Cover of Yokohama Walker
Cover of Tokyo Walker
Cover of Tokai Walker
Cover of Kansai Walker
Cover of Fukuoka Walker
Walker’s face: Keiko Kitagawa
Here we talk with Miss Keiko Kitagawa about her upcoming premier of the movie “HERO” as well as a recent trip she took after filming to relax.
“I just want to swim, and don’t care who watches.” – Kitagawa
Miss Kitagawa, your work as an actress keeps you so busy, I wonder how you manage to find the time to take trips to relax and refresh…
“I don’t consider myself horribly busy because I love my work, but a few years ago I made it a point to make more time in my schedule to relax and spend more time with my family. So, that’s how we ended up arranging a trip to the resort town Karuizawa. My brother enjoys cycling, which we thought might be difficult in that area but he quickly got involved with rowing and enjoyed himself (laughs). We spent a lot of time playing tennis, and eating lots of delicious food. I hardly wanted to move I was so relaxed. After a dip in the hot springs, I had such a nice meal – I felt very refreshed.”
You’ve said in the past that before you moved to Tokyo, you also travelled extensively to Kyoto and Nara, and that those trips “helped make you feel more connected to your work”.
“When I was in Karuizawa, I remember looking up at the night sky and thinking to myself, ‘Wow, there are so many stars here that I’ve never seen during my time in Tokyo’. Time felt like it was moving slower, and your state of mind is more relaxed. Later on while filming on location for another project, I remember being overwhelmed, and I brought myself back to my vacation time and it really helped to relax me.”
The premiere of the movie “HERO” is on July 18th (Sat). You are portraying the role of Chika Asagi, what kinds of research did you do to perform this role?
“Well…I think my struggle was to become more of an emotional person to portray the role. There are a lot of ways that Chika and I are similar, but, I had to remind myself to step into her shoes and think about how she would react while I was reading through the script.”
While she was shooting on set in Kyoto, an idea popped into her mind.
“There was a certain TV show I loved to watch back when I was in middle school, and while we were on location I thought that I might go back to Kobe someday to visit with my local friends. And then someone said that we would be going to Kobe to shoot parts of ‘HERO’ and I was thrilled. I wanted to run off set right then and change locations.”
Now that you’re shooting the drama series “Detective vs. Detectives”, are you going to be able to take a trip this summer to relax?
“Well, I really love to swim. So much so that I go to the pool, even though I know that the paparazzi is waiting. I just want to swim, and I don’t care who is watching. Sometimes I can go hundreds of meters at a time and it’s at a leisurely pace, so I don’t even notice how far I’m going. And then afterwards I eat a lot of great food, and I feel great. So that’s how I plan to relax this summer.”
(Translated by Fandom Services. Paid for by this blog to the benefit of all English-speaking and English-learning Keiko fans).
Tags: Keiko, Keiko Kitagawa, Kitagawa, 北川景子
TAF: apn 