Toshiyuki Nishida heads up the cast of historical epic "Katen no shiro"

by Chris MaGee

There's nothing small about Toshiyuki Nishida's upcoming film "Katen no shiro". The historical epic, based on the novel by Kenichi Yamamoto and directed by Mitsutoshi Tanaka, tells the story of the construction of Azuchi Castle on the shores of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. The construction was ordered by Oda Nobunaga in 1576 and took three years at the equivalent cost of ¥1,000 billion to complete. This mind-boggling budget had a lot to do with what made the castle so special. Nobunaga didn't just want Azuchi to be a military installation, he wanted it to impress with sheer lavishness and pomp. I guess you get what you pay for because Azuchi is known to this day as one of Japan's most important historical sites.

Toshiyuki Nishida, star of the "Tsuribaka nisshi" films as well as Koki Mitani's "The Magic Hour", stars as the master carpenter who designed the castle and Kippei Shiina plays Nobunaga. official site as well as the teaser trailer below. The film is due out in Japanese theatres on September 12th.