460,000 People Attended the Nobunaga Festival! Behind the Scenes of “Kim Tak Fever”

On November 6, Takuya Kimura (49), who plays Nobunaga Oda in “Legend and Butterfly,” a movie to be released next year, appeared with Hideaki Ito (47) in the Gifu Nobunaga Festival cavalcade.

As soon as Gifu City found out that Kimura was coming, the whole city was in an uproar. The city had prepared a viewing area for 15,000 people, and 966,555 people applied. The city prepared a viewing area for 15,000 people, and 460,000 people applied. On the day of the event, 460,000 people came to watch.

The west side of the road was supposed to be completely blocked off to allow Kimura to pass through, but the number of visitors exceeded expectations, and the road was opened without any restrictions. A spectator in the east side viewing area shouted angrily, “They are not supposed to let people in there, it’s not fair,” and stormed up to the officials. The audience applauded, saying, “Well said!”

I am so angry because I think that the people who went into the off-lot area on that day got better photos than those of us who won the lottery. I’m going to protest to the city,” said a woman from Osaka who photographed from the viewing area.

People who want to take pictures of him start fighting each other. The gravitational pull of “Kim Tak” is tremendous. Columnist Takahiko Kageyama commented, “There is neither praise nor criticism of him.

There is both praise and criticism of him, but in the end, he is a special presence that everyone is interested in. Like superstars such as Ken Takakura, Yujiro Ishihara, and Shigeo Nagashima, he has entered a stage where his ability and charm must be recognized, transcending personal likes and dislikes.

Nobunaga Oda died at the age of 48. Kimura will turn 50 on the 13th of this month, and will continue to climb the ladder to legendary status.

From the November 25, 2022 issue of FRIDAY