Director Kazuya Shiraishi’s Journey into Historical Dramas and the Prideful Aesthetic

The Period Drama “Goban Kiri” by the Powerful Duo Tsuyoshi Kusanagi × Kazuya Shiraishi

Winner of the Best Actor Award at the 44th Japan Academy Prize for “Midnight Swan,” Tsuyoshi Kusanagi plays a master Go player and a ronin with a burning desire for revenge in his latest leading role, “Goban Zanri.

The film is directed by Kazuya Shiraishi, winner of the Best Director Award at the 42nd Japan Academy Awards for “The Blood of the Lone Wolf” and the 60th Blue Ribbon Award for Best Director for “The Birds She Does Not Know Their Names”. This is his first period drama.

Kusanagi’s character, Yanagida Tadunoshin, was once chased out of his clan and lost his wife as a result of a false accusation. When he learns the truth, he is accused of more crimes, and his daughter chooses to become a victim herself. The tension between the pride of a samurai, his own innocence, his daughter’s life, and revenge …… and the battles depicted with Go and swords is a must-see.

We caught up with director Kazuya Shiraishi, who brought such a film to the world.

The film ‘Gobangiri’ is based on the classical rakugo story titled “Yanagita Kakunoshin,” which shares its name with the protagonist portrayed by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi.

“It all started with the fact that the screenwriter, Masato Kato, is an avid Go enthusiast.” 

Director Shiraishi explains.

“One day, Kato was told, ‘If you love it so much, why not do ‘Yanagita Kakunoshin’?’ And that’s where it began. Without being asked by anyone, Kato wrote the plot from there, and that’s how it started.”

Once the plot was completed, it reached Director Shiraishi.

“It had the sentimentality of rakugo while incorporating Kato’s original elements, becoming an entertainment piece. Personally, I had always wanted to do a period drama, so I said, ‘Please, I would love to do it!'”

Approach that doesn’t conform to the traditional framework of period dramas: “Battle” depicted through the game of Go.

For Director Shiraishi, this is his first period drama as a director, but he credits his experience working on Director Okuda Eiji’s film “Runin” (2006) for contributing to his approach.

“Learning from Okuda-san’s directing style, which doesn’t adhere strictly to the typical conventions of period dramas, was very enlightening. Period dramas tend to fall into certain established patterns and formats, but Okuda-san’s approach was refreshingly free. That aspect has become a foundation not just for period dramas but for my work in general.”

Period dramas typically rely heavily on sets designed to recreate the atmosphere of the era.

“Given that there aren’t many ancient buildings still standing, we have to rely on what remains and what we can build on set. However, there’s a wealth of knowledge accumulated over the long history of period dramas. It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun. Based on that, we thought about how to incorporate elements that break away from the typical mold.”

There are several differences from contemporary dramas.

“Naturally, during the Edo period, lighting was scarce. So, figuring out how to create the right atmosphere for night scenes through lighting was also an enjoyable challenge.”