In the cross-hairs of rival samurais

WHEN the late acclaimed Japanese playwright Hisashi Inoue wrote one of his last scripts before he died in 2010, he wrote knowing exactly which actors he wanted as his main characters, and which director he wanted to stage it.

So when Musashi made its debut in Japan that same year, the two main characters were played by Death Note's (2006) Tatsuya Fujiwara and Kaiji Ito from the Kaiji movie series, just as Inoue had envisioned.

As for his chosen director, that role went to distinguished Japanese theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, best-known for his productions of Shakespeare classics and Greek plays all performed in Japanese.