Japanese actor Yutaka Matsushige is answering reporters’ questions at a press conference for the movie ‘The Lonely Gourmet: The Movie’ held at the Centum Film Industry Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan on the 3rd. 2024.10.3 News 1 “Today I want to eat pork belly, samgyetang, or chive pancake. haha.”
Japanese actor Yutaka Matsushige (61) spoke while swallowing his saliva at a press conference for the movie ‘The Lonely Gourmet: The Movie’ held at the Film Industry Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan on the 3rd. He visited Korea to attend the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which began on the 2nd, and did not hide his ambition to eat a variety of Korean food. He said, “Yesterday I visited a tripe specialty store near Haeundae for the third time. “I haven’t thought of Japanese food for a moment since I came to Korea,” he said, quenching his appetite.
He is famous for his role as Goro Inogashira, the main character in the famous Japanese drama ‘Lonely Gourmet’ series, which has been airing since 2012. The gentle story of Goro, an ordinary middle-aged office worker, traveling around the country to explore gourmet food alone, was very popular not only in Japan but also in Korea. He is also a ‘pro-Korean’ actor who showed off delicious pork ribs and kimchi in a Korean episode filmed with singer Seong Si-kyung in 2018. He said, “I was curious whether people would like ‘Mukbang’ (eating broadcast) where a Japanese man just eats,” and “I heard that the culture of eating alone was taboo in Korea, but after it aired, Korean viewers ‘no longer fear eating alone.’ “I remember the reaction,” he said.
“It’s amazing that Lonely Gourmet was especially loved in Asia, including Korea, China, and Taiwan. “Asian people seem to have an affinity for the act of eating.”
Japanese actor Yutaka Matsushige walks the red carpet while eating dried natto at the opening ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival held at the Busan Film Center in Haeundae-gu, Busan on the 2nd. He said, “I wanted to provide fun to the Korean audience attending the opening ceremony.” Busan = News 1 The new work is the first theatrical version of the Lonely Gourmet series. He took the lead not only as an actor but also as a director. He said, “The situation in the Japanese drama industry is so bad that there is a serious outflow of actors and staff,” and “I thought that there should be a stimulus to the Japanese drama industry, so I thought of making a movie.” I first requested the work through a letter from director Bong Joon-ho, whom I had a connection with through the 2008 film ‘Tokyo!’ ‘But it’s difficult because of the schedule. The reply came, ‘I’m looking forward to it.’ He said, “I decided that I would rather film the film myself than have another Japanese director direct it.”
In the new work, Goro arrives in Korea via France and Japan. I enjoy not only familiar Korean foods like pollack hangover soup and grilled mackerel, but also unfamiliar Korean foods like chicken bossam. He said, “I toured various restaurants in Korean seaside towns with Japanese food experts and selected restaurants and food. I was surprised at the differences between Korean and Japanese food even though I only crossed the ocean.”
He has such a cheerful personality that he walked the red carpet at the BIFF opening ceremony held the previous day while eating dried natto, which appears in his new film. On this day, as soon as the meeting ended, he glanced at his watch and joked in Korean. “thank you. “Everyone is hungry, right?”
Reporter Hojae Lee hoho@donga.com
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