Ogawa Miyu: My goal is to express myself through acting

■ Profile

She worked as a professional dancer while in junior high school, and began working as an actress in her second year of high school. Her first film was the lead role in "The Last Star" directed by Sara Ogawa. She then gained attention for her powerful acting in films such as "Side Profile" directed by Koji Fukada and "Brain Paradise" directed by Masashi Yamamoto. Some time after her debut, she was once again selected to play the lead role in Sara Ogawa's first feature film, "Goldfish by the Seaside."

Ogawa Miyu has been active as a dancer since she was in junior high school, but made the transition to acting in her second year of high school. She will play the main character, Setoguchi Hana, in the film "Goldfish by the Sea," due for release on June 25, 2021. We take a closer look at the real Ogawa, who began acting with the desire to "become someone who can create their own expressions, rather than just being given what they're given," and her future dreams.

■ A desire to express herself led her to become an actress

I took many lessons from a young age, including ballet, piano, dance, calligraphy, and choir. I wanted to further pursue my passion, dance, so I started attending dance school in my second year of junior high school. Sometimes I had to leave school early to attend lessons, which was tough, but I never hated it. Through these experiences, including working as a backup dancer for artists and touring around the country, I realized that rather than just following choreography, I wanted to be someone who could create my own expression, and so I decided to pursue acting. I remember feeling very embarrassed at first, perhaps because I wasn't used to memorizing scripts and acting. However, as I gradually learned to express myself through acting, my embarrassment faded away. Perhaps because acting was something I'd always wanted to do, I wasn't particularly anxious when I decided to pursue a career as an actress.

■During filming, there are more down-to-earth things than fun things.

It's also very stimulating to meet and interact with various people, including the director and staff, on set. Even if you don't fully grasp the work at first, you often begin to understand it as you talk with various people on set who are of different generations, personalities, and areas of expertise. When there's something I don't understand, rather than thinking about it and not being able to ask anything, I make a conscious effort to ask as many questions as I can, like a child. This job only works because of the people, after all. Also, I think that while filming a work, there are more gritty and difficult times than fun ones. But I love the process of working hard and collaborating with various people to create a work, and I feel truly happy when I can deliver the finished product to the audience.

■ Starring in the film "Goldfish by the Sea" as a girl raised in an orphanage

In "Goldfish by the Sea," I play Hana, an 18-year-old girl who grew up in an orphanage. The story follows Hana as she struggles to decide how to live her life and what path to take during her last summer at the orphanage. It wasn't an easy role or project, and there were many difficult moments, but every scene I played left a strong impression on me. Hana and I grew up in different environments and don't have very similar personalities, so it was difficult to grasp her emotions. The filming took place in Akune City, Kagoshima, where the sea is beautiful. While gazing out at the beautiful ocean, I would ponder and write down in my notebook what kind of clothes and accessories she would wear and what she would think when faced with life's choices. Hana and I are different in many ways, but I admire her strong will as a person. While this story is fiction, I believe it portrays people resilient enough to survive a summer. I hope you'll see it on the big screen.

■You never know when you're going to die. So always think about what you want to do.

Recently, I enjoy spending my time writing songs. In addition to learning the piano from a young age, I started playing the guitar two years ago. During the self-isolation period due to COVID-19, I practiced a lot and spent my time turning my thoughts into songs. Although I don't write songs to show to anyone, I also make my own music videos for the songs I write. Also, since I started writing songs, I've become interested in instruments like the flute and piccolo.
I've also started writing more poetry. When I auditioned for a drama I filmed last year, the director read a poem I had written and praised it... I was very embarrassed to show the poems I had written, but I was very happy to have someone praise something that I had put into words, expressing my casual feelings. I hope to continue creating songs, poems, and photographs in the future.
I'm often asked, "What do you want to do in the future?" but I don't have any specific goals. However, you never know when you're going to die. That's why I want to create my works while thinking about what I want to do and what I want to create.

■ I want to preserve the things that are important to me in a tangible form.

These days, everything can be done on a smartphone. But I feel a little lonely when everything is done digitally. The other day, I was listening to a CD I borrowed from my father, and I realized, "I can listen to the music my father used to listen to, but I often listen to my favorite music digitally, so my children might not know what kind of music I used to listen to." At that moment, I felt very lonely, thinking that there was no physical trace of myself. Today's world is overflowing with material things, for better or worse, and it's easy to lose track of what you truly love. That's why I want to preserve as many of the things I truly cherish as possible. And I think it would be very nice if, by preserving them in a physical form, future generations could inherit the things that I cherish.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on October 12, 2021 by Honoka Hama, a third-year student at Toyo University

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Movie "Goldfish on the Shore"
[Release date] Released on June 25, 2021　　　
[Theaters] Shinjuku Cinema Qualite, Cine Libre Umeda, Kagoshima Mitte, and others　　　　
[Distributor] Toei Video
[Official Twitter] @UmibeKingyo　
【Official site】umibe-kingyo.com
[Notice]https://youtu.be/_OruL3iJItU　

cast
Miyu Ogawa
Hanada Ruai, Serizawa Okito, Fukuzaki Nayuta, Yamada Kinuo

STORY
Hana (Ogawa Miyu), an 18-year-old girl who grew up in a home for orphaned children, is living in her last summer there. Then, an 8-year-old girl, Harumi (Hanada Rua), enters the home. Seeing a part of herself in Harumi, Hana begins to feel emotions she's never felt before as she spends time with her.

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