Spider wrote:

It's been way too long since "Going My Home". Does anyone know if Abe Hiroshi has a new drama coming soon?

It's not like he's been out of work. He did four movies this year, "Zakurozaka no Adachi", "Cape Nostalgia", "Thermae Romae II", and "Trick The Movie: Last Stage".

He might be looking to take a break.

Hiroshi Abe to star in TBS Fall drama "Shitamachi Rocket"

Abe Hiroshi will be starring in the new TBS drama "Shitamachi Rocket", which premieres in October. This marks the first time in 5 years for Abe to star in a TBS serial drama.

"Shitamachi Rocket" is a live-action drama adaptation of the best-selling novel written by Ikeido Jun ("Hanzawa Naoki", "Roosevelt Game"), which won "the 145th Naoki Prize."

It centers around the protagonist ,Tsukuda Kohei, a president of a small precision instrument factory, who devotes himself to rocket engine development. It's a story about a man who never gave up his dream and the pride of his employees.

Tsukuda Kohei (Abe) used to be a researcher at the Space Science Exploration Agency until he took the responsibility for the failure of a rocket launch. Now he is the president of "Tsukuda Seisakusho," a factory for precision machinery, which he inherited from his father, but he still cannot forget his dream to develop a rocket engine.

The management of the factory was going smoothly at first. However it gradually starts going downhill as Tsukuda focuses too much on his dream. Moreover, his company suddenly faces problems like the discontinuation of a transaction from its major business partner, a credit crunch, and a lawsuit by a rival company for a patent infringement.

In the meantime, Tsukuda receives an offer from Teikoku Heavy Industries, Japan's major enterprise, to purchase his factory's patent for 2 billion yen. Though the factory needs the money badly, the patent is also full of Tsukuda's dream. What will his decision be...?

It was also announced that Tsuchiya Tao would appear in the drama as "Tsukuda Rina", the daughter of the Tsukuda.

"Shitamachi Rocket" will premiere in October on TBS (every Sunday at 9:00 pm).

Source: Oricon

gaijinmark wrote:

Hiroshi Abe to star in TBS Fall drama "Shitamachi Rocket"

Again? Didn't we have the exact same thing just four years ago?

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shitamachi_Rocket
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junny wrote:

Again? Didn't we have the exact same thing just four years ago? http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shitamachi_Rocket

Maybe this is a new trend. The Kimtaku/Aya drama from this Spring "I'm Home" was a remake of an NHK drama from 2004: http://www.jdorama.com/drama.904.htm

junny wrote:

Again? Didn't we have the exact same thing just four years ago? http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shitamachi_Rocket

I watched episode 1 and as I was watching it I was thinking, "Damn, this reminds me of "Hanzawa Naoki". So I checked and sure enough, they're both written by the same guy, Hiroyuki Yatsu. Which means lots of screaming, yelling, pounding on desks, massive overacting. It looks like TBS just took the 5 episode WOWOW drama, gave it to Yatsu and said, "Make something like "Hanzawa Naoki" out of this and make it 10 episodes long. (Actually 11 because the first episode is 90 minutes long.)

I guess they like this in Japan. It got great ratings for episode 1. But I can only take so much of actors chewing on scenery.

I never saw the WOWOW version but I'm willing to bet it's better than the TBS version.

Hiroshi Abe win "Mifune Toshiro Award" at Kyoto International Film Festival

Abe Hiroshi was presented with the "Mifune Toshiro Award" at the closing ceremony of the Kyoto International Film Festival 2016 held at Kyoto Hotel Okura on 16 October.

During the ceremony, Abe was named as the third winner of this award after veteran actors Yakusho Koji and Nakadai Tatsuya. In his acceptance speech, Abe commented that he had watched many of Mifune's works in the past and had participated in two remakes of them so far where he had played a role which Mifune had acted in before. As such, he called upon younger actors to watch more of Mifune's works and learn various things through the process. When asked about the type of roles he had played to date, Abe began by joking that he played a lot of foreigner roles before in a reference to his non-typical Japanese looks. He then revealed his wish to be able to participate in foreign movies in future or bring Japanese films to overseas audiences. As for this award given to him, he felt that it was a good life experience and hopes to do even better in movies from now on.

Sources: Modelpress / Oricon

Hiroshi Abe to appear in Japanese-Chinese joint production "KU-KAI"

Abe Hiroshi will be appearing in the Japan-China joint production movie "KU-KAI" which features Sometani Shota and Chinese actor Huang Xuan as the leads. He will be playing the role of Abe no Nakamaro who was a Japanese scholar, administrator, and waka poet in the Nara period and sent to China's Tang Dynasty as an envoy. While there, Nakamaro passed the civil-service examination and took up an administrative position before being promoted. When he tried to return to Japan later, the ship to take him back sank not long into the journey, forcing him to remain in China for several more years. His second attempt to go home failed again because the ship he was traveling in was wrecked and ran aground off the coast of Vietnam, but he managed to return to China. Following the An Lushan Rebellion, it became unsafe for him to return to Japan so Nakamaro spent the rest of his life in China until he died. In total, he spent about 50 years of his life in China.

Abe commented that he is honoured to be playing such an outstanding man who was even trusted by Emperor Xuanzong. As such, he will be acting as Nakamaro with the utmost respect and sincerity towards the latter. Abe also remarked that this is the first time that he has participated in a movie with such a big production scale when there were days when they spent the whole day on just one scene. As such, he expressed respect and gratitude for being able to work with the director Chen Kaige.

Besides Abe and Sometani, Matsuzaka Keiko is also acting in this movie which will be shown in 2018.

Source: Eiga.com

Hiroshi Abe to star in new movie "Inori no maku ga orirutoki"

Abe Hiroshi will be starring in the real-life adaptation movie "Inori no maku ga orirutoki" (When the curtain of prayers comes down) which is based on the same-titled novel in the "Kaga Kyoichiro series" by Higashino Keigo. The novel is the 10th title in the series which was published in 2013 and had won the 48th Yoshikawa Eiji Literature Award. Abe had first played police detective Kaga in the Spring 2010 drama "Shinzanmono" which was followed by two SPs "Akai Yubi" and "Nemuri no Mori" as well as the 2012 movie "Kirin no Tsubasa Gekijouban Shinzanmono" that achieved box office takings of JPY 1.68bn. Besides Abe, regular cast members from the series include Mizobata Junpei, Tanaka Rena and Yamazaki Tsutomu will be making their return alongside Matsushima Nanako who will be participating in the series for the first time and play Asai Hiromi, an actress and director in this new movie. Other co-stars include Kohinata Fumio and Ito Ran. Filming began from 9 June and is expected to be wrapped up by 25 July. The movie will be shown in cinemas next year.

The story will reveal the biggest unresolved mystery in the series i.e. the truth behind the disappearance of Kaga's mother and why Kaga became a Shinzanmono in the local precincts despite his stellar credentials while Kaga tries to resolve the murder case of Asai's ex-classmate Oshitani Michiko who lived in Shiga Prefecture but was found dead in an apartment in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo. The apartment's resident Koshigawa Mutsuo has gone missing thus making it difficult for Kaga and Matsumiya (Mizobata) to make much progress in their investigations. Later, they find that Michiko had come to Tokyo to visit Asai who is directing a play performed at Meijiza in Nihonbashi but there is nothing linking her to the missing Mutsuo as well. When a burnt body is found nearby, an item left behind by the deceased had the names of the 12 bridges in Nihonbashi. Kaga is shaken by the revelation which suggests a link to his mother who had died alone...

Abe who is playing Kaga for the first time in three years, said that he is reminded of when he first did this series because the filming is being done in Ningyocho as before. Although the series had talked about his conflict with his father before, this is the first time that Kaga's relationship with his mother is depicted in the story which will tie in with the investigations of the main case. As for working with Matsushima for the first time, Abe expressed anticipation at seeing how she will play the role of Asai in this movie. On the other hand, Matsushima commented that she is honoured to be given a chance to participate in this popular series and described her character as someone who has to bear the weight of her sad past. She hopes to be able to make a good movie along with her co-stars and staff.

Sources: Nikkansports / Eiga.com

gaijinmark wrote:

Hiroshi Abe to star in TBS Fall drama "Shitamachi Rocket"

And so, TBS, being completely devoid of new ideas or creativity has decided to do a sequel starting in October:http://asianwiki.com/Downtown_Rocket_2

Probably more of the same. Lots of yelling, screaming, pounding on tables, massive overacting by all involved.

First the special, then the drama, now the movie.

Hiroshi Abe to star in movie version of "Tonbi"

Hiroshi Abe will star in the movie “Tonbi.” The film is based on 2008 novel “Tonbi” by Kiyoshi Shigematsu and will be directed by Takahisa Zeze. The novel was first adapted into the 2012 NHK drama special “Tonbi” starring Shinichi Tsutsumi and Sosuke Ikematsu and then the 2013 TBS drama series “Tonbi” starring Masaaki Uchino and Takeru Satoh.

Takumi Kitamura will play Abe's son Akira.

The movie will be released in 2022 in Japan.

Hiroshi Abe to star in TBS 2022 Winter drama

Hiroshi Abe will star in the TBS 2022 Winter drama "DCU".

Abe plays Masayoshi Niina. He is the leader of a unit called "DCU". "DCU" stands for Deep Crime Unit, newly formed by the Japanese Coast Guard. Their job is to find evidence hidden underwater to help solve crimes.

The drama begins in January, 2022.

Hiroshi Abe wins Star Asia Award

Hiroshi Abe was at the New York Asian Film Festival that shows Asian films and he received the Star Asia award.

He is the first Japanese actor to receive this award.

The organizer said that he chose Abe because he "has fascinated the audience with his overwhelming acting ability during his 30-year career."

Abe, who participated in the award ceremony, said in English, "I am very happy to receive the wonderful award. I thank all the people who helped me get here."

At the film festival, a new Japanese movie starring Abe, "Transfer Resignation is a Music Corps!" was also premiered, Abe he plays the role of a detective who was a criminal investigator assigned to the police music corps.

^ Another award for Abe.

Hiroshi Abe receives Excellence in Asian Cinema Award

Hiroshi Abe has received the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award at the 16th Asia Film Awards. He is just the third Japanese actor to receive the award after Miki Nakatani and Koji Yakusho.

Short interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVTCa77DP-M

gaijinmark wrote:

^ Another award for Abe. Hiroshi Abe receives Excellence in Asian Cinema Award Hiroshi Abe has received the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award at the 16th Asia Film Awards. He is just the third Japanese actor to receive the award after Miki Nakatani and Koji Yakusho. Short interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVTCa77DP-M

He is so great.
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