Documentary Film “WILL” Highlights Masahiro Higashide’s Lifestyle as a Hunter

Comedian Hiroiki Ariyoshi (49), who will host the “74th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen” on New Year’s Eve, mentioned actor Masahiro Higashide’s (35) movie on the live broadcast of the JFN radio program “Hiroiki Ariyoshi’s ‘SUNDAY NIGHT DREAMER'” on January 12.

 

The program introduced a documentary film “WILL” (to be released on February 16 next year), which closely follows Higashide’s hunting life. The film documents Higashide’s life in the mountains without electricity or running water for a year. In the film, Higashide is said to be in a state of chaos and conflict as he eats the deer and wild boar he hunts and interacts with the local people. Ariyoshi said, “I, too, am interested in hunting. It sounds interesting,” he said, looking forward to the movie’s release.

“Ariyoshi, who is a hot celebrity, made this comment, so it must have a great influence on him. Since Higashide’s hunting life has been covered by various media so far, it is likely that media exposure for the film’s release will increase.” (movie writer).

 

Speaking of Higashide, in January 2020, his affair with Erika Karada (26), an actress with whom he co-starred in the film “Sleeping and Waking” (2017), was reported in “Bungeishunju” (a weekly magazine), resulting in the termination of a commercial in which he appeared and other serious damage. He divorced his wife, actress Anne (37), in August of the same year, and Anne has custody of their three children.

Karada was forced to take a hiatus, but Higashide continued to work and was inundated with criticism. He was forced into a corner where he could not pay child support for his three children, as well as his career as an actor. Then, perhaps realizing something, he started a hunting life in the mountains near the Kanto region in the spring of the same year.