Hot Movie Hits Screens — Saya, Daughter of Mitsuru Fukikoshi & Leona Hirota, Shares Candid Confession
A young actress with illustrious parents takes on a major role
A wife ran off with another man. Since then, Yozoe, a complicated 40-something novelist, has sought true love yet lived in fear, engaging only in physical relationships. One day, a female college student suddenly appears in front of him, boldly stepping into Yozoe’s heart—this is the premise of the hotly anticipated film Hoshi to Tsuki wa Ten no Ana (Stars and the Moon Are Holes in the Sky), which hits theaters nationwide on December 19. The movie explores human desire, featuring Showa-era dialogue and playful erotic humor. The lead is actor Go Ayano (43), and helping create the film’s distinctive atmosphere is the young, promising actress Sakuya (25), who plays the college student Noriko.
“Based on a piece of pure literature, the setting is like a black-and-white Showa-era film. There are more than five intimate scenes. These types of films are rarely made in Japan nowadays, so in that sense, it’s quite a unique project. I’m personally interested in this kind of work. Reading Arai-san’s (Haruhiko Arai, 78) script, which is literary yet somewhat comical, I felt truly, ‘This is the kind of work I want to do.’ I’ve long had this almost-fantasy desire to become a character in pure literature. Being in that world myself I felt like I was in a dream while filming.”
Sakuya reflected on the movie’s location shoots with these words.
Influenced by her parents, Sakuya aspired to become an actress and debuted in the entertainment industry at 17. She has played several supporting roles on television, but her distinctive presence shines even more in film. Following the release of this movie, two more films featuring her—Fumiko Kaneko: What Made Me Do This? and Shukushuku no Mori—are scheduled for release in 2026.
Besides her acting talent, Sakuya draws attention because she comes from a prominent entertainment family, being the daughter of Mitsuru Fukikoshi (60) and Leona Hirota.
Because of this background, she was completely unfazed by her first major role. Her parents reportedly don’t interfere with the work she takes on. In fact, regarding the five intimate scenes, her mother Leona Hirota simply said, “Sakuya’s body is at its best now,” and left it at that. (All statements in quotation marks below are Sakuya’s own words.)
“Actually, my parents were always opposed to me becoming an actress. From their own experience, they understood it’s not an easy world. And being a so-called second-generation talent—people might even say I had fourteen lights instead of just seven—they wanted to make sure I was truly ready before stepping into the public eye. They looked at me with a critical eye, thinking I wasn’t yet in a state that could satisfy professional standards.
Until then, I suppressed my desire to act, while my parents kept telling me, ‘You should become a writer.’ That never really clicked for me. I didn’t have any other clear ambitions either, so I floated around, diving into music and even DJing deep techno. Then the COVID pandemic brought many restrictions.
In 2021, my mother developed lung cancer. I was so worried that I lost about eight kilograms in a short period. Then suddenly my mother said, ‘Now that you’ve lost weight, you look beautiful—why don’t you try acting?’ I thought, ‘Wait you were opposed to this all along!’ I was completely taken aback. After her surgery and recovery, I was cast in a project she directed and wrote, and that’s when I truly began pursuing acting in earnest.”
On this day, she appeared in an all-black outfit. Her beautiful legs peeked out from a sheer long skirt.In private life, the disadvantages are greater
Having famous parents naturally comes with both advantages and disadvantages. She said there was a period when she struggled with this.
“In work, I take the mentality of using whatever I can—if people know about me from the start, I might as well use that to my advantage. In my private life, the disadvantages may be greater. People tend to see me in a certain way and don’t engage with me purely as an individual. In school life, everyone already knew who I was when I enrolled, so there was no avoiding it, and it was very stressful. There were kids who got along with me without caring, but online, where no one knew my background at all, I had more friends.”
“Even now, I don’t mention it until I’ve gotten to know someone for a while. The fact that my stage name doesn’t include a surname is also for that reason. I’m not hiding who my parents are, but I’m not taking sides with either of them, nor do I want to assert that. I just want people to see me as myself, so I left off the surname.”
Her independence and individuality, thinking “I am who I am” since childhood, also give her a unique perspective on this work, which might be criticized in today’s era.
“Nowadays, there are various opinions about compliance and feminism, right? From that perspective, some people may feel disgusted by this work. But I think the essence of the work lies in the opposite direction. It’s about a man who, out of fear of taking women seriously, avoids real relationships with them and treats them as objects, but then is ultimately defeated by a woman. I like that aspect of the work.”
While Sakuya delivered a remarkable performance as a character with a strong personality, during the interview she also showed an innocent smile typical of someone in their twenties. When asked what kind of character she sees herself as, she referred to Noriko, the character she played, and said, “There were many points of empathy and things in common.”
She even revealed her thoughts on love
“I guess I have a bit of a father complex. I think it’s because I was separated from my father when I was little, but sometimes when I look at men, I feel that part of me. You can see that in Noriko too, in the way she shows affection toward her father in her words.”
“Also I’m a bit of a masochist. Mentally, I have a masochistic side. The harder the work or role, the more fired up I get. I tend to push myself into those kinds of situations, and I think that overlaps with Noriko. Her mental strength, the way she barges into Mr. Yazo’s heart without hesitation—that’s a little enviable (laughs).”
Attracting older men is another point Noriko and Sakuya share. On the set of this film, where she was given a major role, her boldness and unconventional freedom seemed to captivate the 78-year-old director, Haruhiko Arai.
“Arai-san seemed to be having fun. After the bed scene, when I asked, ‘How was it? How was it?’ he jokingly said, ‘No, no, it was lewd (laughs).’ When we wrapped up filming, I gave him a letter titled ‘To the Erotic Old Man.’ He seemed pleased to be called that.”
“Personally, older men are fine with me—in fact, I like them. Simply put, there are many with whom I can have fun conversations. I don’t judge much by age. Most of the crew in the Arai team were from older generations, which was interesting in its own way. Sometimes staff would yell at each other, and I’d think, ‘Wow, this is a Showa-era set!’ But nothing ever got out of hand.”
Reflecting on her first major role, Sakuya said, “It was tough at times, but the joy outweighed the challenges.” Giving everything—body and soul—made this a deeply meaningful project for her.
“The sense of accomplishment from pouring everything in was so intense that I felt like an empty shell. I even cried a lot at the wrap-up because it was so sad to part from the character. So I tried not to think about it and just stayed holed up watching anime and fantasy movies. I binge-watched ‘HUNTER×HUNTER’ for anime, and for movies, I watched all the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and ‘Harry Potter’ films in chronological order to reset my mind. Fortunately, I had my next job soon after, but it took a while to fully recover. I want to do projects like this again and be invited back to work with the Arai team.”
The meteoric rise of this emerging actress has only just begun.
PHOTO： Hiroyuki Komatsu Stylist： Akira Maruyama Hair & Make-up： Mariko Adachi