August 4th

Star of Japanese TV Drama series, movies, and former gravure idol, Kyoko Hasegawa made a lot of news in the spring of 2008 after signing to appear in a spy-thriller movie called Rain Fall.

Her co-star was to be one of western filmdom’s leading villains – Gary Oldman. Also starring in the lead role of John Rain, an American-Japanese covert operations agent and spy-extraordinaire, was Japanese actor Kippei Shiina. This film’s plot is about a hit-man who after one of his assassinations, determines to protect the daughter of his victim.

Of course that is only the bare bones of the story which has been called a Bourne-esque thriller filmed and set in Tokyo. The film opened in Tokyo on April 25th, 2009, any may still be playing in a neighborhood cineplex in a Tokyo suburb, but I can’t really offer any more about this film as I haven’t seen it. I don’t believe it was released in the US, and there’s no available DVD at this time. [Edit: August 5th - just announced- A Blu-Ray and Standard DVD of Rain Fall will be released on October 7th, 2009.]

So then, instead of wasting our time discussing a film, that neither most of you nor I can watch at the moment, I’ll provide you with this link to the film’s Official Website (http://rain-fall.jp/), so you may have a more detailed look at the movie if you like.

Here, we’ll just move on and look at the movie’s female lead – the beautiful Kyoko Hasegawa. I’ve seen her in a number of Japanese TV dramas series, and we will use those to give you a better look at her.

The first J-TV series that I’ve seen with Kyoko Hasegawa is called See You in Kowloon. This series was broadcast in the spring of 2002. This is a tale of 5 people in their 30′s whose paths cross in Kowloon forming a love story, or should I say, some intersecting love triangles. Kowloon which is across the harbor from Hong Kong Island,  is the setting for the story. Hasegawa plays the 2nd female lead in the role of Jasmine.

It was an OK story but Kyoko as Jasmine looked good, albeit young, and looking even better were the multiple on-location settings all over Hong Kong and Kowloon.Having been to Hong Kong many times, and when I;m there I usually book a Kowloon hotel, so this was a familiar setting for me.

Our second Kyoko TV series is called Wonderful Life and was broadcast during April-June 2004. It stars Takashi Sorimachi as Kirishima, Japan’s most famous baseball player. Kirishima is a playboy, and an arrogant, self-centered jerk. He’s used up all his chances, and now finds himself washed-up as a ballplayer, unemployed, his wife and child have left him, besides that, he’s broke with collectors from the loan-sharks on his tail. Enter Hasegawa as Mizuki, a girl who is studying to become a lawyer. Her little brother plays for a young boys’ baseball team that is about to be disbanded. On a whim, she writes to Kirishima, offering him the job as coach.

It’s a heartwarming story about redemption and baseball, with romance mixed in making it a drama fit for the whole family. Kyoko plays her role of  Mizuki as a wholesome, principled, and determined woman, but she’s far too pretty to pass as the ‘plain-jane’ the producers intended.

Our next look at Hasegawa-san is in the series called M no Higeki or The Tragedy of M. Kyoko stars with the talented Japanese actor Goro Inagaki. The broadcast period was Jan-March 2005. This is a puzzling story that is about the human heart. Mix hate, jealousy, revenge, and anger along with love and you have the ingredients of this story.

In simpler terms, Mamoro’s (Inagaki) life begins to seriously unravel after a chance meeting with Misa (Hasegawa) on a Tokyo commuter train. He has no idea as to why any of this has happened to him, as watches his life spirally downward and getting steeper and steeper as every day passes.

Hasegawa plays the mysterious Misa whose character arc swings between being a glamorous, sophisticated and desirable woman to one who is both frightening and terrified. It’s a great dramatic thrill ride.

Ok what’s next?

Let’s move on to April to June 2006. Kyoko starred in a tasty number called Delicious Proposal. She plays Suzuko Shiraisi, the head chef of a small French restaurant. Her leading man is Keisuke Koide and he’s the son of the CEO of a huge conglomerate. He’s a honcho himself having his own division to run. But his father has advised him that his division is expanding its restaurant chain. The target? Suzuko’s french restaurant. They’re taking over this restaurant with the intent to close the exusting ‘brand’ and re-open it with their own brand-name. His job is to oversee the orderly transition of the restaurant and its staff.

Will the Chef and the Chief attract each other or be repelled. Will Eiko Koike, another former gravure idol, who plays the supporting role as the roommate of Suzuko  get enough screen time to show off her ample assets?

As I said, the title is Delicious Proposal, and this is really a tasty treat to watch.

Our last TV series with Kyoko is called Scandal. It began its run on October 19th of 2008. This is a drama that looks like it could be called a woman’s show but it has enough mystery as well as eye-candy to attract some male viewers. Here’s a quick plot outline:

Risako is getting married. She invites four women that she’s known separately but who don’t know each other to the wedding. After the wedding, Risako corrals these four women and challenges them to a game. They will all go to a bar and the game is that they all must go out and pick up a man, with the last one to return to the bar having to pick up the check for their drinks. At first the women are disgusted and haughtily refuse, but no one really wants to be a party-pooper so they begrudgingly agree to play.

Mind you, this is Risako’s wedding night. Well, the thing of it is, she, Risako disappears. What follows is the mystery of what happened to Risako, and beyond that, as the story unfolds, we learn more and more about these women, their lives, and the facts that the everyone involved – the wives, their husbands, and even the police detective, all have some secrets.

We are watching a group of lives that are slowly being bared and peeled away, layer by layer. At times it is riveting. Kyoko plays one of the wives, and she’s the one with small children, an overbearing husband, and financial woes on top of everything.

They’ve asked Kyoko to play this as a somewhat unglamorous house wife though you’d never know this from the glamor-packed intro. Beyond that they really didn’t try too hard to make her less noticeable.

Summary: Kyoko Hasegawa seems to be an all purpose actress. She’s done horror, dramas, rom-coms, and even mysteries and action-thrillers. She’s guaranteed to turn heads when she enters a room. Me, I love this woman, and I’m hoping to get my hands on the Rain Fall DVD as soon as it hits the shelves, anywhere.

You can buy many of Kyoko Hasegawa’s TV series from the The Japanese Drama Store which is based in California. Just use the search feature on their home page and search for Hasegawa Kyoko.