Tokyo's bubble economy: From literary giants to great entertainers

It was midday, and the sun was shining brightly.

Shuichi Kambara pushed open the door of the cafe and led Kento Kaku straight toward the wooden staircase leading to the second floor.

Today is the first day of school with few classes. The café is filled with students from Horikoshi High School, as well as some talent scouts wearing sunglasses and looking around.

Sure enough, as soon as he arrived on the second floor, he saw several talent scouts, like butterflies, surrounding Rie Miyazawa's table and introducing themselves, making Grandma Miyazawa feel a little flustered.

"It seems the magazine was right. Rie Miyazawa's career path in this world is not as smooth as it was in her previous life."

Shuichi Kambara walked quickly away, his mind churning with thoughts.

In her previous life, Rie Miyazawa debuted as a model at the age of 11, became a sensation at 14 by filming Mitsui Fudosan's "GG", and at 15, she happened to be casting for the phenomenal youth film "Crazy Skipping Class: Seven Days of Great Battle".

Rie Miyazawa won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Newcomer for this film, and her career skyrocketed afterward. At the age of 16, she caught the eye of top Japanese musician Tetsuya Komuro and released her debut single, "DREAM RUSH." The following year, she performed on the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle).

He had incredible career luck, but unfortunately, he was involved with a mother who was a former bar hostess, cold-blooded, vicious, extremely controlling, and addicted to gambling and heavily in debt.

Of course, those were all in my past life.

In this life, Rie Miyazawa, with her outstanding looks, temperament, and acting skills, still debuted as a model. However, she didn't encounter an excellent work like "Crazy Skipping Class: Seven Days of Great War" as a springboard. She only filmed a few lukewarm works. Therefore, although she is somewhat famous now, she is far from reaching the heights of her previous life.

Even the talent scouts didn't recognize her.

However, this is also where the interesting thing about Japanese society is that, for example, color films and erotic magazines can be legally sold, but they must adhere to the principle of "getting started".

Even if a Japanese talent scout is very interested in a girl, they cannot harass her excessively if she doesn't agree to be with them.

When Shuichi Kanbara arrived at this table, several disappointed talent scouts had just left.

"Mother-in-law, have you been waiting long?"

When Shuichi Kanbara arrived at the table, Granny Miyazawa hurriedly stood up and said, "No, no, we just arrived a little while ago. Oh, by the way, Shuichi-kun, this money..."

Clearly, as if sensing that Kanbaru Shuichi's current status was extraordinary, Granny Miyazawa became much more reserved. She took out the two 10,000 yen bills that Kanbaru Shuichi had given her that morning from her pocket and tried to return them with trembling hands.

Shuichi Kambara stood up, took her aged hand in his, patted it with a smile, and comforted her as she sat down.

"Mother-in-law, there's no need to refuse. I've heard some things about your family from President Matsuzaka. Although I, Shuichi, am not exactly a saint, I am capable of repaying kindness. From now on, please rest assured, I will take care of everything for you."

"Shuichi-kun..."

Grandma Miyazawa's eyes reddened, and she covered her mouth and cried.

As the saying goes, you only see the coldness of human relationships after you've fallen on hard times. Before, she ran a small convenience store in Tokyo, and her daughter ran a factory in her hometown. Relatives and friends who came to visit her were all very warm and welcoming.

But when her daughter's factory ran into trouble, she had to sell the convenience store to pay off debts, leaving her penniless. All her relatives and friends disappeared, and if it weren't for her daughter Rie Miyazawa, who had raised her single-handedly, taking her in despite the pressure, she might have ended up on the streets.

Hearing Shuichi Kambara say these words, she could no longer suppress the grievances and bitterness in her heart. That's how people are; sometimes they can grit their teeth and persevere when facing pain alone, but as soon as someone shows them concern, they easily break down.

Shuichi Kambara sighed softly, quickly pulled out a tissue, and helped her sit down. Rie Miyazawa also patted her mother-in-law's back to help her catch her breath.

After a long while, when Granny Miyazawa's breathing calmed down, she used a handkerchief to cover the corner of her eyes.

Shuichi Kambara then sat down opposite the two. "Grandma, this is my classmate, Kento Kaku. Kento, this is Grandma Miyazawa, who has always taken good care of me, and her granddaughter, Rie Miyazawa."

"Greetings, you two. I am Kaku Kento. Please take care of me."

Kento Kaku was unusually quiet and bowed formally in greeting.

A hint of a smile flashed across Kanbara Hideaki's eyes. Don't let Kaku Kento's usual boisterous husky demeanor fool you. People like him are often more genuinely kind and gentle than those who appear refined on the surface.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was paying attention to others, Rie Miyazawa across from him was also secretly watching him with her clear, large eyes.

Having entered the entertainment industry at the age of eleven, she has seen many sycophants, people who act one way in public and another in private, and people who engage in fake charity work to create a persona.

But she had never met someone like Shuichi Kambara, who would repay a single meal's kindness with boundless gratitude.

Surprised, and with a touch of curiosity, she blinked. But before she could ponder the source of this curiosity, a script consisting of three or four pages was pushed in front of her.

"Take a look at this script; we'll need it for the audition later."

Shuichi Kambara said it very directly.

Although the two hadn't spoken much yet, Grandma Miyazawa and Keiko Matsuzaka had already told Rie Miyazawa about the audition. Besides, he only had about half an hour until his appointment with Keiko Matsuzaka, so he was in a rush and didn't have time for pleasantries.

After saying that, he leaned out and called over the waiter, "Grandma, Miss Miyazawa, have you both eaten? Okay, hello, I'd like two large bowls of tonkotsu ramen and two cappuccinos, please."

After explaining all this, Shuichi Kanbara wasted no time. He took out the booklet from his suit pocket and beckoned her closer.

"The show I'm going to film is a campus comedy with a comic book style. The key is that I need to be extremely exaggerated, similar to the facial expressions in manzai comedy, but without making the audience feel awkward."

"Yan Yi, Mancai?"

Rie Miyazawa leaned forward slightly.

Hearing this, Xiu frowned slightly, her eyes filled with thought as she looked at the script in her hand.

Manzai is essentially Japanese stand-up comedy, but it differs from Chinese crosstalk. Japanese manzai requires not only a strong sense of verbal humor but also exaggerated facial expressions and gestures.

It is a combination of "speaking" and "performing".

This style is inherited from the white-faced makeup of Kabuki during the Edo period, and Kabuki itself is inherited from Noh and Kyogen in the 14th century.

Noh plays require the performers to wear masks and are primarily ritual dances, mostly used on formal occasions, similar to the Nuo opera of ancient China.

Kyogen, on the other hand, specializes in comedies about ordinary people, relying solely on exaggerated facial expressions and grotesque physical comedy to create laughs. This is also the root of the tradition of facial expressions in Japanese television dramas.

Yes, the origins of Noh and Kyogen both stem from the various forms of entertainment that were introduced to Japan from China during the Tang and Song dynasties.

However, traditional Chinese folk arts and entertainment do not require exaggerated facial expressions. This is a natural evolution of the culture after it was introduced to Japan, and it has been passed down and eventually integrated into modern film and television works, making exaggerated facial expressions a very representative symbol in the Japanese film and television industry.

Therefore, even if many Japanese actors are not known for their exaggerated facial expressions, they generally undergo related training and learning.

After all, this can effectively broaden one's acting range in Japan. In fact, facial expressions themselves are one of the traditional basic skills in the Japanese performance system. The term "facial expressions" is also a professional industry term, not just a colloquial joke.

Rie Miyazawa also studied related professional knowledge, but... after all, she follows the idol route of a teen idol, so she doesn't have a deep understanding of this area.

"Can I do it?"

Rie Miyazawa felt a little insecure and subconsciously looked to her side.

But when she realized that it was Granny Miyazawa sitting next to her instead of her mother, her expression clearly froze for a moment, and an inexplicable fear quietly crept into her heart, rising slowly like a thin mist.

And at this time—

"Da da".

A crisp tapping sound came from the tabletop.

She instinctively looked up and saw that Shuichi Kanbara's usually gentle eyes were staring intently at her.

"I've seen your previous movies. You can do it. Believe in yourself."