Junpei Watanabe attends premiere of short film Ame no Utsuwa

Actor Junpei Watanabe and lead actress Yuki Nakanishi attended a stage greeting for the short film “Ame no Utsuwa,” directed by Yasushi Furuichi, at Human Trust Cinema Shibuya in Tokyo. Although the film has previously screened at international venues such as the London International Film Festival, this event marked its first screening in Japan.

The film, set in the Ise-Shima region of Mie Prefecture, explores the psychological complexities of a man accused of domestic violence and a female weekly magazine reporter investigating the case. Watanabe, who portrays the man, discussed the difficulty of depicting characters who exist in a moral gray area. He noted that he and the director used the term “oni” (demon) to describe the darker, less beautiful aspects of human nature during character development.

Nakanishi expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to show a work filmed in her home region of Mie to a Japanese audience in Shibuya.