Born in Osaka in 1958, Junji Sakamoto has set many of his 13 feature films, including his award-winning 1989 debut "Dotsuitarunen," in his native Kansai. He arrived for our interview at the Takanawa Prince Hotel looking dapper in a retro-style suit that he later told me had been worn by an actor friend in a yakuza movie. Not quite 1947, but close enough. He spoke in a baritone voice that somehow seemed big for his slight frame -- a good tool for the director of a heavily populated film like "Kono Yo no Soto E."
How difficult was it to re-create the look and feel of the period?
It's not a period I'm personally familiar with, so the big question for me was whether the film would be true to reality. No matter how many photos I looked at or books I read or documentary films I saw, I had not experienced that period myself.