Okada Masaki Monogatari

Kuroki Haru (Ophelia) and Okada Masaki (Hamlet) promoting the WOWOW broadcast for 31 August 2019 日本語の本文もあります。最後まで、スクロるしてください。Wisteriaさん、ありがとうございました！ Pardon my absence for the last few months; my real life prevented me from doing anything Masaki-related (translation とか, making a new MV とか…). But in late September, Wisteria-san sent me her transcription of an interview that Okada Masaki and Kuroki Haru made for the Hamlet WOWOW broadcast, and I really like that interview. Hence, here’s my translation of that interview transcript. Wisteria-san was actually more than capable of translating their interview into English herself, but I specifically asked her to send me her transcription in Kanji and kana, so that I can practice my Japanese. Hence, any mistakes in this translation is entirely mine, except for some parts where I’ve asked Wisteria-san for help, for those parts proved to be too difficult for me to understand. While I understand that most overseas fans have not seen Haml...

I have translated the interview of WOWOW for "Hamlet", uploaded on 29 August 2019. Thanks to Wisteria-san for the translation consultation…誠に感謝しています… Okada Masaki as Hamlet (photo by WOWOW) Okada Masaki: ‘Hamlet’ is a work that will remain in my memory 2019/08/29 11:00  WOWOW On 31 August 2019 (from 9 pm), WOWOW will broadcast “Hamlet”, a stage play where Okada Masaki garnered attention for challenging the difficult role of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s masterpiece.  So far, Okada had taken his first plunge on stage plays with Ninagawa Yukio’s “Total Eclipse” production and acquired more experience with the likes of “Go Go Boys, Go Go Heaven” and “Ningen Gowasan”. Captured in the same fantasy, I watched the enthusiastic performance of the protagonist Hamlet’s revenge and madness. This time, I interviewed Okada while the performance was still on-going. Q: As your first Shakespeare work, how did you feel when you received the offer to do the role of Hamlet? I w...

Kuroki Haru (Ophelia) and Okada Masaki (Hamlet) reminding viewers that it was only one day before the recorded Hamlet aired at WOWOW  This is my observation while re-watching Simon Godwin’s Hamlet recorded on 22 May 2019 in Bunkamura Shibuya Toky o. WOWOW aired the recording on Saturday, 31 August 2019. Special thanks to my dear friends for providing me with the recording.  It was like finding love again. As soon as I heard the opening music, I remembered once again why I fell in love with this production. It was hiraeth all over again… WOWOW videographer team and editing team definitely did a great job piecing the scenes on this show (they did a good job as well with Ningen Gowasan, by the way). It evoked that hiraeth feeling, the desire to go back to that moment in time, but of course it cannot be… Yet, the recording still gives me the magic and brings me back my love to Hamlet, in addition to giving me more details that I have missed because I was too far away fr...

Hamlet (Okada Masaki) & Ophelia (Kuroki Haru), photo by Hosono Shinji Act Guide 2019 Summer Theatre Reviews: Hamlet Review by Ichikawa Aki Translated by Icha In the olden days, I used to think that I knew nothing of the agony of youth euphoria. However, as years go by, I found myself entangled in the bottomless magnetic force of this drama. “Hamlet” as described by the British director Simon Godwin was fast yet clear at the same time. The details were trimmed and compacted into a three hours’ performance, but it was not merely a digested version that just chased after the plots. Fully decorated words were repeatedly conveyed with such a heated passion, perhaps because the cast truly lived their roles to the fullest. With clear dialogues, Okada Masaki’s Hamlet was a philosophical young man with a bitter sense of humour. Although he occasionally had the bright antics, he was actually looking down into an abyss of nothingness. The bandages on his wrists, the belt ...

Okada Masaki as Hamlet (photo by Hosono Shinji ) Below is my translation of Nobue Hiroshi’s review of ‘Hamlet’ in Asahi Weekly. 日本語の原作は こちらです。 The true face of Okada Masaki, whose determination is admired by our Radio Man 23 June 2019 By Nobue Hiroshi, translated by Icha, from Asahi.com With a selection of music, TOKYO FM’s Radio Man Nobue Hiroshi talks about society in his “Radio Pa Pa” series. This time, it’s about “a night in Tsuruhashi Osaka where Okada Masaki collapsed on the spot during a discussion”.  A theatre visualises words and dialogs. A theatre spins out stories that have cross-overs with realities. Tossed into the stage under the gaze of hundreds and thousands of piercing eyes like Damocles’ sword, the actor plays a life where even the strangest thing can happen. A stage without a performer is but a space with nothing. That’s why a one-off purity, a determination if you will, drifts in theatres. It resembles the situation in an independent, silent s...

  Screen-shot from Bunkamura's Hamlet promotional video Before I watched Hamlet, I have wanted to made an MV of Hamlet. Since the beautiful stage and cast of Hamlet are still in my mind, I thought it was a good time to make one MV then. Here I use one of the most iconic opera songs, "O Mio Babbino Caro" by Giacomo Puccini, sung beautifully by the late Maria Callas. I thought the song choice is very apt because it talks about a girl (Lauretta) who was forbidden by her father to see her beloved. It captures Ophelia's sorrow for not being able to be with Hamlet (because Polonius and Laertes did not like the idea). The MV also - I hope - captures Hamlet's regret upon Ophelia's death, as well as his regret for the death of Polonius. Hamlet wasn't a perfect prince, but in the end, I think he grew up. To me, Okada Masaki's Hamlet perfectly captured that journey. The song lyrics is below.

Hamlet (and Ophelia et cetera) kept lurking in my mind as my airplane left Osaka. In particular, Hamlet’s line, alas unspoken to him, concerning his love for Ophelia. Hence, I wrote this piece, imagining that Hamlet would seek for Ophelia before he departed for England. Hence, this piece is taken after Act 4 Scene 3 (where Hamlet admitted where he stored Polonius’ body) and before Act 4 Scene 4 (where Hamlet saw Fortinbras just before the former departed for England). At this stage, Ophelia had not found out that her father had been gruesomely murdered. I have Okada Masaki’s Hamlet and Kuroki Haru’s Ophelia completely in my mind as I wrote this. I hope you can imagine them enacting this part, albeit it is written in English… Never Doubt I Love... Prince Hamlet of Denmark stealthily crept amongst the balustrades of Polonius’ residence. He knew the alleys, the corridors, the nooks and the corners of that section rather well, or shall we say very well, for he had frequented thi...

Hamlet's (Okada Masaki) "Frailty, thy name is woman" soliloquy, photo by Hosono Shinji Doubt thou the stars are fire,  Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love Those lines were that of Hamlet’s (Act 2, Scene 2), but they were not uttered by the famous prince. Instead, the comedic Polonius (Yamazaki Hajime) read it, almost comically, to a group of female audience, who I am certain would have fainted on the spot had Okada Masaki’s Hamlet read those lines for them.  I would.

Below are my impressions after watching Hamlet, produced by Simon Godwin for Theatre Cocoon Bunkamura with the main star Okada Masaki.  Readers who would like to see the August WOWOW recording without spoilers SHOULD NOT read this post. Hamlet doesn’t contain spoilers per se, but every production is different, every show has its nuances. At the same time, there are overseas fans who want to read this review, and for them, I upload this review, with big spoiler tags that apply to details and nuances. Click this link for my impressions of the Osaka Hamlet show.  (Update 18 Sept'19: Click here to read my impressions after re-watching 'Hamlet' at WOWOW) Ready? SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Hamlet (Okada Masaki) vs Laertes (Aoyagi Shō), photo by Hosono Shinji  In which I quoted Simon Godwin’s reason for choosing Hamlet for his first work in Japan. In which I presented some Hamlet quotes in Japanese. And in which I posted some Tweets about Okada Masaki’s and Simon Godwin’s Hamlet (because apparently there are two other Japanese Hamlets floating around the Tweeter-sphere these days). In other words: “assorted Hamlet”, Hamlet Moriawase. よろしくね！ First thing first: The ONLY interview so far that mentioned the importance of Masaki in Simon Godwin’s decision for choosing Hamlet:

Update 24 May : have added Simon Godwin's endorsement for Okada Masaki's Hamlet and also a snippet of the Hamlet show in Bunkamura Simon Godwin (photo by Moriyama Yūko) Simon Godwin was interviewed by Otocoto last April for his stage play “Hamlet”. Thus, I’ve translated the Japanese interview below for us to understand Godwin’s vision on the 2019 Hamlet starring Okada Masaki, Kuroki Hana et al. It’s worth noting another interview of Simon’s from Japan Times (30 April 2019), this time in English, with the director mentioning how Okada Masaki was the reason that he (Godwin) chose Hamlet as his first stage play in Japan. The Japan Times article can be read here . Simon Godwin has come to Japan to direct Okada Masaki’s “Hamlet”

Okada Masaki, Feb 2019. Photo: Johnny Terasaka, Spice Okada Masaki: on the memories of the late Ninagawa Yukio and challenging Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” 14 Feb 2019 Interview by Fujimoto Mayu (translated by Icha)

Update 24 May : have added Simon Godwin's endorsement for Okada Masaki's Hamlet and also a snippet of the Hamlet show in Bunkamura Well, isn't it about time! I missed this announcement today because of work, BUT now that I finally watched the Bunkamura Hamlet 2019  teaser, I have to put it here! It's a short teaser and thus a very short post for now. But I will populate this post with more teasers as we march closer to May. Well, okay, it's still 5 months or so away, but tomorrow is February already, so you know... time flies! Meanwhile, enjoy Okada Masaki as the charming but troublesome Hamlet ! Update 24 May 2019 The following is Simon Godwin's encouraging comment on Okada Masaki's Hamlet: サイモンさんニンゲン御破産観に来てたのね🎶 pic.twitter.com/u5Mwlz7lNQ — さくら (@sakurasakuhime) May 23, 2019 And this is a snippet of the Hamlet show, a promotion for Osaka's show. I wish the announcer didn't talk over Masaki's dialogs, but hey, better than...

The late Ninagawa Yukio's " Cymbeline ", photograph by Watanabe Takahiro A rather belated Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope your Christmas has been peaceful and full of love… This time, I just want to share a short epiphany about one of Okada Masaki’s mentors. When I first learned that Okada Masaki was going to star as the titular character in the Bunkamura “Hamlet” 2019 production, I was very excited. When I realised that Simon Godwin was going to direct the production, I was even more excited . I thought, how amazing it was to have Masaki being tutored by a British Shakespearean director?! I wasn’t trying to have the white supremacy here at all; it was just an excitement to have a British Shakespearean director directing the 2019 Hamlet production. At that time, I didn’t know that Shakespeare stories had often been performed in Japan, and that there was a number of Japanese directors who had actually directed such performances.

Yep, I used the REAL promotional poster as the background! ( source ) Year 2019 is going to be a very busy year for Okada Masaki, at least theatre-wise. Earlier in July this year, we learned that he is going to portray Terrence Lavery in the thriller/horror theatrical production of ‘Bracken Moor’. The production will be performed in Bunkamura Tokyo from 14 August 2019, thus Masaki will celebrate his 30th birthday on stage (his birthday is on 15 August). Then last week, we learned that Masaki is adding another theatre production to his 2019 agenda. This time, the play is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, ‘Hamlet’. More significantly, the director is Brits  Simon Godwin , the Artistic Director of the US-based Shakespeare Theatre Company. I am not sure how many Shakespearean dramas performed by all-Japanese cast were directed by a Shakespearean director, but Simon Godwin is certainly seen as a prominent figure in the Shakespeare world. His recent work on Anthony and Cleop...