Kenji Sawada’s Video Message at the “KINEJUN” Awards Ceremony: Resurrected from the Cancellation Fiasco, but Thoroughly Distanced from the Media

On February 1, the award ceremony for the “2022 96th Kinema Junpo Best Ten” was held, and Kenji Sawada (74) was selected for Best Actor. In the eligible film, “Twelve Months to Feed the Earth,” Sawada plays a writer who lives a self-sufficient life in a mountain villa in Nagano and leads an idyllic life with his girlfriend, an older editor who visits the villa from time to time. Sawada did not attend the ceremony, but sent a video message to the audience.

I thought I would never win an award like this again. I had the feeling that only a great person like Kenichi Hagiwara would get it,” he said.

I felt that someone like Kenichi Hagiwara was supposed to win this award. He continued, citing the name of Kenichi Hagiwara, a singer and actor who had been his rival since the Group Sounds (GS) era and later became one of the leading singers and actors of the Showa era.

I was surprised and delighted to receive such an award at my age. Thank you very much.

I am truly grateful for the award,” he said.

Not only the film industry and actors in the audience, but also the media were moved. Sawada and Shoken were known as ‘dog-and-monkey’ rivals when they were in GS, but for a while they were in a group together, and they respected each other. I thought it was cool of Mr. Sawada to mention his name at this time.

On the other hand, there is this viewpoint.

On the other hand, there is another viewpoint: “I was slightly hoping that Mr. Sawada would appear in public for the first time in a long time after the fiasco, but there was an atmosphere of ‘I knew he wouldn’t come.

The uproar was caused by the sudden cancellation of a performance that was to be held at Saitama Super Arena in October 2018, when the audience was only waiting for the start of the show. The next day, Sawada held a press conference at a park near his home to address the large number of media who had packed his house.

I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused to my fans. I am responsible for this.

He repeatedly bowed his head and apologized. He also said

It’s terrible to do a show with an empty house,” he said. If you are going to do a live concert, please fill it up. If you can’t do it, just say no.’ I always tell them (the office and eventers), ‘If you’re going to do a concert, fill it up. I have my own stubbornness.

He also spoke of his own policy, but after this day, he has not given any more interviews.

Sawada was hounded and beaten up by the media for his past violent incidents and looted marriages. Since then, he has always been insulated from the media.

The first disturbance occurred in 1975. When Sawada arrived at Tokyo Station to catch the bullet train from Hakata Station, a station attendant blurted out to a crowd of fans who had come to catch a glimpse of Sawada. Sawada overheard Sawada’s comment and became enraged. He head-butted the station attendant. The station attendant’s face was stained with blood, and he apologized to Sawada on the spot, but Sawada refused to listen and stormed out, causing a commotion that resulted in him being taken to the railroad public safety office.

The following year, another incident occurred on a Shinkansen train. A passenger shouted “Imo Julie” at Sawada, who then punched the passenger. Sawada was later summoned to the Marunouchi Police Station for questioning.

In 1983, Sawada was found to be having an affair with Yuko Tanaka (67). The affair caused such an uproar that the media hounded Sawada day after day, night after night. Four years after the affair was discovered, Sawada transferred all of his property to his wife in exchange for alimony and remarried Tanaka in 1989. Since then, they have lived together at their home in Yokohama. This magazine has visited Sawada’s home several times and attempted to interview him, but he has never opened his mouth.

Three years ago, I was really surprised that he agreed to a press conference, even if it was to apologize to his fans, and I felt that he had come a long way. Since it was an award ceremony for the Best Actor Award, there were many questions that the reporters wanted to ask him directly. I thought it might be… but it seems that he is still reeling from the trauma of the past,” said a reporter from a sports newspaper.

Sawada is actively continuing his live activities, but when will we see him in the media again?