Sakuraba Nanami, Asano Tadanobu & Yukisada Isao win APN Awards

Sakuraba Nanami, Asano Tadanobu and director Yukisada Isao were given the APN Awards on 26 October for their contributions to Asia's film industry for the year. APN stands for the Asia Pacific Producers Network which is made up of producers from 7 Asian countries including Japan and China.

Sakuraba who will be appearing in the Hong Kong & China joint product "MANHUNT" directed by John Woo that will be shown in cinemas next year and had acted in the Taiwanese drama "Love of Sandstorm" which began in September, had been going on homestays in Taiwan and Shangai since last year and going for classes to learn Mandarin and Korean. As such, she has become fluent in Mandarin and is able to conduct daily conversations in Korean. When she was making her speech, Sakuraba spoke in Japanese, Mandarin and Korean and expressed her wish to appear in more Asian movies which was met with cheers and claps from the audience.

Upon hearing Sakuraba's speech, Asano revealed that he had received a script consisting of 2 volumes of Mongolian lines so he's prepared to go anywhere in the world as long as there is an offer to him. When asked if there's any country in the Asia Pacific which he's particularly interested in, Asano joked that he would like to act in Japan since he's been overseas most of the time that he feels like he's a tourist whenever he comes home.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi