Chapter 1179: Come, come... let

At the filming base in Ota Ward, the opening prayer ceremony for *Departures* had already been completed.

Watching the one-eyed Monk finish the prayers with ease, Naoki Nagayama let out a sigh of relief:

"Good thing I managed to persuade Granny Murata. Otherwise, if one thing went wrong, she might have ended up as the first client for *Departures*..."

Previously, Naoki Nagayama and Otomo Yoshimura had spoken with great earnestness, finally managing to persuade Granny Murata—who had just performed a ritual not long ago—and guaranteeing that the cooperation between Tree Friend and the shrine would continue, which was the only reason she agreed to let her apprentice, Monk Matsuzaki, perform the blessing.

"Naoki-san, what kind of hellish joke is that?!"

Otomo Yoshimura shook his head helplessly.

"Granny Murata is a person of high prestige and virtue; you should watch your tongue."

"Haha, alright, alright~"

Naoki Nagayama was a very good listener and immediately stopped his teasing.

In Japan, especially in this era, people are still full of respect for the shrine priests and priestesses who can communicate with ghosts and gods.

Therefore, when it was necessary to change personnel before, even if it was essentially for the sake of Grandma Murata's health, it was still necessary to consult with the priestess and make guarantees...

It was nothing like later generations, where rituals had basically become hired performances; if the employer wasn't satisfied, they could just swap people out.

After the incense offering ended, Naoki Nagayama began directing the crew to prepare. Today, *Departures* was about to officially begin filming!

"Tomokazu-san..."

On the set, Naoki Nagayama walked over to Tomokazu Miura.

"How is it? Are you ready?"

"..."

Tomokazu Miura opened his innocent, wide eyes, unable to speak for a moment.

"Haha, it's such an exciting scene for the first day; it's only natural to be a little nervous~"

"..."

Tomokazu Miura felt like he was constipated; a surge of emotions churned in his mind, but he couldn't get them out.

"Haha, Tomokazu-san, rest assured... the actor I found has actually studied with a master! I guarantee you'll have a perfect experience the first time!"

"..."

Tomokazu Miura looked at the director with dead-fish eyes...

"Tomokazu-san, as an actor, you have to be a bit bolder. You have to experience everything..."

Naoki Nagayama gestured, seeing that everything was about ready, and said,

"Come, come... let's take off your clothes first!"

"..."

Amidst the onlookers of the other actors, and especially with his own wife covering her face with a smile, Tomokazu Miura indignantly took off all his clothes, leaving only a pair of shorts...

Then he went into the role-play room, lay down on the futon, covered himself with the burial garment, and assumed a pose of being at the mercy of others...

Beside him, an old man with a strange smile wiped his hands with a towel and then placed his hands on Tomokazu Miura's flesh...

A tear fell from the corner of Tomokazu Miura's eye... Well, he was an actor; for the sake of his acting career, he could do anything!!

Of course, this was all from Tomokazu Miura's perspective!!!

In reality, the first scene of *Departures* was actually filming an advertisement for the work of an undertaker.

This role-play room was actually a stage set decorated as a funeral hall, and Tomokazu Miura's role today was to play a corpse!

And the old man with the strange smile was a veteran actor named Shoya Wakabayashi... His expression was also perfectly normal... He was very professional, alright? He had specifically gone to a funeral home to learn for the sake of playing this role well!

Tomokazu Miura hadn't expected that the first scene would be playing a corpse, being wiped down by an undertaker, changed into burial clothes, and having makeup applied... Was Naoki-san really not taking revenge on him?!

Off-camera, Naoki Nagayama, as the director, wasn't that idle; he was the director who had to control the filming process:

"Everyone in position... ready... Action!"

Having called 'start' after a long time, he felt like a new person. And the entire crew began filming in an orderly fashion.

On the screen, the actor playing the veteran undertaker was "fiddling" with Tomokazu Miura's corpse while explaining his steps to the camera...

"The first thing to do is to clean the body of the deceased. Generally, one should use a cotton cloth dipped in clean water to wipe it..."

The veteran undertaker recited his lines while performing the actions.

"However, in modern times, to ensure hygiene, we use cotton cloths soaked in disinfectant..."

"During this process, one must maintain respect for the deceased; during the wiping process, the relatives present must not be allowed to see the skin of the deceased..."

The old actor performed the actions over the burial garment, while Tomokazu Miura kept his eyes closed, playing the corpse, though his face occasionally twitched—that old man's hands were truly cold!

Naoki Nagayama didn't call cut; this was the expression required during the filming process anyway.

"Next, since the deceased is male, we must also shave his face..."

"Cut!"

At this moment, Naoki Nagayama called cut and needed to give the two actors some pointers on the performance.

Generally, for an opening ceremony, filming one shot is enough, but since the costumes were already changed for this plot, they might as well finish filming it directly.

"Tomokazu-san, next you need to act as if the shaving cut you, and blood is flowing down your face... then you need to express the stinging pain and shock of being injured, and then be held down by Wakabayashi-san to continue filming..."

Naoki Nagayama said to Tomokazu Miura, who was lying on the table.

"Because you have your eyes closed, the specific timing of the performance should be based on Wakabayashi-san's cues. He will squeeze a blood bag... that is when you perform."

"Hai!"

After finishing with Tomokazu Miura, Naoki Nagayama looked at Shoya Wakabayashi, who had already changed his props... The small blood bag was hidden in a fake finger; as soon as it was squeezed, blood would flow out. This was a little trick from the prop team.

Actually, if it were a director who pursued realism, he could completely let the actor really cut his face... Anyway, he was a man; it was very normal to get a small cut while shaving!

Good thing Naoki Nagayama wasn't some kind of devil~

"Wakabayashi-san... when the blood bag breaks, you can press on Tomokazu-san's face with your hand as a cue."

"Hai..."

Shoya Wakabayashi nodded to indicate there was no problem.

Then Naoki Nagayama gave some instructions to the other crew members and began filming again.

"Ready... Action!"

"Due to the skin of the deceased shrinking and drying, the beard becomes more obvious, making it appear as if the beard has grown longer. At this time, shaving is very necessary."

Shoya Wakabayashi said while applying shaving cream to Tomokazu Miura's face.

"At this time, you must be very careful, because the skin of the deceased is very easy to tear..."

Tomokazu Miura's nose was blocked by the shaving foam, and he couldn't help but exhale to blow it away... And when Shoya Wakabayashi placed the prop knife against Tomokazu Miura, with a slight force, a streak of blood was left on Tomokazu Miura's face.

"It hurts..."

Tomokazu Miura, playing the corpse, gave a start and opened his eyes, as if he were a corpse coming back to life.

Then he touched his face with his hand, spreading the bloodstain much wider, which made him even more agitated.

But Shoya Wakabayashi looked at it calmly and pressed Tomokazu Miura back down:

"Daijobu, it's a small wound, it's fine!"

After the triple reassurance, he began the encoffining ritual again...

The opening shot was completed, and it took more time than imagined; it was already noon.

As the crew began to pack up, Naoki Nagayama walked over to Momoe Yamaguchi:

"Momoe-san, your scenes start tomorrow. Are you ready?"

Momoe Yamaguchi nodded:

"Hai, I have carefully studied the script and have also rehearsed in private. There is absolutely no problem!"

"That's good..."

Naoki Nagayama smiled.

"Then get some good rest after going back today. From tomorrow on, the whole day will be busy."

"I can't go back for now..."

Momoe Yamaguchi shook her head.

"Because almost all the filming will be at the base from now on, so taking advantage of the free time today, I want to take Yutaro and the others for a walk around the base... to get familiar with it."

"Did Yutaro come too?" Naoki Nagayama asked in confusion. "How come I didn't see him?"

"Before the crew disbanded, I had my mother take them outside..."

Momoe Yamaguchi said, and as she spoke, she waved from the window and called Yutaro and her mother, who were playing outside, in.

"They were actually outside..."

Naoki Nagayama was a bit surprised and leaned over to look at Granny Yamaguchi pushing the stroller.

"This is too inconvenient... You can come into the lounge..."

"There are other actors in the lounge; it's not convenient."

Momoe Yamaguchi shook her head. The crew was a place that pursued efficiency; it was impossible to give every actor an independent lounge for every scene.

"Besides, they only come occasionally... When filming, they are still at home."

"Takahiro is only a year old and can't be separated from his mother for long..."

Naoki Nagayama pondered for a moment and came up with an idea.

"How about this... When Akina was filming *Ghost*, in order to spend more time with Xia Hua on set, she prepared a camper van... The washing facilities and baby cribs and everything inside are very complete."

"Now that Akina isn't filming a movie, the camper van is just sitting there empty. You can borrow it, Momoe-san."

"Eh? Is... is that okay?" Momoe Yamaguchi hesitated. "After all, it was prepared for Akina."

"Ha, it's just a camper van. If you aren't worried about causing a psychological burden, it wouldn't matter if I just gave it to Tomokazu-san and Momoe-san..."

Naoki Nagayama waved his hand.

"It's not needed right now, and it'll just gather dust in the garage..."

"But what if you and Akina-san need to go out? There will always be a time when you need an RV... After all, you can take care of little Xia Hua..."

"Ha, for places nearby, just driving is fine. They're all in safety seats, so it's no different..."

Naoki Nagayama said with a smile, saying something that made people envious.

"If it's too far, we'll just take a private jet; the facilities inside are even more complete..."

"..." So rich, a private jet...

At this time, Grandma Yamaguchi came over with Yutaro and Takadai. Looking at the tender cheeks of the two children, Momoe Yamaguchi also felt that an RV was a good choice.

"Then I'll trouble you, Naoki-san..."

"Daijobu!"

Seeing Tomokazu Miura walk over after changing his clothes, Naoki Nagayama waved his hand.

"Tomokazu-san... Momoe-san just said that you want to walk around the park..."

"Hai." Tomokazu Miura nodded. "The park is very large, and there are many interesting places... It's also quite nice to treat it as an outing."

"Haha, that's true, and there are various different outdoor film sets... It's about the same as an amusement park."

Naoki Nagayama said with a smile.

"Then I won't disturb you anymore, see you tomorrow!"

"Hai..."

After Naoki Nagayama's back disappeared, Tomokazu Miura held Yutaro and asked his wife:

"Momoe, did Naoki-san say anything just now?"

"Naoki-san just lent us an RV, which is convenient for Mother, Yutaro, and Takadai to rest..."

Momoe Yamaguchi said with a face full of gratitude.

"Naoki-san is really a considerate person!"

"..."

Considerate... This is a merit that many Japanese women find hard to resist!

Tomokazu Miura only felt the alarm bells ringing... No, this is only the first day of filming, why is the sense of crisis getting heavier and heavier?!

At the same time, in another film set in the park, the filming of "Long Vacation" is underway.

The fateful encounter between the older urban woman Chikako Aoyama and the younger newcomer Masaharu Fukuyama~

After her fiancé ran away from the wedding, Chikako Aoyama was penniless and homeless for various reasons, so she coerced and lured her fiancé's roommate, Masaharu Fukuyama, to become his new roommate...

Thus, the current scene happened~

Just as Masaharu Fukuyama wanted to close the door, Chikako Aoyama used one leg to block it, revealing a slender and rounded thigh, full of temptation. Masaharu Fukuyama was a little panicked:

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Please, it's my only request in this life!" Chikako Aoyama pleaded.

"So I'm asking what's wrong? Tell me what's going on first!"

Masaharu Fukuyama pushed against the door, not wanting to let anyone in. At this moment, the two were very close, almost as if they were hugging...

"Can I move in here?"

"Who?"

"Me!"

"Where?"

"Here!"

"Why?"

"You just asked why, it's why, you want to hear the reason, not that it's impossible, right?!"

"..."

After some tug-of-war, Chikako Aoyama finally entered the room...

After explaining to Masaharu Fukuyama and begging bitterly, she proposed the request to share the rent. In the end, Masaharu Fukuyama also helplessly chose to agree to let Chikako Aoyama live in temporarily...

A clarification should be made here: Masaharu Fukuyama was so resistant to a great beauty entering the room and sharing the rent because feminism was flourishing in Japan at the time. Once a man and a woman entered a room, it was very likely that things wouldn't be clear, and it could even turn into blackmail, and then the man would be arrested by the police on charges like sexual harassment~

Moreover, sharing a room with a girl, if you are not boyfriend and girlfriend, is generally not as romantic and charming as imagined... Especially for a handsome guy like Masaharu Fukuyama, he might be at a greater disadvantage...

Therefore, boys still need to protect themselves well in big cities!

So next, Masaharu Fukuyama saw his originally spacious two-person room slowly filled with Chikako Aoyama's luggage.

"So I'm saying, just living here temporarily, temporarily!"

Masaharu Fukuyama emphasized like this.

"Hai hai... Once I make money, or find a good man, I will move out."

Chikako Aoyama indeed had the feeling of a mature big sister at this time. In "Long Vacation," she is 30 years old, and her figure also fits the role very well...

"Don't worry, I have no interest in boys younger than me, I won't lay a hand on you!"

Saying that, she squatted down to organize her luggage...

Masaharu Fukuyama also refused to admit defeat and said:

"I have no interest in girls older than me either... unless... she has a mature charm..."

Hearing this, Chikako Aoyama was speechless in her heart. I don't have mature charm?!

She stood up aggressively, leaned close to little brother Masaharu Fukuyama, watching his expression change, then stood up and turned around again, showing off her perfect figure, and then smiled with some contempt:

"What does a little brat know..."

Leaving Masaharu Fukuyama, who was sitting on the sofa, swallowing a mouthful of saliva...

"Cut!"

Director Tomoyuki Nishimoto shouted "cut" very excitedly and praised Masaharu Fukuyama:

"Fukuyama-kun, the expression is very spot on! This kind of look that is shy but also carries some surprise... It fits the little brother being teased by an older big sister very well! The performance is very natural, Fukuyama-kun, very good!"

"Of course, Chikako-chan's performance is also perfect, very mature and free-spirited!"

"..."

Seeming to hear Chikako Aoyama's laughter, Masaharu Fukuyama covered his face...

It was truly his first time filming a movie, and his reaction just now was purely natural, even that swallow of saliva!

(End of chapter)