"In those years, I played a lot of Japanese devils, over the years, I became a family in China, became a Chinese son-in-law, I love my home and family, please don't call me a devil." 」
This is the wording of Koji Yano's interview with the media in the past years, as a Japanese actor, his acting career in China is doomed to be difficult to smooth.
However, today, he not only has a small achievement in his acting career, but also completely "rooted" in China, which is really impressive.
And Yano's journey of "sinicization" did not have anyone deliberately influence him, but was affected by a trace through the ordinary bits and pieces of life.
01 Xiao Hao'er's history of internal entertainment
Hiroji Yano, whose original name was Hiroshi Yano, was born in the countryside of Osaka, Japan, and his family had three older sisters and a family of six crammed into a wooden house of more than ten square meters, living a very difficult life.
Because of his poor family, Hiroshi Yano entered society early after graduating from high school at the age of 19.
He worked as a postman, a milkman, and at the age of 20 he worked as a bartender in a tavern in Osaka.
Because of his outstanding appearance, many bar guests "suggested" that he go to Tokyo to become an actor.
Hiroshi Yano was still young, and a joke from his guest aroused his determination to "go to see the world is so big", so he went to Tokyo alone.
But one has no academic qualifications, two have no connections, and the work in the show business is far less easy to find than imagined.
In the end, Hiroshi Yano expressed his sincerity by kneeling down, and only then did he find a position as a personal assistant in the team of actor Kenji Morita.
But in the development of Tokyo for many years, he has never been able to break through himself, even if there is a notice to find the door is only a small role, can only secretly anxious, praying that the heavens can give him an opportunity.
In 2000, there was really an opportunity to "smash" on the head of Hiroshi Yano, when the Sino-Japanese idol drama "Eternal Lover" needed Japanese actors to participate.
The agent won this opportunity for him, and with a nervous mood, he boarded a plane from Tokyo to Beijing.
This young Japanese young man came to China for the first time, in an unfamiliar environment, with a language barrier and no relatives or friends, and the whole person was at a loss.
Fortunately, the atmosphere of the crew is very relaxed, and everyone welcomes and tolerates this "outsider".
He didn't say Chinese at all, he was always sitting alone when he was on the scene, and when the staff saw this, they would come over and chat with him.
Although he couldn't understand anything, he could also feel the friendliness of the staff, so that he would not be so lonely and lonely.
When it was time for lunch, the staff would invite him to dinner together and introduce him to the names of the dishes written on the box lunch.
Even after many years, Hiroshi Yano still remembers that the first box lunch he ate was called "Kung Raking Chicken Cubes"...
When filming in Japan, the relationship between the actors is not so close, it is difficult to become good friends, and the pressure is relatively high.
But in China, I felt the warmth and kindness that I had not seen for a long time, and there was the most scarce "human touch" in Japan, and Hiroshi Yano couldn't help but have the idea of staying in China to work.
Three months later, Hiroshi Yano finished filming in China and boarded a plane back to Tokyo.
Along the way, his mind was full of scenes filming in the crew, magical and interesting shooting methods, friendly and relaxed working atmosphere, and kind Chinese friends...
The young man who was about to stand in his thirties ignited a career enterprising spirit that he had never had before, and he made a new life plan: stay in China!
In 2001, Hiroshi Yano officially came to the Chinese showbiz circle with 60,000 pieces of his savings.
In the beginning, his life was not good, Hiroshi Yano was unemployed for more than half a year, and in order to enrich his life and understand China, he often made some jokes.
Once, Koji wanted to go to Wangfujing to see the movie "Heroes of Heaven and Earth", but he didn't know the process of buying movie tickets in China, so he could only see how everyone bought them.
At first, two female students took out their student cards, and the conductor gave them tickets, and then another man bought tickets with an officer's card.
In fact, at that time, this was a kind of welfare treatment, and like today's major scenic spots, students, the elderly, and military officers enjoyed a half-price ticket purchase policy.
Hiroshi Yano finally understood after watching it for half a day, striding over to the meteor and pulling out his passport: "One for the Japanese." ”
As a result, the ticket sales aunt vernacular for a long time before buying the ticket.
Once, when he received a role, Hiroshi Yano wanted to chat with a girl and practice Chinese.
In order not to misunderstand the girl's father, he wrote a note: "I want to talk to your mother for a while, can I?" ”
In Japan, mother means daughter.
After reading the note, the father told Hiroshi Yano with a strange look, "My mother is no longer there." ”
At that time, Hiroshi Yano felt very strange, wasn't this cute little daughter his mother?
In those years, Hiroshi Yano also went to Beijing Language and Culture University to study Chinese.
Here, he can be regarded as getting to know a lot of Chinese friends, friends said that his name sounds like a "rat", not very good,
Hiroshi Yano changed his name to Koji at the suggestion of his friend.
Because he has no income, Koji can only live a budget-conscious life, and he does not even dare to order sushi and lamb kebabs that he loves.
Chinese friends often pull him to relieve his hunger, and when it comes to checkout, everyone will rush to pay for him.
At first, Koji was a little embarrassed, and did not have the habit of inviting people to eat in Japan, but his friends comforted him that "guests follow the master", which is a Chinese hospitality that has been passed down for thousands of years.
Hao'er could only accept the kindness of his friends, and silently remembered them in his heart, and when there was money to be made in the drama, he immediately returned to invite his Chinese friends to the restaurant.
Eight months after coming to China, Koji Yano has learned what is called "etiquette exchange", he likes the way of communication Chinese, simple and sincere!
02 Follow the customs
As a Japanese actor, Koji's acting career in China is not smooth, the Sino-Japanese "feud" has a long history, the history is bloodstained, and it is difficult to change it personally.
But when he encounters various contradictions and ups and downs, he always tells himself to go with the flow and look at his actor identity with a fair attitude.
In 2002, Junichiro Jr. visited the Yasukuni Shrine several times, causing Sino-Japanese relations to fall to a freezing point.
It was then that Koji Yano entered the cast of the TV series Proof of Memory.
After entering the group, he has been terrified, this is the first big drama he received in China, and the role is the anti-number one Japanese officer In the play, Gang Tian.
After seeing the script, Koji couldn't believe what the Japanese army was doing in the play, which was completely different from the education he received.
I couldn't help but ask the translator Xu Chao: "I have some knowledge of that history in the school history class, but I don't know much, is this true?" ”
Xu Chao said that the script has many parts of literary and artistic creation, which cannot be counted as all historical facts, but the fact that Japan invaded China is a foregone conclusion.
Koji Yano starred in the role of Gangda with mixed feelings, and before the TV series aired, he followed the crew to Chengdu to do publicity and also visited the Kenkawa Museum.
The museum retains many evidences of the Japanese invasion of China, and the more he looks at it, the more silent he becomes, and his mood is very bad.
For Koji, it is difficult to look directly at the sins committed by his ancestors, and the Japanese blood left on his body has caused him to have an indescribable sense of guilt and guilt for Chinese.
Because of his outstanding performance in the play, the Chinese audience hated the role of "Gangtian" to the teeth and scolded him together.
After "Proof of Memory" was broadcast on mainstream Japanese television, countless Japanese people also scolded him on the Internet.
He said that he helped the Chinese drama side smear Japan, was a traitor, a traitor, and never returned to Japan.
In the face of the overwhelming scolding of the two sides, Yano Koji was sandwiched between the inside and outside, but he said that he did not regret it.
After touching that period of history, he understood the Chinese audience's hatred for the Japanese army invading China, and Koji, as a Japanese, also hated the Japanese invaders at that time.
He thought that as an actor, the task is to play the role well, and the more the audience scolds, the better he can play, and he also repents for the past history because of this shooting experience.
It can be said that this experience made Yano Koji truly realize the past of China and Japan, and he wanted to be friends with Chinese more sincerely.
03 Step by step "Sinicization"
Starring in "Proof of Memory", although it made Koji Yano bear the insult, it also helped him become a hit in China.
When he was having dinner with friends, the crowd who recognized him would excitedly run to him and call him Gangtian and "chat" with him.
He was also invited by the Beijing Science and Education Channel's talk show "Very Famous", and was also given the title of the most popular "devil" at the time
There are also more similar "Japanese devils" characters to find this Japanese actor, he has starred in "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", "Railway Guerrilla", "Agni King Kong" ...
Because there are too many characters and too dense, for a period of time, he was present in 5 TV series from 17 TV channels.
Domestic audiences initially hated him because of his role and Japanese identity, but over time, the audience realized that Koji was modest and low-key, and dared to openly face history, and gradually became fond of him.
The uncles and aunts who lived with him in a small area were also willing to greet him, and they smiled and asked him if he had eaten.
When taking a taxi, there are also drivers who praise him for his good acting skills, three views are positive, and deliberately do not charge his fare...
All kinds of changes happened around him, and Yano Koji was once again convinced that Chinese was kind and warm, and had more love for China.
When interviewed about what role he most wanted to play, Koji Yano blurted out, "Except for Japanese devils." ”
In 2008, in addition to acting, Koji Yano was also invited to be the host guest of Hunan Satellite TV's variety show "Every Day Upward".
In the program, although he speaks Chinese very slowly, with a Japanese accent, his expression and tone are permeated with a "China-connected" confidence, and from time to time he will pop out of the "children's voice" of the Beijing dialect.
This serious and "clumsy" contrast has allowed Koji to gain a large number of fans, and he has also become good friends with his partner Wang Han and others.
In 2010, Koji Yano was revealed to be in love with and married a Chongqing girl, and the public offered their blessings.
Hao'er's wife is an outsider, 1 meter 6 tall, melon face, white skin, a big grin, is a typical Chongqing girl.
He added a "Chinese son-in-law" identity, which made him work harder to integrate into China and began to learn Chongqing dialect.
In September of the same year, Yano Koji had a lively and cute chinese-Japanese mixed daughter, because the day of her daughter's birth was the Mid-Autumn Festival, he named her daughter Xinyue.
Even, he directly gave Xinyue a Chinese citizenship.
Letting her daughter become a Chinese citizen still seemed quite surprising more than a decade ago, but Koji Yano said in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily: "I think this is a perfectly normal thing, for the sake of future children, we must build a beautiful Sino-Japanese relationship and make the world more peaceful and beautiful." ”
Koji's efforts and efforts are seen by the audience, and everyone is willing to "accept" him with an inclusive mentality.
In 2011, the Global Times selected the best foreign artist, and Koji Yano successfully won the award with a super high number of votes, and he was the first Japanese artist to win this award in China.
Koji was in tears at the award ceremony, for him, it was not only an award, but also a recognition and acceptance.
After eleven years of "hard work" in China, at that moment, I can really have a sense of belonging.
This year was a bumper harvest year for Koji Yano, and his career and family were full of harvests, but the good times did not last long, and he was once again deeply trapped in the "dilemma" of Chinese and Japanese public opinion.
At that time, the Diaoyu Islands incident was raging, and domestic resistance to Japan was high, and Yano Koji was not unexpectedly affected.
In addition, in the program "Every Day Upward", he said in order to "shake the baggage": Those who follow us will prosper and those who oppose me will die.
Koji originally meant to make jokes, but some jokes Chinese can be opened, the Japanese may not be able to open.
Because of this inappropriate remark, he immediately apologized publicly online, suspended his work in China afterwards, and left the stage of "Every Day Upward".
At that time, Yano Koji was once again confused, and his good brother Wang Han comforted him not to be discouraged and not to give up, maybe in the future he could become a "special channel" for Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.
There are also many Chinese friends and fans who encourage and support him, and with their help, Koji resumes his career.
He returned to Japan to redevelop, intending to contribute to cultural exchanges between the two countries through his own efforts.
When he first returned to Japan, the Japanese masses had a very bad attitude towards Koji Yano, and there were repeated reports that he had been beaten by radicals.
As soon as the news came out, Chinese netizens who supported him sent him care and greetings, and Koji was in Japan, and he could also feel the emotional care of Chinese, which made him firmly believe that his efforts were not in vain.
Because he is a Chinese expert, many Japanese dramas need Japanese actors who understand China to play Chinese, so Yano Koji went to Japan and began to act Chinese.
In his own words: "I play Japanese in China, I play Chinese in Japan, just as I can say I love China in Japan, and I can say I love Japan in China." ”
Because of the friendly relations between Yano and China, the Japanese media also made a documentary for him, believing that he easily crossed the "gap" between China and Japan.
As everyone knows, crossing this "chasm" is not easy, but it is the result of the joint efforts of the Chinese masses and Koji Yano.
In the Japanese program, "Chinese son-in-law" Koji unabashedly confessed: I love China.
The Japanese in Korea were dumbfounded.
For Koji, he has long regarded China as his second hometown, and his love for China is not casual.
In 2020, during the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan, Hao'er was concerned about Wuhan and spontaneously raised 130,000 masks for Wuhan, responsible for the whole process of packaging, and urgently sent masks full of heart to Wuhan, China.
When Xinjiang cotton was maliciously slandered, Koji once again stepped forward as the first foreign artist to speak out for Xinjiang cotton and defend China with practical actions.
In an interview, Koji Yano firmly stated that he never regretted coming to China, and if he did not come to China, he would not have what he is now.
The first half of his life in Japan, the second half of his life in China, Yano Koji was "sinicized" step by step, and his bond and feelings with China will only become deeper and deeper!
Two years ago, Ryo Takeuchi, a Japanese director who also lives in China, made a documentary in which he asked Koji Yano, "What is the reason for living here?" ”
Koji Yano replied to him to confirm where his final destination would be when he got old.
Probably because the documentary can also be seen in Japan, Yano Koji's answer is more sleek,
Long-term settlement in China, lovers in China, lovers of friends, family in China;
Daughter is a Chinese national;
Career in China; Friends in China; Networking in China; Real estate is also in China.
I think that the question that Koji Yano answered already seemed to have been answered.