Tomokazu Miura to star in “Railways 2”

Last May, the film Railways was released in Japan and got unprecedented support from men in their 40s and 50s, unexpectedly attracting over 500,000 people to theaters. Today it was announced that Tomokazu Miura will star in Railways 2.

In the original work, Kiichi Nakai starred as a 49-year-old electronics company executive in Shimane Prefecture who suddenly quits his job to follow through on his childhood dream of becoming a train driver. Coincidentally, Miura’s son Takahiro Miura made his debut in that film.

In the sequel, Miura will play Toru Takishima, a man who has spent 42 years working as a train driver for Toyama Chiho Railway and is now 1 month away from the age of retirement. However, he and his wife of many years, Sawako (Kimiko Yo), reach a crossroads after a re-examination of a previously benign tumor changes her outlook on life. Miura and Yo previously played a married couple in Shinji Somai’s 1998 film Wait and See.

Other cast members include Eiko Koike as the couple’s daughter Mai, Akiyoshi Nakao as a rookie train driver, Kazuko Yoshiyuki as a cancer patient Sawako meets, and Akiko Nishina as a classmate from Toru’s high school days. Toyama natives Masahiko Nishimura and Shinosuke Tatekawa will also appear in the film to add some local color.

Masatoshi Kurakata, assistant director to Yoshinari Nishikori on the first film, has returned to direct the sequel. Screenwriters Hirotoshi Kobayashi and Brazily Ann Yamada, as well as executive producer Shuji Abe, have also returned.

“Railways 2” (tentative title) will be released by Shochiku in Japan sometime next year.

Sources: Tokyograph, Cinema Today

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