Chapter 918: Everyone, let me introduce the Tokyo International Film Festival to you!

Aside from the Red and White Song Battle, the NHK Hall had never gathered so many people at once.

One luxury sedan after another pulled up at the entrance, and out stepped one or two celebrities or famous figures in their finest attire...

They would linger briefly on the long red carpet, pose for photos against the main backdrop, express their feelings about the Tokyo International Film Festival to the media, show off their style, and then exchange a few pleasantries with the organizers in the entrance hall before heading inside.

There were local Japanese stars, foreign stars with blonde hair and blue eyes, as well as renowned directors, producers, film critics, and so on... Of course, there were even budding idols and up-and-coming artists who had come to hitch a ride on the red carpet... Naturally, there were also tickets for related personnel for the opening ceremony, and some agencies gave these opportunities to newcomers who didn't have much fame yet.

After all, with so many media outlets on the red carpet at the opening ceremony, and even live broadcasts by television stations, the exposure from this red carpet was simply more powerful than even the most popular programs!

"Thank you very much for coming to this film festival!"

Naoki Nagayama wore a smile on his face as he spoke to the very familiar face before him.

In truth, he didn't recognize the person at all; he just felt the face looked somewhat familiar.

"Please, head on inside..."

"We have arranged a rich and colorful variety of activities for our film festival..."

"I hope you have a pleasant time at the film festival~"

Coping with one familiar stranger after another using template-like sentences, Naoki Nagayama smiled until his face felt like it was going to cramp... At this very moment, he felt like a doorman in Kabukicho soliciting customers~

Come in and play, guests, head on inside, guests, we have many programs, guests, have a pleasant time...

"Naoki-san..." Otomo Yoshimura walked over to his side. "It's about time~"

"Oh?" Naoki Nagayama snapped out of it and glanced at his watch. "Ah, indeed it is!"

"That's right, we can go in now!" Shuichi Yin Tang also walked over. "Naoki-san, you have to go give the opening address!"

"Mm... that's right~"

Naoki Nagayama sighed; he still had to go up on stage to give a speech... No help for it, who else but him was the initiator and the organizer~

The red carpet ceremony lasted for about two hours. Everyone who was supposed to come had already arrived, and as for those who hadn't... well, let's just assume they weren't interested in the film festival to begin with. If they were late, that would be a bit of a joke~

Looking at the media reporters and others still gathered outside, Naoki Nagayama didn't pay them much mind and walked with the others toward the backstage of the hall.

"In a moment, after I give the opening address, I will take the opportunity to introduce the opening film of the film festival..." Naoki Nagayama said. "There shouldn't be any problems with the playback equipment, right?"

"None at all!" Otomo Yoshimura said, patting his chest. "I checked it again this morning!"

"That's good then~"

By the time they reached the backstage, the film festival's directing team was already poised and ready, just waiting for the time to arrive.

"Naoki-san!" "Otomo-san..." "Shuichi-san..." "..."

Almost everyone backstage was an employee of Tree Friend. After all, this event was very important, and Otomo Yoshimura wanted to ensure that no one would come to cause trouble, so using his own people was best.

"Naoki-san... the band is ready and can start performing at any time!" Eiichiro Watanabe leaned in and said to Naoki Nagayama. "And the emcee, Masataka Komori, is also ready!"

"Mm, I know!" Naoki Nagayama nodded.

The emcee for the opening ceremony was Masataka Komori; this was not hard to understand... After all, Komori-kun was a rare young, sharp director in the film industry, and he fit the theme of this film festival very well.

What's more, the opening film this time, *Our Little Sister*, was directed by him~

"Otomo-san, Shuichi-san~" After patrolling backstage, Naoki Nagayama checked the time and said to his two good friends, "You two should head to your seats as well... the performance is about to start soon!"

"Mm, good luck, Naoki-san!" "Don't feel pressured, Naoki-san!"

"..."

Inside the vast hall, row upon row of seats were filled with people.

This was originally the venue for the Red and White Song Battle; with the decorations slightly altered, it didn't feel out of place for the film festival at all.

The low hum of discussion was constant, making the entire hall somewhat noisy...

Yet at a certain moment, the hall lights dimmed, the stage spotlights brightened, and as the curtain rose, the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra appeared on stage.

As the light piano melody began, the orchestra's rendition of "Summer" echoed through the hall... The theme song for *Kikujiro* had appeared at the film festival once again...

It brought everyone's memories back to the summer of last year when this film dominated, back to the glorious May when *Kikujiro* won at the Cannes Film Festival...

Naoki Nagayama had taken this film to win the Palme d'Or, and now, he was bringing this theme song to launch a grand event like the Tokyo International Film Festival...

The music slowly faded, and the stage lights brightened accordingly~

Naoki Nagayama, wearing a well-fitted suit, walked to the center of the stage holding a microphone!!!

"Minna-san~"

Taking a deep breath, Naoki Nagayama scanned the guests and bigwigs in attendance. He saw Akina Mori looking at him with bright eyes, saw Masaki Kobayashi wearing a smile, saw Jackie Chan with an expression that said he didn't understand but was sure it was impressive, as well as Ken Takakura, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Takeshi Kitano, Yuko Tanaka... and he also saw the representative figures from Toho and Toei.

"I once heard a saying: 'If there is a persistent longing, there will be an echo'..." Naoki Nagayama said with a smile. "And this scene right now has echoed in my mind more times than I can count..."

"Everyone... today, I introduce the Tokyo International Film Festival to you!!!"

The guests and audience in the hall began to applaud, and cheers and applause filled the entire hall~

Several cameras were aimed at Naoki Nagayama, capturing his expressions and his words from every angle, transmitting them to television screens in thousands of households.

Back home in Shizuoka, his father Ken Nagayama and mother Naoko were watching the broadcast intently. Even the wild grass was held in the arms of his sister-in-law, Hualing, and couldn't move; he could only stare at the person on the TV and ask with some surprise:

"Is that Uncle Naoki?"

"Mm~"

"Why is he on TV?"

"He is giving the opening address..."

"What is an opening address?"

"It's a speech that needs to be given when the Tokyo International Film Festival opens..."

"What is the Tokyo International Film Festival?"

"..." Sister-in-law Hualing couldn't answer that, so she could only point her son's head toward the TV. "Listen carefully to Uncle Naoki's introduction and you'll know!"

"Oh~"

Children of this age are like a "hundred thousand whys"... so annoying!

At the ancestral home in Shimizu City, Grandfather Hayato Nagayama was also watching his grandson on TV, a smile on his face, thinking about when he could start filming *The Legend of Hayato*...

And in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo... many, many people were watching the opening ceremony on TV~

And at this moment, on the stage of the NHK Hall, Naoki Nagayama was sharing his innermost thoughts eloquently...

"Film is the art of light and shadow... It is also the gradient between reality and fantasy... We project the emotions in our hearts onto the big screen, forming one film story after another..."

"Through the efforts of generations of filmmakers, today we are able to stand on the shoulders of giants, looking forward to the future of film..."

"The theme of the Tokyo International Film Festival is to promote cutting-edge films and facilitate the development of film... At this film festival, we will showcase the newest, most cutting-edge films shot by young directors... and provide recognition and rewards..."

Naoki Nagayama fluently recited the speech he had prepared. Having already experienced many speeches, he was at ease on stage.

His highly evocative words stirred the hearts of the slightly younger audience members and guests in the audience, making them almost want to run up on stage and swear brotherhood with Naoki Nagayama!

After more than ten minutes, Naoki Nagayama ended his opening address with one sentence:

"Minna-san, the future of the film industry is in your hands and mine! I hope the film industry gets better and better! I hope the Tokyo International Film Festival can continue to be held forever!"

Following a burst of enthusiastic applause, Naoki Nagayama was about to leave the stage to Masataka Komori:

"Shortly, we will enjoy the opening film of this Tokyo Film Festival—*Our Little Sister*. Below, we leave the stage to the director of *Our Little Sister*, the outstanding young actor—Masataka Komori!"

Amidst the applause of the audience and guests, Masataka Komori walked up, bowed to Naoki Nagayama, and then took the microphone...

"Minna-san... I am Masataka Komori... It is a great honor to stand here..."

"Before we watch the opening film, please allow me to introduce some important guests..."

"This Tokyo International Film Festival is divided into a Main Competition Section and a Committee Section, and will select a series of film awards... The jury, led by Shohei Imamura, will select the various awards based on objective standards..."

Masataka Komori introduced the names of the jury members, and one by one, the jury members walked out from backstage and sat in the seats prepared for them in the audience.

And then, naturally, the representatives of the organizers and co-organizers of this Tokyo International Film Festival...

"Thank you to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for their support... Section Chief Yoko Ikebo... President Haruki Kadokawa of the Kadokawa Group! General Manager Takafumi Ogasawara of Toei......"

Masataka Komori on stage introduced the people in the executive committee one by one, expressing the committee's gratitude and letting them show their faces before the screen... No help for it, this is all just human relations!

And at this time, Naoki Nagayama had already secretly arrived at his seat... naturally, next to Akina!

"Naoki-san, you were super cool on stage just now!"

Akina Mori leaned in slightly and whispered to her boyfriend. The sight of Naoki Nagayama on stage just now had made the young girl so excited that her eyes were red with emotion!

"That's because I'm naturally handsome!" Naoki Nagayama laughed. "If Akina were standing up there, you would definitely be beautiful too!"

"I... I couldn't do it!"

Akina Mori shook her head. If it were performing, she might not have any problems... but giving a speech in front of so many people made Akina get goosebumps just thinking about it.

You have to know that even in regular interviews, she would be very nervous, and the sound of her voice would unconsciously become smaller...

"Who dares to say my Akina can't do it!"

Naoki Nagayama turned his head, gently bumped his forehead against Akina's, and winked.

"Akina is clearly super cool too!"

"Haha~"

Akina Mori couldn't help but laugh, then suddenly realized there were many cameras, and hurriedly raised her hand to cover slightly... then glared at her boyfriend with a look of complaint; how could he make her laugh on such a grand occasion...

However, her other hand under the armrest quietly held Naoki Nagayama's hand, her heart full of happiness~

Masataka Komori on stage was still continuing. After introducing the award times for each stage of this film festival, he finally said:

"Next, please enjoy the opening film of this film festival—*Our Little Sister*!"

As a big screen was slowly lowered from the top of the stage, the lights on the stage dimmed, and from the other side of the hall, the somewhat dazzling projection beam of the projector lit up. On the bright white big screen, the scenery of Kamakura in summer began to play~

The recently popular *Our Little Sister* had already reached a cumulative total box office of nearly 1 billion, making it an out-and-out blockbuster film in Japan, with no film in the same period comparable to it.

Such a warm film, both in quality and box office, was very suitable as an opening film!

The Tokyo International Film Festival had opened, and for the people of Tokyo, this was also a very grand event!

Because for these two weeks, major cinemas in Tokyo had launched discount activities, and there were even film appreciation tour packages... After checking in for every film, one would receive peripheral gifts.

And a free outdoor film screening venue had been set up in Yoyogi Park, and a film carnival-like event was held at the same time. Tokyoites with nothing to do could come over in the evening to play and watch films~

From time to time, one could even try to meet film stars...

There were also premiere events for several films every day. Filmmakers, film companies, and television station representatives from various countries could negotiate to purchase films directly after watching them...

The five major television stations in Tokyo and major media newspapers all sent reporters and staff to squat in the venue to conduct interviews in real-time~

And major variety shows also arranged outdoor programs, with the venue right in the Tokyo International Film Festival venue... Even popular music shows like *The Best Ten* and *Music Station* wanted to come and broadcast live from the Tokyo International Film Festival venue together...

In short, in the first half of October, the focus of Tokyoites' attention was all on this international film festival~

However, these didn't have much to do with Naoki Nagayama anymore... His main work had been completed, and next, he just needed to be a good mascot. At most, he would act as an award presenter at the closing ceremony...

After the opening ceremony ended, it was already very late. Originally there was an ending banquet, but Naoki Nagayama took Akina Mori to find Jackie Chan, who was preparing to leave.

"Big Brother Jackie, I'm here... Sichuan hot pot for a late-night snack! Let's go!"

"Alright!" Jackie Chan nodded and said, "But I have a group of brothers waiting for me. I always eat with my group of brothers when I eat. It's no problem if we go together, right?"

The famous Jackie Chan Stunt Team~

It is said that Jackie Chan takes them wherever he goes, and he even took this group of brothers when he was dating Teresa Teng...

There was also the famous quote: "Brothers can help my career flourish, girlfriends can't help me with anything!"

"Of course, no problem~"

Naoki Nagayama nodded. Even if he had to book the whole shop, he could afford it~

"By the way, this is Akina Mori, my fiancée~" Naoki Nagayama introduced Akina Mori beside him. "You two should know each other, right?"

"I've seen her a few times!" Jackie Chan glanced at Akina Mori standing beside Naoki Nagayama and said with a smile, "But I only know the name, we haven't chatted~"

Akina Mori nodded shyly. She didn't speak Chinese, and Jackie Chan didn't speak much Japanese, so the two of them just happened to meet and didn't communicate...

"Alright..." Naoki Nagayama looked at their current attire. "The current clothes are too conspicuous, let's go change... Big Brother Jackie, I'll have the driver take you over, and we'll meet at the hot pot restaurant in a while!"

"Good!" ===== CHAPTER 919 =====