I think it's very hard to direct foreign language actors, but Carl Rinsch found a great way. A special super visional way.

I was a child actor, so when I started filming when I was five years old, it was a long time ago.

When I was eight or nine years old, I saw the TV version of 47 Ronin, played by Toshiro Mifune. He played Oishi. That was my first experience. I watched every week with my brother. "Who plays Oishi tonight? Who will play Kira tonight?" And we fought every week.

Carl Rinsch has a good balance between the visual and the drama and action, so I thought if he's going to direct, we can make a new, epic film. My fear was gone when I met him.

I am glad to be here to create a new history in our industry. I'm very proud of this.

It was a black and white film [at first]. And then it changed to colour film, and I was surprised and culture shocked when I was six or seven years old. And then HD, then 3D now. So what's going? What's coming next? It's so exciting.

None of us knows how long he shall live or when his time will come. But soon, all that will be left of our brief lives is the pride our children feel when they speak our names.