40th Anniversary: Shinji Yamashita and Yasuo Miyata Reflect on School Wars
FRIDAY 40th Anniversary Special Discussion
The Legendary Drama That Boosted Rugby Teams Nationwide in Japan
“I’m going to hit you guys from now on!” The legendary scene was brought back to life at Miyata Sushi (located in Setagaya Ward), run by none other than Mitsuo Morita himself.With peak viewership ratings exceeding 20%, its dynamic storytelling created a massive boom, leading to a significant increase in rugby teams across Japan. One of the biggest jokes by Zabungle Kato’s (50), “I’m frustrated!” originated from the famous line by one of the main characters, Mitsuo Morita.
On the occasion of FRIDAY magazine’s 40th anniversary, coinciding with the same year School☆Wars debuted, Mitsuo Morita actor Yasuo Miyata (60) and Shinji Yamashita reunited as their teacher-student duo to reminisce about the past.
Yamashita: You’re looking well. I heard you and Yuki Matsumura (61, who played Daisuke Ohki) were reminiscing about School☆Wars without me, and it got 3 million views on YouTube? My channel hasn’t even hit 1 million views.
Miyata: The customers at the sushi restaurant I run often bring up *School☆Wars* too.
Yamashita: They probably want to hear behind-the-scenes stories. Like how I wore long johns under my suit—those kinds of stories ruin the image, though (laughs).
Miyata: The viewers often know the lines and narrations better than us.
Yamashita: We were desperately trying to get through filming every day, so we didn’t have the luxury of watching the broadcast. For the longest time, I misunderstood Mitsuo Morita as being Akiko Wada’s (74, who played Yuko Shimoda) son, but he’s her brother, right?
Miyata: At the time, I was 20, and Akiko Wada’s husband Daizaburo Shimoda was played by Tatsuo Umemiya, who was 45, so it’s easy to see how you’d mix that up (laughs).
Yamashita: I think I was 32 then. I remember when I was offered the role, they told me to get the same crew cut as Ryoji Yamaguchi, the real-life coach of the Fushimi Industrial High School rugby team, who inspired Takizawa. I managed to negotiate keeping just the bangs (laughs).
Miyata: The rugby scenes were authentic, and we practiced intensely. At first, even passing the ball was hard, but as we got better, it became more fun. The cast trained together like a real sports team every day.
Yamashita: We started filming in February, so we were shooting spring scenes in the middle of winter. It was freezing. The students were running around and staying warm, but as the coach, I had to give instructions while standing still.
Miyata: That’s why you were wearing those fancy cashmere long johns (laughs). There was also the riverside duel scene with Hitoshi Ozawa (62), who played Ryo Mizuhara, the reformed juvenile delinquent leader. That was filmed in freezing conditions too.
Yamashita: Ozawa still holds a grudge about that scene. In the end, I was supposed to dunk Mizuhara’s head into the river, and we agreed he’d tap my leg three times when he wanted to be pulled out. I got so caught up in the performance that I completely forgot (laughs). Well, that shows how seriously we took it. Afterward, Takizawa gives Mizuhara some brandy to drink—but nowadays, that’d be a huge problem.
Accompanying Aesop’s NGs.
Yamashita: It might sound rude to call the student roles a motley crew, but many of them were inexperienced newcomers. Aesop (played by Hirokazu Takano, 57, who portrayed the frail but rugby-loving Koji Okudera) was a complete amateur. He kept making mistakes, which made things tough on set. But his popularity was incredible. Even I would get called “Aesop!” by kids passing by on the street.
Miyata: When filming began, Aesop was around 16. Compared to the other actors, he required more attention. But you, Yamashita-san, and the other seniors never said a word, no matter how many mistakes he made, and you stayed patient with him.
Yamashita: The phrase “One for all, All for one” appears in the drama, and the atmosphere on set truly embodied that sentiment.
Miyata: On a typical set, when someone doesn’t have a scene, they’d usually keep warm by a fire or take a break, but nobody did that here. Everyone would practice rugby together or help each other memorize lines. Yamashita-san, you even said, “You can’t cry without feeling it,” and would shed tears next to the camera even when you weren’t in the shot. That said—there was one scene where there was a bit of a disconnect between you and the rest of us.
Yamashita: The locker room scene after Sagami Ichiko crushed us 109–0. I had been saying since the start of filming, “This is an important scene.” In it, Morita tearfully responds, “Yes, I’m frustrated!!” when asked, “Aren’t you frustrated? Are you zero as a person?” Then, I proceed to hit all the rugby club members. It’s one of School☆Wars’ most iconic moments. But partway through, you guys said, “Let’s take a lunch break,” and left. Once you’ve eaten, frustration doesn’t feel as frustrating anymore. For such a critical scene, you should’ve waited until it was done to eat, but instead, you said, “We know what we’re doing. Don’t worry,” and went off.
Miyata: Well, we were hungry.
Yamashita: I was so pumped up I thought, “If the acting isn’t good, I’ll knock some sense into them,” but the performance turned out great. I ended up being the most frustrated one! (laughs)
Miyata: School☆Wars ran for two whole cours (half a year), which was rare, and it must have been exhausting for you, Yamashita-san.
Yamashita: Right after, I was offered a two-hour drama to play a detective, but during a scene where I was chasing a criminal, I got seriously injured and had to drop out. I realized how physically and mentally drained I was. I had poured my life into this show. Normally, when you leave the set, you revert to being Shinji Yamashita, but I didn’t want to tarnish the image, so I kept wearing a jacket even on my days off. I couldn’t mess around at clubs anymore, so I eventually stopped going. (laughs)
Miyata: You couldn’t tarnish the name of Kenji Takizawa!
Yamashita: Actually, after School☆Wars, TBS offered me a lead role as a high school teacher in another drama. But I turned it down because the character was supposed to have a romantic relationship with a high school girl. I didn’t want to ruin Takizawa Kenji’s image. In the end, Hiroyuki Sanada (64) took the role.
–– Though seeing Kenji Takizawa in High School Teacher might’ve been interesting. The two wrapped up their discussion.
Miyata: A young customer told me they got hooked on the show because their father recommended it. They said, “This drama gave me the courage to overcome leukemia. That’s why I keep spreading the word about it.” It was so moving.
Yamashita: There’s a saying, “Rugby makes boys into men quickly, and allows men to hold onto a boyish heart forever.” This drama taught viewers important values like purity, kindness, and faith—qualities essential for life. That’s why, even 40 years later, it’s still spoken of as a youth bible.
“We practiced every day like it was a club activity, right?” (Miyata)
“They told me to get a crew cut.” (Yamashita)
Unpublished Cut: Shinji Yamashita × Kyo Miyata “Let’s Talk About Everything of ‘School☆Wars'” 40th Anniversary Special Dialogue.Interview and text： Masao Kurihara PHOTO： Hiroyuki Komatsu
