Report

Yes, "JIN-ROH" was finally released in Japan on June 3, 2000. Having won prestigious awards and status one after the other, at various film festivals worldwide, the film actually had never been exposed to the eyes of the public in the country of its origin, Japan!! More than a year and half had passed since the film was completed, but we couldn't set the release date just until last month. But thanks to all our fans who had waited patiently for this time, we are now proud to announce the dates and theaters where JIN-ROH will be played. (Check out this site for theater information)

We left Kokubunji at 9:20am, to make it to Shinjuku (about 20 minutes by train) for the 11am session. When we arrived at the theater, we were astounded to see a long line of people -- way more than what we had expected! There were more than 300 people in line, and it was still 10am. We were informed by one of the staff who had come early to check out the site, that the line had started forming more than 2 hours ago. Here's a shot of the wonderful fans in line.

The rest of the line, which continued to the exterior of Isetan (department store), was being physically interrupted by a big truck that was trying to cross the street. At any rate, the line consisted of more people than a theater could hold for the 1st session; and therefore, the 3rd session tickets were already being distributed by 10:30.

At 10:50, we went inside the theater and witnessed an even more incredible sight! We had people sitting on the floor on all aisles!! By this time, it was impossible to count the number of people inside the theater, but definitely more than the theater could hold. JIN-ROH is indeed a very fortunate film to have so many fans wanting to see it.

A little after 11am, the first session finally started. Everybody watched it quietly until the film was over, and there was a loud applaud after the film. People don't normally do that in Japan... so that was a happy shock to us all. Then Hiroyuki Okiura (Director), Mamoru Oshii (Original Concept/Script), Hajime Mizoguchi (Music), Mr. Fujiki for "Fuse," and Ms. Mutoh for "Kei" all went up on the stage to introduce the film -- followed by a big mass of press taking shots of these amazing creators.

(from left to right): MC, Mr. Fujiki (Fuse), Ms. Mutoh (Kei), Hiroyuki Okiura, Hajime Mizuguchi and Mamoru Oshii

"Having many passionate fans come see and enjoy the movie today, I realized that we had done the right thing with JIN-ROH. I honestly wish that the movie will play for a long time." from the director Hiroyuki Okiura

Mr. Okiura had to attend more press interviews and also a radio show that night, so we hurried to the restaurant where the gala was held. We made a big toast to the success, and started drinking while the sun was still out. Mr. Okiura looked very pleased when given a bouquet of flowers by one of the female staff. We too were as well pleased as he was.

When we returned to the theater to check out the 5th session, there was still a swarm of people, who were waiting to get the tickets. Again, there were more people than the theater seated, so some sat on the floor and some watched while standing, just like all the previous sessions.

With the help of alcohol, and having witnessed the people's reactions and success of the film, we went back to work with big smiles on our boozed-up faces!