Aoi Miyazaki speaks to The Japan Times about her new film and her social/ environmental conscience

by Chris MaGee

Aoi Miyazaki is best known on these shores for her roles in such diverse films as "Harmful Insect", "Eureka", "Nana" and her upcoming role in Kankuro Kudo's punk rock comedy "Shonen Merikensack", but with the release of her new film "Yami no Kodomotachi (Children of the Dark)" and work to promote the cause of global warming the 22 year-old actress is gaining a reputation as a social and environmental crusader in Japan.

In an interview conducted by The Japan Times Edan Corkill the star discusses "Yami no Kodomotachi", directed by Junji Sakamoto and based on the novel by Korean-Japanese author Yan Sogiru (Yang Seok-il) which follows a journalist played by Yosuke Eguchi who investigates the black market sale of children for sex as well as for their organs in Thailand. In the film Miyazaki plays Keiko Otowa, a NGO activist who's trying to bring international attention to the horrific problem. In this same way Miyazaki chose the role to highlight these serious issues. "I think the majority of Japanese people believe that these kinds of problems have no connection with their own lives," she explains in the interview, "I wanted people to know that this is not just a foreign problem."

On top of this brave new role Miyazaki and her brother Masaru has recently traveled extensively and co-authored two books titled "Tarinai Peace", the first about the plight of children living in the slums of India and the second dealing with the effects of global warming on the glaciers in Greenland.

Pretty big strides for an actress who in Japan is known just as much for her acting as for her work in commercials promoting Aflac Insurance and the Tokyo Metro. Follow the link above to read the entire interview and while you're at it check out this English subtitled trailer for "Yami no Kodomotachi (Children of the Dark)"