Japan actor gives his all to play shogi master in 'Satoshi'

TOKYO (AP) — The devotion Kenichi Matsuyama gave to portraying a shogi prodigy who lived a fearlessly single-minded life is clear in the months he spent practicing placing the pawns in the Japanese board game, immersing himself in the master's selfless view on death and gorging to gain weight.

The film portraying the angst-filled story of Satoshi Murayama, who died of bladder cancer at 29 in 1998, opens at theaters around Japan on Nov. 19.

Gorging on ice cream and rice cakes, he gradually felt he was morphing into Murayama, that all-out physical role-building that often grabs attention — Robert De Niro in "Raging Bull" or Charlize Theron in "Monster."

Even the way he walked, the way he carried himself, and the aches and twitches that followed, as well the way his mind worked, all changed, recalled Matsuyama, whose marital partner Koyuki played opposite Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai."

The tension of the shogi scenes — two people facing off, sitting Japanese-style on the floor, in thick silence, except for the click-clicks against the board — is gripping, even to audiences unfamiliar with the art.

The intense rivalry that's also a respectful love story with Yoshiharu Habu, still a shogi star today, drives the film, as dramatic as that between top-level athletes — Ted Williams versus Joe DiMaggio, Martina Navratilova versus Chris Evert, Bill Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain.

[...] there he is, standing as he always did, big, smiling, gazing at what's ahead, an everyday street corner that serves as a profound reminder that such a legacy, such passion for the game, is eternal.