"Only Yesterday" Captures the Beauty of Abashiri in a Heartwarming Tale

By / MOOK Scenic Spots Travel Life Network Editorial Department

Adapted from the true story of a bride with memory impairment that caused a sensation in Japan, *Only Yesterday* not only quickly topped the box office charts as a new domestic release but also achieved a total Japanese box office revenue of 1.4 billion yen, attracting over 1.2 million viewers. In the film, Satomi Ishihara and Nino Kazuya portray a couple whose ending leaves audiences in tears, delivering a gripping performance reminiscent of another chapter of *The Last Flower of My Life*. However, in the movie, the sweet-talking Nino Kazuya surprisingly speaks Chinese, English, and Japanese, making language his “charming tool” for romance; and one line in Chinese — “I love you” — deeply captures Satomi Ishihara’s heart. Especially memorable is their first date in the film, which is quite unconventional: while others play music in the car, the clueless Nino Kazuya instead plays an English conversation lesson, creating a humorous and conflicting scene that’s both amusing and endearing.

In fact, this car date scene was also one of the earliest scenes shot for the two actors. However, while playing lovers on screen, they usually had to build rapport off screen first. Unfortunately, Satomi Ishihara comes from an all-girls school background and isn’t good at interacting with males; in previous roles, it was usually the male lead who initiated conversations. The slow-to-warm-up Ishihara this time met her match, as it turned out Nino Kazuya was even more reserved than she was. This made it tough for the production team in the early stages of filming, who urged Ishihara to take the initiative to talk to Kazuya. Reflecting on this, Ishihara laughed and said: “I had seen Nino Kazuya’s work before and thought his acting was really great, so I was very much looking forward to acting with him. Although he may not seem like someone who talks a lot, that impression proved to be true when we met. But actually, he’s even more reserved than me, and the director also told me: ‘If you don’t talk to him first, he might never speak to you.’ So I really tried hard to come up with things to say.”

Despite the initial awkwardness, the first question Ishihara asked Kazuya was, “Is Kanjani8’s schedule busy?” She even ended up asking more private questions like “Can singers drink alcohol?” Reflecting on it later, Ishihara laughed and said: “Although I really enjoyed chatting casually in the car, were those questions really appropriate? I felt like I was some kind of entertainment reporter.” But the tactic seemed to work on Kazuya, and the two opened up, talking about many topics during the car scene shoot. Recalling the moment, Kazuya also joked: “The amount I spoke in that car scene probably adds up to more than I’ve said to other female leads in other movies!”

 

 

In *Only Yesterday*, Nino Kazuya plays a deeply affectionate and devoted nice guy. Since both he and Satomi Ishihara are from the Kansai region (Ishihara from Kobe and Kazuya from Osaka), the two often chatted in their local dialects during breaks. Notably, in the film, he not only accompanies Ishihara, who is in a wheelchair, but also carries her several times in a “princess carry,” performing the romantic and touching act of “You Are My Legs,” solidifying his image as a new-generation ideal man through this film. Speaking about carrying Ishihara in the scenes, Kazuya laughed and said: “Actually, Ishihara isn’t heavy, but when I first started carrying her, I couldn’t find the right leverage point, so I couldn’t hold her waist firmly.” To master the trick of lifting her “in one go,” the two practiced repeatedly, and once they got used to it, everything went super smoothly, leading Kazuya to exclaim: “Carrying Ishihara is actually not difficult at all!” But carrying a goddess also requires mental preparation — especially since every time Ishihara is lifted by Kazuya, she wraps her arms around his neck, bringing their faces extremely close together, often resulting in ultra-close “face-to-face” moments. This frequently left Kazuya blushing and became one of his most embarrassing memories during the film’s shoot.