It has been revealed that actor Rei Kikukawa will star in the film "Tanemaku tabibito:Moromi no sasayaki" (directed by Tetsuo Shinohara), which will be released in October. This will be Kikukawa's first film appearance in 15 years, and he will play a sake-loving bureaucrat from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries who visits a long-established sake brewery on Awaji Island.
The fifth and latest film in the "Tanemaku tabibito" series of films that support Japan's primary industries. The series has previously released "Tanemaku tabibito: Minori no Cha" (released in 2012, directed by Shioya Shun, starring Jinnai Takanori and Tanaka Rena), which is set in Usuki City, Oita Prefecture, and focuses on people who grow organic tea; "Tanemaku tabibito: Kuniumi no Sato" (released in 2015, directed by Shinohara Tetsuo, starring Kuriyama Chiaki and Kenta Kiritani), which is set in Akaiwa City, Okayama Prefecture, and focuses on farmers who are busy growing onions and fishermen who live with seaweed; The film has previously featured films such as "The Sower: Grafting Dreams" (released in 2016, directed by Sasabe Kiyoshi, starring Rin Takanashi Rin and Saito Takumi), which is about a family who dreams of growing a new variety of peach, and "The Sower: The Brilliance of Lotus Flowers" (released in 2020, directed by Inoue Masanori, starring Kuriyama Chiaki and Hiraoka Yuta), which is set in Kanazawa City and deals with the issue of succession for a family who farms the traditional vegetable Kaga lotus root. These films have depicted the current state of primary industries that are emerging in each region.
This time, the story is set on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, and focuses on sake produced on the island and Yamada Nishiki, a sake rice that is a representative production area in Hyogo Prefecture, depicting the craftsmanship spirit of the people involved and the problems and conflicts that occur on the ground.
Kikukawa plays Kanzaki Rie, a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries bureaucrat who loves sake and visits a long-established sake brewery on Awaji Island, while Kaneko Junya plays the son of the owner of the long-established sake brewery, whose succession is in doubt, Shimizu Kurumi plays Fujiwara Natsumi, a young female sake brewer with high aspirations, and Asai Daichi plays Okamura Takeshi, a former Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries bureaucrat who was Kanzaki Rie's predecessor and loves sake. The supporting cast is rounded out with other talented actors, including Yamaguchi Izumi, Takao Taka, Shiraishi Kayoko, Masu Takeshi, and Nagashima Toshiyuki.
Kikukawa commented, "This is my first time in 15 years to star in a film, and I was really excited because the theme is my favorite sake. I also love sake brewing, and I hope that through this film I can convey to everyone the charm of this traditional industry, the feelings and current situation of the people involved, and the charm of Awaji Island, where the film is set."
