Satomi Ishihara plays Toma Ikuta's wife in "No Longer Human"Sun, August 16, 2009 (2:40am EDT)Satomi Ishihara (22) has been cast in Genjiro Arato's "Ningen Shikkaku," based on the Osamu Dazai novel of the same name, also known as "No Longer Human." In May, it was announced that Toma Ikuta (24) had been given the starring role. "Ningen Shikkaku" was the most autobiographical of Dazai's works, and his last before committing suicide. Ikuta plays a young man unable to truly connect with others, keeping up a jovial facade as his life spirals toward self-destruction. Ishihara plays one of the several women in his life, and the only one he marries. The movie is scheduled for a 2010 release.
Ishihara becomes Funakoshi, or vice versa?Today actress Ishihara Satomi (22) and actor Funakoshi Eiichiro (49) officially announced their new one-shot dorama called "Tsubakiyama Kacho no Nanoka-kan" at the headquarters of TV Asahi in Roppongi, Tokyo.It’s based on a novel of the same name by Asada Jiro and tells the story of a middle-aged man (Funakoshi) who suddenly dies and gets reborn as a beautiful woman (Ishihara).It was a very difficult challenge for Ishihara to act like she would be Funakoshi. "During the filming I always had to think about how Funakoshi-san would act like in this situation." She revealed. Funakoshi laughed and replied, "I really liked that."Co-actor Kitaoji Kinya (66) got asked about what or who he would like to be if he got reborn and he answered with a smile, "I wonder what it would be like to be that dog from the Softbank commercials… Anyway, a good-natured person would be nice."The dorama SP will air on the 19th at 09pm on TV Asahi.
Ishihara Satomi, “HoriPro is like a family”As mentioned in another article, several HoriPro actresses attended the preview screening of "A Tale of Ululu’s Wonderful Forest" on the 6th to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their agency. The 4 actresses were Itou Kazue, Yuuka, Ishihara Satomi and Kinami Haruka and after the screening they appeared in a small press conference to answer some questions as well."The movie started off with a narration and simply showing Ululu moving around, but it immediately brought tears to my eyes. It really did a great job of conveying those maternal feelings and the beauty of nature." Ishihara commented and Yuuka had no choice but to agree with her, "It’s a movie you can’t watch without a handkerchief." Itou was really fond of the movie as well, "While watching the movie it feels like you are going on an adventure yourself."The movie shows the warmth of a family, but many actresses like Kinami had to leave home in order to start their career. When does somebody like her feel the warmth of a family? "Once every year I visit my parent’s home and as soon as I hear the ‘welcome home’ in the entranceway I can feel the warmth."Not just numerous talentos attended the screening, many people who work behind the scenes at HoriPro and their respective families also came to this event. When Ishihara saw both the leading actors Funakoshi Eiichiro and Ueto Aya as well as HoriPro president Hori Yoshitaka greet them all on the stage, she once again got reminded why she likes her agency so much. "Today once again made me think what a cozy company HoriPro is. It reminded me of the words my manager told me right after I joined the agency – ‘The HoriPro company is like a family!’""A Tale of Ululu’s Wonderful Forest" will open on the 19th.