Lead Role Decided by '10-Year Aged Rice Bran Paste' Presentation at Audition. An Era Where Fermentation Power Matters More Than Acting Skills

At the audition for maverick director Kurokawa’s new film, actors brought not resumes but their secret rice bran paste. The director stated, “Good acting comes from good bacteria,” and conducted casting based on the acidity and aroma of rice bran paste rather than actors’ careers. The lead role was won by a third-generation owner of a long-established pickle shop with zero acting experience.

The audition venue somewhere in Tokyo was filled with unusual heat and the distinctive aroma emitted by lactic acid bacteria. A veteran actor in a tuxedo respectfully held a cedar barrel inherited from his grandmother’s generation, while a young handsome actor appealed with a glass jar along with organic vegetables he grew himself. What they were competing for was the lead role audition for “Fermenting Soul,” a new work by Director Ryuji Kurokawa, who shook Cannes. The only judging criterion was “the quality of rice bran paste.”

“The soul of an actor resides in the intestines. And what reflects that intestinal environment is the rice bran paste nurtured with care,” the director passionately explains. According to the director, role preparation is essentially bacteria preparation. The ecosystem of countless microorganisms contained in rice bran paste tells the very depth of an actor’s expression. The judging was conducted through a solemn ritual where the director himself scooped up rice bran paste with his finger, tasted it, and confirmed its aroma.

“Your rice bran paste has too much acidity. You’re misunderstanding the character’s anguish.” “What is this lack of aroma? It’s proof you can only do superficial acting.” A veteran with 30 years of career was dismissed as “lacking depth,” and a young actor popular on SNS was instantly seen through as “smelling like a commercial kit.” The venue reportedly echoed with the sobs of actors whose careers had been completely denied.

Among many warriors who fell, the one who won the lead role was a completely unknown person with zero acting experience: Tokozō Nukada (45), the third-generation owner of the long-established pickle shop “Nukadaya.” When the director tasted the 10-year aged rice bran paste he brought, he shed tears, saying, “This is it…! This complex umami and the faintly fragrant melancholy of yeast. The genealogy of bacteria woven by 100 years of history is the very fate the protagonist carries,” and decided on the casting on the spot.

The film industry is in turmoil over this unprecedented selection method. The Japan Actors Union issued a protest statement saying it “significantly undervalues actors’ skills and experience.” Meanwhile, some critics have praised it as “an antithesis to formalized acting theory” and “the dawn of post-Method acting,” and the debate is heated. There are rumors that some major entertainment agencies have already set up “rice bran paste cultivation courses” for their talents and invited fermentation specialists as instructors.

In an interview, Mr. Nukada showed confusion, saying, “Eh, I’m the lead? I’m happy that my rice bran paste was praised, but I can’t say lines. I do talk to cucumbers every morning though…” What kind of chemical reaction will the “fermentation power” cultivated by his rice bran paste create on screen?

Now, should actors possess chameleon-like acting skills, or the management ability not to let things mold? A new evaluation standard for the film industry may be quietly but steadily beginning to ferment in rice bran paste.

Stakeholder Comments

• Director Ryuji Kurokawa: “What appears on screen isn’t the actor’s face, but their intestinal flora. In Nukada’s rice bran paste, I saw a galaxy.”
• Lead Actor Tokozō Nukada: “I have to pickle cucumbers tomorrow too, so what time does filming start?”
• Veteran Actor Who Failed the Audition: “For 40 years, I believed in Stanislavski. From today, I believe in Pasteur.”
• Nukada Family’s Rice Bran Paste (10-year vintage): “Finally, the era has caught up with me. I will show you my best performance.”
• Lactic Acid Bacteria (residing in Nukada family): “Our diversity has been recognized. It’s deeply moving.”
• Film Critic Buttōmen Tarō: “This is an incident. Acting history will be divided into ‘before rice bran paste’ and ‘after rice bran paste.’”
• President of Major Entertainment Agency: “I immediately had a huge fermentation room built in our company’s basement. Next is miso or natto…”
• Pickled Cucumber: “If someone is going to represent my feelings, I thought it could only be Mr. Nukada.”
• Audition Venue Floor: “I’ve absorbed the tears of many great actors and spilled rice bran. I’m a witness to history.”
• American Fermented Foods Association: “Wonderful. This method should definitely be introduced in Hollywood too. Let’s make the Oscar statue a golden jar.”

International Expressions

Haiku

• Kneading bacteria / To live the role / The actor does
• On the silver screen / Is it a face or / Rice bran paste
• Barrel’s aroma / Echoing in Cannes / Fermentation sound
• Even great actors / Fall and shed tears / Of salt content
• Autumn sky / The lead is the pickle shop’s / Old man
• Resume thrown away / Stirring / My future
• Knowing acidity / That is a man’s / Melancholy
• Pickling cucumbers / Pickling the protagonist’s / Feelings
• Umami is / The soul’s cry / It seems
• Yeast weeps / In the director’s eyes / Something shines

Kanji / Chinese Characters

鬼才監督 新作俳優審査 履歴書不要 持参秘伝糠床 演技力非 発酵力問 酸味香気配役断行 主演漬物屋三代目

Emoji

🎬👨‍🎨➡️🥒🏺➡️🧐👃👅➡️🏆➡️👨‍🌾

Onomatopoeia

Zawazawa… Kunkun… Nettori, Zakku. Pero… Uun…! Kiran! ✨ Don! Gaan… Shikushiku… Wahhahha!

SNS

• #FermentationAudition
• The day my rice bran paste lost to a lead actor
• #WhatIsActingSkill
• Director Kurokawa, truly too much of a genius lol
• Does my grandma’s rice bran paste have a chance?
• #FermentationActivityChangesActors
• An era to write rice bran paste history in your profile
• Nukada-san, do your best!
• I’ll go buy cucumbers tomorrow
• #WantToConnectWithMovieLoversButAlsoWithFermentationLovers