to have had such an opportunity under the direction of Director Ishii, who has been so kind to me."

The day before the shoot, he confessed, "I went out drinking with my father for the first time in my life." He recalled, "It was the first time we'd ever had a drink together, so I never expected to have such a heart-to-heart connection at a time like this, in a place like this. I was so drunk I don't remember much about what we talked about, but I remember it being a lot of fun."

When asked why they had never previously co-starred as father and son, Nakano said, "It's not like we were deliberately avoiding it," but then smiled and said, "But I did vaguely say that if we were going to co-star, it would be best to do it in a way that we could both be satisfied with. In that sense, I'm very happy that this was possible with this production."

The press conference was also attended by the lead actors Sosuke Ikematsu and Aoi Nakamura.