Eriko Sato gets serious in literary adaptation

by Chris MaGee

Pin-up model and actress Eriko Sato has not been known for her thought provoking roles. She’s provided a lot of eye candy in Japanese TV dramas, commercials and her roles in “The Sinking of Japan”, “Carved: Slit-Mouth Woman” and “Cutie Honey”, but it seems that Sato wants to be taken seriously by appearing in an upcoming adaptation of the 1947 Osamu Dazai novel “Shayo (The Setting Sun)”. Chronicling the decline of an aristocratic family in post-war Japan the novel’s heroine Kazuko fights not only poverty, but spiritual malaise as she not only witnesses the deaths of her mother and drug-addict brother, but bears the child of an impoverished writer, hoping that the baby will give her life some hope.

Obviously Sato, who is apparently a Dazai fan, will be taking the role of Kazuko, but we’ll have to wait until next year when “Shayo (Setting Sun)” will hit Japanese theatres to see if she can make the transition from pretty face to respected actress.

Thanks to Tokyograph for the report.