http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Koyuki

Has anyone ever noticed that Koyuki almost always plays the
same acting role? She's always "the other woman" (aijin) that either gets
with the main actor or steals somebody's boyfriend/husband (or both :-).

Maybe it's just coincidence and I just happen to only watch
dramas where she plays those roles. The only other role I've
seen her play was in "Kimi wa Petto", where she takes in Matsumoto
Jun and raises him as her dog (seriously!)...haha.....

Is there some mystique behind her?
I know she's mid 30s and still unmarried.

My wife's friend doesn't like her apparently for her lack of facial expressions. I think Paris Hilton has her beat in that department. Fairly attractive woman that adds flavor to series in my opinion.

I've only seen this actress in IWGP, Kimi wa Petto (what little I saw of it), and a guest star in Mr. Brain so I can't say much about her being typecast or not. I know in Mr. Brain she wasn't stealing anyone's husband. Her husband was stolen from her in that one (and not with infidelity).

As I saw Last Samurai prior to learning Japanese, I didn't even remember that she was the actress till later. Then it was "Hey, that's the weird chick from IWGP" while Ken Watanabe was "Hey, it's that dude from Last Samurai".

Man, I wish more Japanese actors/actresses would stretch their wings and try out more Hollywood movies. Is it really just the lack of English skills stopping the ones that can act?

chamcham Wrote:I know she's mid 30s and still unmarried.

Mystery solved?

Nukemarine Wrote:My wife's friend doesn't like her apparently for her lack of facial expressions. I think Paris Hilton has her beat in that department. Fairly attractive woman that adds flavor to series in my opinion.

I've only seen this actress in IWGP, Kimi wa Petto (what little I saw of it), and a guest star in Mr. Brain so I can't say much about her being typecast or not. I know in Mr. Brain she wasn't stealing anyone's husband. Her husband was stolen from her in that one (and not with infidelity).

As I saw Last Samurai prior to learning Japanese, I didn't even remember that she was the actress till later. Then it was "Hey, that's the weird chick from IWGP" while Ken Watanabe was "Hey, it's that dude from Last Samurai".

Man, I wish more Japanese actors/actresses would stretch their wings and try out more Hollywood movies. Is it really just the lack of English skills stopping the ones that can act?

Haha....She's right about the lack of facial expression.

Yeah. Koyuki is a little weird, but that's what makes her different.
She's usually the cold-hearted, apathetic, emotionless, expressionless mistress.

I've always found it hard to imagine why she's picked for these roles.
I can't imagine too many Japanese men because attracted to that kind of woman.
Of course, not too many men in Japan like to watch j-drama.

Even when she kisses men, she hardly shows emotion. It's like she doesn't feel anything.
I don't really think it's bad acting, but rather just the way she is.

She was an expressionless - but deeply feeling - other woman in 'Fumo Chitai'. There was something a bit 気持ち悪い about 'Kimi wa Petto.' I'd like to see her in a more expressive roles to see what kind of range she has.

btw, a huge thanks to the person who recommended 'Fumo Chitai' (Ahibba?). I could relate to many aspects of it (trading company, Lockheed, politics, pottery, innocent 'other woman', love vs career, relative in Siberian prison in 60/70s.) Also interesting to learn it was a remake of an earlier show.

chamcham, I had the impression that some of those traditional qualities (beautiful, demure, reserved, refined, self-denying) were considered ideal by many Japanese men. :-)

edit: Kimi was Petto :-)

Thora Wrote:relative in Siberian prison in 60/70s.

So you had a relative in a Siberian prison?

uh ... yeah...my partner's father was released after 15 years when the Soviet Union allowed Jews to emigrate to Israel.

...but, given the topic, shouldn't you be asking instead about my falling in love with a married man? ;-)

Thora Wrote:...but, given the topic, shouldn't you be asking instead about my falling in love with a married man? ;-)

I'm more interested in your lack of emotion

huh? that was my lighthearted attempt to steer the thread back to "Koyuki - The Other Woman." [snip]

edit: oops - seems I missed the joke. Thx N

I think Asriel was making a joke about Koyuki or whoever being 'emotionless' and you relating to them and thus are also emotionless.

yeah, nestor hit it on the head.

im not sure if it even made sense in context, but what nestor said was my intention

I'm more interested in the word 'partner'. Do you fight crime?

I don't know why, but i really hate this woman.

I didn't like her in the Last Samurai, but I hated her more in Fumo Chitai. She was so irritating. I don't see the need for her role. Thanks God she did not marry Iki.

Thora Wrote:the person who recommended 'Fumo Chitai' (Ahibba?)

Yes, it's me

This drama has been one of the best dramas I've ever seen.

The final pisode is my favorite one. I think this episode takes the cake for best resignation in a drama ever. Catching everyone by surprise, myself included.

The last scene also surprisingly brought back the same emotions I saw in episode one. Which was really a brilliant way to end this drama; something I haven't seen in a long time.

Toshiaki Karasawa (Iki Tadashi) has won the Best Actor in 64th Television Drama Academy Awards. He truly deserves it.

Back to the topic, do you really think she reflects "those traditional qualities (beautiful, demure, reserved, refined, self-denying)"?

QuackingShoe Wrote:I'm more interested in the word 'partner'. Do you fight crime?

Nah, I'm a cowboy - we fight Indians.

'Partner' is quite common in my posse. Avoids any awkward gaffes and allows folks to maintain intriguingly ambiguous personal lives. I used 'friend with benefits' for the first 10 years, but that raised a few eyebrows at the office. ;p 'Significant other' is just weird, if you think about it.

I kept misinterpreting it as 'business partner' at first, but eventually got used to it. Hopefully a better catchall word will evolve one day.

The best word is obviously husband. You will hopefully one day put an end to your immoral way of life.

I'm a bit surprised that you actually had a relative in Siberia. I thought that you had just let that slip through somehow. Must have made the show that much more moving.

I should mention that most of "Fumo Chitai" is about the nexus of business and politics in Japan's post-war boom and the behind the scenes maneuvering. It includes the effects on personal lives and introduce some social commentary on the period, but that's not the focus. I was mostly interested in the business/nationalism/ethics/corruption/POW story lines. (It inspired me to learn more about the astonishing saga of the ~600,000 POWs in USSR and ongoing efforts at redress.)

Ahibba Wrote:I don't see the need for her role.

It wasn't a huge role. I saw her more as a vehicle to bring out other elements, such as:

- another side to Iki's personality (a more human side?)
- continued family/social expectations vs personal desires
- effects of a soldier's suicide on his family (throwing yourself into spirituality or work as a way of coping with trauma)
- the changing role of women (When Iki's daughter hopes for university and work, he suggests she should focus on marriage instead. Yet he was attracted to and respected a modern woman who pursued her dream of becoming an accomplished potter and kept putting off an arranged marriage. I got the impression women weren't potters then.)
- to contrast the role of the long suffering, competent wife of a workaholic; wife as mother not lover (then again, the independent lover wanted to pack for him too...)
- to contrast the personality of the shrewd bar hostess woman with the virtuous potter woman (Iki has no qualms exploiting the hostess' feelings for his own business gain, relies on her, and engages in arguably less ethical behaviour, yet still seems to look down on her)

btw, I caught a different ending, Ahibba, but I don't want to spoil it for others. I hope people will check out "Fumo Chitai". It's well done.

Eikyu Wrote:The best word is obviously husband. You will hopefully one day put an end to your immoral way of life.

Another joke?

Thora Wrote:I could relate to many aspects of it (trading company, Lockheed, politics, pottery...

Lockheed? I admit I haven't seen Fumo Chitai, but that seemed a little out of the blue. What's the connection? (and what's your connection to Lockheed? o_O)

mafried Wrote:What's the connection?

This is the connection.

Wow there's a whole wikipedia page for that?! Wow...

mafried Wrote:Lockheed? I admit I haven't seen Fumo Chitai, but that seemed a little out of the blue. What's the connection? (and what's your connection to Lockheed? o_O)

hi mafried. My connection is work involving anti-bribery matters in general (unrelated to Lockheed) and various work related to the satellite industry (where Lockheed is a supplier of launch vehicles).

Quote:Wow there's a whole wikipedia page for that?!

Unfortunately, some people still associate Lockheed with bribery the way many associate Nixon with Watergate. Which shouldn't be a surprise, I suppose, if you consider that the scope, scale and seriousness of the Lockheed scandal. In Japan, in particular, it was a huge deal.

Yeah, I was surprised how many points of connection there were between my experiences and one TV show. (business and japanese pottery together?) There were other strange memory triggers too: organized crime 'businessmen', bureaucrat hostess bars, weird countries with weirder govts. But 'Fumo Chitai' is a show I think folks would enjoy even if they aren't normally uninterested in business or politics.

Now before I get accused of being unethical based on my exposure to that stuff (despite no understanding of the circumstances or my actions, I might add), I want to ensure you that my behaviour has been completely ethical. Both at work and in my private life.

BTW Eikyu, could you pls let me know what you meant earlier? I'd prefer to clear that up if I can, but I'm not really sure if you were serious or what you were referring to. thx

@Thora - Going by Eikyu's past posts, I'm going to go with it was probably another joke, based on the deliberate ambiguity of the word 'partner', i.e. wittily assuming the 'worst' and taking on a fundamentalist perspective and/or perhaps toying with the 'out of wedlock' type connotations of the word 'partner' as well?

Well, Thora, if you still remember me after all those years, I am your (ex)husband, the one you left to go with that "partner". And here I am, on this internet forum, still bitter and vengeful and urging you to return to our happy and church-sanctioned life.

Or not. I was simply trying to make some type of joke concerning the proper name that you should find for your "partner". My other suggestion would have been boy toy.

To return to that other topic, I find quite interesting that you have worked in the satellite industry, in hostess bars and with corrupt bureaucrats (not to mention the pottery). Were you working as a secret agent by any chance?

"I want to ensure you that my behaviour has been completely ethical"

And I'm supposed to believe that? You'll have to explain your association with those hostess bars and organized crime businessmen further

Thora Wrote:

mafried Wrote:Lockheed? I admit I haven't seen Fumo Chitai, but that seemed a little out of the blue. What's the connection? (and what's your connection to Lockheed? o_O)

hi mafried. My connection is work involving anti-bribery matters in general (unrelated to Lockheed) and various work related to the satellite industry (where Lockheed is a supplier of launch vehicles).

Ah, I see. I work for Lockheed on a NASA contract.. small world! I wasn't aware of that history, but suddenly that ridiculous, over-the-top anti-corruption training we have to go through every year makes sense.

Thora Wrote:There were other strange memory triggers too: organized crime 'businessmen', bureaucrat hostess bars...

Your back story gets more and more interesting!

mafried Wrote:Ah, I see. I work for Lockheed on a NASA contract.. small world!

Interesting. You can probably appreciate the ITARs headaches. So...a NASA martial arts expert - isn't that every boy's ultimate dream?!

Eikyu Wrote:Were you working as a secret agent by any chance?

No, but I had to sleep with a few of them. I'll never understand the whole James Bond fascination - the bureaucrats were way better.

As for sarcasm, it seems I'm quite hopeless without either a or Nest0r's help. (I should refrain from further personal revelation until I grow a thicker skin... or a less suspicious mind.) Cheers.