Keiko Toda | Fukagawa Group's Work

Keiko Toda | Director Eiichiro Fukagawa's "Patisserie Coin de Rue"

The Work of the Fukagawa Team

Finally, I've been freed from adult circumstances (laughs).
The film "Patisserie Coin de Rue" is scheduled for release next February.
Filming took place in Nakameguro, Tokyo, from late October to early December last year, during the cold season. As the title suggests, it's a story about patissiers. This is my second collaboration with director Eiichiro Fukagawa, following "Love Letter at 60." He's still quite young, only 34 years old, a talented and noteworthy young director.

Compiled by K-co Toda

The Film "Patisserie Coin de Rue" Where the Entire Cast Studied Cake Making

Tōmura (Yosuke Eguchi), once hailed as a legendary patissier, disappeared from the sweets world eight years ago for a certain reason. Natsume (Yū Aoi), the daughter of a cake shop owner, comes to Tokyo from Kagoshima to find her estranged lover. These two, by chance, meet at Coin de Rue, the shop run by my character, Yoriko.

It's a charming shop. I play a patissier myself, but my character is in an international marriage. She met Julian (Nathan Berg), also a patissier, while training overseas, and they run the shop together. The entire cast studied cake making. We even attended "Ecole Tsuji Tokyo." While dizzy from the sweet, sweet smell of buttercream, we learned cake making, mainly how to use tubes and spatulas. In the end, I didn't get to showcase my skills— (laughs).

I always had a pleasant time during the waiting periods with Nathan, who plays my husband.
Nathan is quite multi-talented; he's been a university professor in Dallas and also works as a musician. We really hit it off. There's a scene in the movie where Nathan plays guitar and sings in a park on his day off. It's a truly beautiful scene. Our patissier appearances were also very well-received. Please look forward to it.

In the film "Into the White Night," I played the protagonist's mother.

And another film with Director Fukagawa.

I participated in "Into the White Night." This marks my third project with the Fukagawa team. This work is a complete 180-degree departure from my previous projects, and I deeply admire Director Fukagawa's spirit of trying anything. That's why I also took on what might be considered a somewhat unusual role for me in "Into the White Night." I played the mother of the protagonist, Ryōji Kirihara. The story—everyone knows it, right? It's a bit grim... or rather, reading the original novel made my heart clench. My Showa-era fashion is also something to see. It's scheduled for release around next spring.
Please look forward to both of these films from the Fukagawa team.