Full Text】MEGUMI Producers are the best! I am who I am today because of my gravure days.

I enjoy being a producer because I get to have a lot of “emo” experiences.

Don’t you think you look more beautiful in this pose?”

The way she immediately made a counter-proposal to the FRIDAY photographer who pointed his lens at her showed her pride in her work.

Producer MEGUMI (44) has been remarkably active.

In February, she signed an exclusive contract with Netflix to produce a reality show, and on June 5, her film “FUJIKO” opened in theaters.

Thanks to you, I’m extremely busy every day,” she said. I’m currently working on two or three projects for Netflix, including “Love, Superior, Season 2,” which is scheduled to be distributed by the end of ……. The only information I can give you is that it will be shot on location in Okinawa, but everything has been scaled up, so please look forward to it!

At the Cannes International Film Festival this May, I produced the event “JAPANESE NIGHT” to promote Japanese culture. I am working on a total of about 15 projects from events to films.

For the film “FUJIKO,” he was involved in all aspects of the production, from fundraising to casting, filming, and editing. The film is a drama set in Shizuoka Prefecture in the 1970s and 1980s, in which a single mother confronts a variety of unreasonable situations and searches for a way of life that is true to herself. The film won two awards at the Udine Film Festival in April, including the top prize.

About four years ago, I had dinner with director Taichi Kimura (38), who shot “FUJIKO,” at a pub in Nakameguro. It was an up-and-coming restaurant with music blaring, and I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to have our meeting somewhere quieter? I remember thinking, ‘If we are going to have a meeting, it would be better in a quieter place.
The hardest part of the project was to coordinate the opinions of all the geniuses – the performers, the scriptwriter, and the director – and make sure they all landed on the same page.

At the beginning of the film, there is a fight scene where Kayoko Kishimoto (65) and YOU (61) splash each other with a glass of water. This scene is essential to give the characters a “bitchy old hag” look, but the two are both well-known actors. I thought to myself, “Water is a bad idea,” not unlike the famous line from “Love is Superior” (laughs).

But I explained to them the purpose of the project and what we were aiming for, and they accepted. She even went without makeup. Thanks to her, we were able to shoot one of the best “hag water fights” ever seen in a Japanese movie.

One time, we brought in a whole café car to the site, and in one day we received an outrageous amount of money for it!　(laughs). (laughs). “That’s about the only big trouble I had,” he laughed.

After the film was cranked up, he said he cried because of the sense of accomplishment.

The number of people who sympathized with me increased, money and cast members came together, and my chat with the director at a tavern took shape. It’s very emotional, isn’t it? Yes, there is a lot of ″emotionality″ in the producer business!　That’s what makes it fun and what drives me. I had a lot of drinks with the director at the launch. We cried over drinks, saying, ‘We did our best, didn’t we?

The FRIDAY reporter quickly presented MEGUMI with two copies of Friday. The first was the August 9, 2002 issue, which marked her debut as a solo gravure photographer, and the second was the September 29, 2006 issue, which was the last time she appeared in a gravure magazine.

I was like, “Oh, my God!　I miss it so much!　I can feel the times. (Looking at the debut issue) I remember how happy I was. I was so happy that I went to a convenience store near my house on the day it was released and brought Friday in front of me from the back of the rack to show it to the customer (laughs).

At that time, there were many photo shoots with a large group of people. 10 or so of us would choose our favorite swimsuit from a large bag of swimsuits, but bikinis with cups in them would be more comfortable but not stretchy. The bikinis with cups in them are very flattering, but they are not stretchy, so the larger busted girls couldn’t wear them as they were, so we all had to work hard to stretch them out (laughs). (Laughs.) We faithfully recreated that in the drama.

New Year’s Eve in Hawaii with champagne in hand

It was Yoshiharu Noda, 80, president of Yellow Cab, the company to which she belonged during her gravure days, who initiated the big-breasted boom. When MEGUMI was summoned to a coffee shop for an interview, the first thing he did was to show her a copy of the “Shukan Hyoka” magazine’s “Tits 500” project, and ask her, “Which of these do you have the biggest breasts? She was asked about her bust size.

I was 18 years old.　It was common for a photographer to touch my boobs. In those days, the gravure world was full of things that would be considered illegal in today’s world. The only person I could rely on was Mr. Noda, but he was the most messed up of all. He used to say to me, “Don’t let the cameraman screw you. If you get screwed, it’s the end! (Laughs). (Laughs.) I didn’t know what he meant by “get screwed,” but I would say, “Yes!　I understand! and go to the shoot.

Even so, MEGUMI says that “gravure is my starting point. The gravure industry at that time was “a mess, but it was full of energy,” she laughs.

The week after my interview, I was in Saipan shooting a photo book. Can I announce which magazines were popular with gradolls at the time?　Young Jump” and “Weekly Playboy” were the two biggest. There was a girl who bought a CHANEL bag at Duty Free on her way home from an overseas location. Whenever we were on location overseas, we always had a day off, so we could play golf, go shopping, and do whatever we wanted. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a rumor in “Friday. …… (laughs)”

The early ’00s was the “golden age of gravure” when MEGUMI graced the covers of magazines. It is said that it was common for the entire office to come together for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve in Hawaii.

About 30 of us stayed at the Royal Hawaiian and Halekulani luxury hotels, ate dinner, watched fireworks on the beach, drank champagne, and counted down the days.

We were photographed on New Year’s Day in our swimsuits, published in magazines, and broadcast on TV, making it a big entertainment involving the …… media. I learned for the first time during an interview for the ABEMA drama that President Noda paid for everything from airfare to accommodations, including the media representatives. It is amazing, isn’t it? It was only over a decade ago, but it was so glamorous that it is hard to believe now.

As he said this, he closed the Friday in his hand and looked into the distance.

She said, “I survived those crazy times, when there were so many strong women like warriors. That confidence is the source of my strength. Gravure is my “second youth. It was crazy and it sucked, but it was the best. I am the person I am today because of those times.”

MEGUMI said, “All of those experiences are packed into the new ABEMA film!　We were able to cast some superstars, so everyone, please watch it for sure! She also did not forget to promote the film.

Producer is the “final form.

In her teens, she dominated the gravure world, and in her 30s, she started running a café. At the same time, she had a string of hits with her beauty books and established herself as a “beauty watchdog. He has also won numerous awards as an actor, and in his 40s, he jumped into the production industry with full of energy. As he continues to expand the stages of his life, what is important to him?

Making a film is hard work, because it requires a lot of brain and body work. I am 44 years old.　It is tiring and tedious. But I think it is important to take action. You will encounter new concepts, and you will be able to think about the depth of things. I think life becomes richer when you do that. That’s the way I want to age from now on.”

MEGUMI says that her career up to now “has not been smooth sailing. She experienced early setbacks in her original goal of becoming a singer, and after getting married in her 20s and having a baby, her entertainment work declined dramatically. Just as her acting career was picking up steam after she had finished raising her children, the COVID-19 crisis struck. His work dried up.

However, despite the difficulties, he did not stop moving forward. He says that it was his ability to take action that led him to become a producer.

People say that an actor’s job is to wait and see, but I always had my doubts about that kind of thinking. I experienced that even if I worked hard in the COVID-19 crisis, I would not get any work, and even if I tried, I would not be talked about, and I realized that if I continued in this way, I would really be screwed.

I knew that Takayuki Yamada (42) was self-producing his films, and it is standard in other countries for actors to direct films. I changed my mind and thought, “If that is the case, why don’t I be the one to plan the film? I have worked in gravure and as an actor, so I understand not only the production side but also the feelings of the performers. This is my strength. I can do what I can do because I have done so many different things. Being a producer is my “final form.

MEGUMI, who has scaled up every time she encounters a challenge, has a vision of what the future holds.

Kenji Yamada, 47, a respected producer of such films as “Monster,” told me, “Do something within a 5-meter radius. He told me that because familiar problems are common to everyone, they can be sympathized with by many people and become a source of salvation. I would like to continue to create works that will be close to someone. I will give it my all, so I look forward to a non-scandalous interview with Mr. Friday (laughs).

MEGUMI is shining brightly on the stage of producer, a vocation that she has arrived at through various experiences.

From “FRIDAY” June 5 and 12 issue