The classic 1952 Japanese film Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa will be staged as a musical in October. The production will be the first-ever musical adaptation of the master filmmaker’s work and will star veteran actors Masachika Ichimura and Takeshi Kaga in a double cast as Kanji Watanabe, the terminally ill bureaucrat struggling to find meaning in life.
The J-pop singer <a href=”/music/Mayn”>May’n</a> will make her musical debut in this groundbreaking production, making a longtime dream come true. She and up-and-coming stage actress Fuuka Yuzuki have been double-cast as Toyo Odagiri, the young subordinate who inspires Kanji to finally take action in his remaining days, and as his son’s wife, Kazue. May’n and Yuzuki will alternate between the two roles for each performance.
May’n is a well-known singer in anime circles with a long list of anime and game openers under her belt. She has sold out headlining solo concerts in Nippon Budokan and has also performed abroad at the Japan Expo held in Europe and San Francisco’s J-Pop Summit Festival.