Moeka Hoshi: Actress Who Spent Eight Months in Canada Witnessing Legends

“I’m currently working as a freelancer in Japan, but surprisingly, I just decided on a management agency in America (laughs),” says actress Moeka Hoshi (29) with a playful expression.

On September 15 (local time), the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, often referred to as the Academy Awards of the American television industry, took place, where the drama “SHOGUN,” produced and starring Hiroyuki Sanada (63), swept the major categories, winning an unprecedented 18 awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor, and Outstanding Lead Actress.

Set in the late Sengoku period, the drama features Hoshi in the role of Usami Fuji, the wife of the English navigator John Blackthorne (played by Ahn Jung-hee), who drifts to Japan, garnering praise both domestically and internationally.

“Before ‘SHOGUN’ was released, I had fewer than 30,000 Instagram followers, but now I have over 140,000. Most of them are fans from overseas who watched the show. I truly felt the significant impact this drama has had on the world,” she reflects.

Hoshi started her career in earnest after winning the Grand Prix at “Miss iD 2016,” and this year marks her seventh anniversary as an actress.

“That said, I haven’t had a lot of experience yet. If I had to say, I’ve been consecutively cast by director Rikiya Imaizumi (43) in ‘Ai ga Nanda’ (2019), ‘Machi no Ue de’ (2021), and ‘Mado Beni ni te’ (2022). I really like those moments that are like vending machine restocks—moments that exist in daily life but go unnoticed. I think that resonates with Imaizumi’s sensibility; there’s a similar feeling there.”

Hoshi landed a main cast role in “SHOGUN” in 2020.

“The creator team was in America, so the audition was via video. Typically, after sending a video, directors request to see different versions, and you keep sending those back and forth. But for me, I got the role in one shot. I don’t know why, but maybe I fit the image of Fuji that the production team had in mind.”

Having spent almost her entire career in Japan, filming in Vancouver, Canada, for eight months was a significant challenge for Hoshi.

“Filming started in the summer of 2021. At that time, we were in the middle of the pandemic, and I joined this project with a lot of determination, so I didn’t return to Japan once during the shoot. Still, living in Vancouver was comfortable. Each cast member had their own car, and we had local drivers. I’m not very good at English, but the driver was very kind, so I had no trouble communicating. On my days off, I practiced with the naginata, tea ceremony, and abacus to embody the character of a woman living in the Sengoku era.

The filming environment was vastly different from Japan. Staff members would sometimes leave midway through filming. They’d say, ‘My shift is over, so another staff member will take over from here. Bye!’ (laughs). In Japan, I had the impression that hair and makeup artists and stylists arrive before the actors and leave after them, so it was surprising.

The care for actors was truly exceptional. There was one time during filming when I felt unwell. When I mentioned to the staff, ‘If I had to say, the way the kimono was put on was different from usual,’ the kimono department was held accountable, and I felt really sorry about that.

Also, since my fame in Japan didn’t mean much, there was no hierarchy based on whether someone was a star or had a shallow career. Everyone was focused on creating a good piece together.”

Unrequited Love for the Japanese Film Industry.

The character Fuji, played by Hoshi, faces significant challenges in the story. At the beginning of the work, she loses her husband, a samurai, and their newborn son. Shortly thereafter, she is pressured into a remarriage with an Englishman, Anjin, who has become a “Hatamoto” (a feudal lord’s retainer) due to the intentions of her lord. Although Fuji is often portrayed as a symbol of a strong woman surviving the turmoil of the Sengoku period, Hoshi reveals that “Actually, Fuji is weak.”

“Many viewers ask me, ‘How could Fuu become such a strong woman?’ but that’s not true at all. When her first husband and child died, she contemplated suicide. When she proposed marriage to an Englishman with whom she could not communicate, she pleaded, ‘I want to become a nun.’ I focused on portraying her vulnerability and weakness as a human rather than her strength as a woman.”

Hoshi felt a special bond with the English actor Cosmo Jarvis (35), who played her husband, Anjin, during the filming.

“My character doesn’t speak English, and his character doesn’t speak Japanese. Still, we were able to create an energy exchange in our performance without words. On the last day of shooting, Cosmo gave me a letter. It was written on a torn piece of notebook paper and simply said something like, ‘Your acting was fantastic.’ That clumsiness felt very much like Cosmo.”

It seems that “SHOGUN” was sufficient work for Hoshi to turn her eyes to the world.

“I was happy to act in an environment where I could give my 120%. I don’t think I was the only one who felt that way. The scene where my character’s grandfather, Yoshi Tora-naga (played by Hiroyuki Sanada), commits seppuku, performed by Tokuma Nishioka (77), was shocking for me. I thought, ‘Tokuma-san has created a legend.'”

Now that Hoshi is active as a freelancer in Japan, she aims for overseas expansion thanks to “SHOGUN” and has signed with an American agent.

“I’ve been learning English and watching Hollywood blockbusters like ‘The Avengers,’ which I hadn’t seen before. I’d like to try action scenes where I take down enemies.

Of course, my main battlefield is Japan. I’d love to work with directors like Shuichi Okita (47), Ryoichi Hashiguchi (62), Shinzo Katayama (43), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (45), and Yukiko Sode (41). There are so many directors I’d love to collaborate with. However, sadly, I’ve always had unrequited love for the Japanese film industry. No matter how much I say I want to, it seems I’m not noticed, or I don’t resonate with the directors.

So, I want to create good works where I am needed, whether that’s in America or Japan.”

Hoshi may be on her way to becoming a Hollywood actress.

From the October 11, 2024 issue of FRIDAY