''Food Luck'' is a 2020 Japanese drama film written and directed by

Jimon Terakado , better known as , is a Japanese comedian who is represented by the talent agency, Ohta Production. He is part of the comedy trio, Dachou Club. He is well known for his love of food, in particular beef, and appears often on gourmet programs on TV ...

of the comedy trio Dachou Club. The plot centers on Yoshito Sato, a freelance writer who was born into a family that ran a popular

yakiniku ''Yakiniku'' (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term that, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat cuisine. "Yakiniku" originally referred to western "barbecue" food, the term being popularized by Japanese writer ...

restaurant and now embarks on a food journey to find the flavors of home, with young reporter Shizuka Takenaka. It stars Naoto and

Tao Tsuchiya is a Japanese actress, model, dancer, lyricist and singer. She is best known for her memorable role of Makimachi Misao in the movie series ''Rurouni Kenshin'', Mai Nakahara in '' The 8-Year Engagement'', Koharu in '' The Cinderella Addiction'' a ...

, with

Ken Ishiguro is a Japanese film, television and voice actor. He has appeared in more than 80 films since 1979. He is the son of Osamu Ishiguro was a tennis player from Japan. Career He played his first tournament in 1959 at the Asian Championships ...

, Satoru Matsuo,

Yasufumi Terawaki is a Japanese actor. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize for '' Aibō The Movie''. Selected filmography Film * '' Mangetsu no Kuchizuke'' (1989) * ''Kinako'' (2011) * '' Samurai Hustle'' (2014) * ''My Lov ...

, Hakuryu and Ryo in supporting roles. Some scenes were shot in several actual yakiniku restaurants around Japan that Terakado Jimon loved and recommended as a

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

. The film premiered at the

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

on November 4, 2020, then received a national release in Japan on November 20, 2020. It was set to be released in Hong Kong on May 6 and in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

on June 18, 2021.

Plot

Yoshito's mother, Yasue, runs the yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant "Negishi-en" by herself, which was the only memento left to her by her husband, who died. For Yasue, running the restaurant with only her hands, raising her son, and serving home-cooked food with love is a happy time. For Yoshito, too, eating delicious home-cooked food was a time of bliss. Although Negishi-en was loved by the public, the number of customers decreased drastically due to an untrue article written by Furuyama, a popular gourmet critic. Just as the restaurant was starting to come back to life after the shock, young Yoshito decided to do something to free his mother from her busy life and spend more time with him. Eighteen years later, Yoshihito runs away from home and works as a dull

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

writer. One day, he and his editor, Shizuka Takenaka, are asked to launch a new gourmet information website that collects only "real" food. The theme of the first project is the ill-fated yakiniku. Yoshito decides to take on the job, but as he struggles with his work, he receives news that his estranged mother Yasue has collapsed. Unable to prepare himself to see Yasue on her sickbed, Yoshihito encounters the nostalgic taste of Negishien at many of the famous restaurants he visits for interviews. He enjoys the food there, and begins to understand his mother's feelings through his relationships with people. Through these connections with people, he learns about his mother's thoughts and feelings, and a change occurs within Yoshihito. Yoshito, who is guided by "food luck," discovers a miracle of sorts in the end.

Cast

* Naoto as Yoshito Sato *

as Shizuka Takenaka *

as Eiji Shinsei *

Satoru Matsuo is a Japanese actor and voice actor, known for starring in ''Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and visual effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures a ...

as Tatsuya Furuyama *

as Tomohiro Yamada * Hakuryu as Jiro Takizawa * Chizuru Azuma as Sayuri Takizawa *

Toshihiro Yashiba is a Japanese actor represented by JFCT. Filmography TV series Films References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yashiba, Toshihiro Japanese male actors 1971 births Living people People from Sōka ...

as Takahiro Nishida *

Miwako Kakei Miwako (written: 美和子, 三和子 or 実和子) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese actress *, Japanese model, actress and television personality *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese synchronized swi ...

as Ryoko Matoba *

Yo Oizumi is a Japanese actor, comedian, television personality and voice actor. He is a member of the theatrical and musical unit TEAM NACS, and is represented by Creative Office Cue. His wife Kumiko Nakajima is a drama producer at Fuji TV. In 1995, w ...

(special appearance) as Minoru Ozaki *

Shinya Owada is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. He is represented with Horipro Booking Agency. He rusticated from Waseda University First Literature Department. Biography Owada is the youngest son of three children. (he has an older brother an ...

as Tadayoshi Toyokawa *

Raita Ryū is a Japanese actor. He is well known for his role as Gorisan (Detective Ishizuka) in ''Taiyō ni Hoero!''. He has a son , who is a musician and guitarist. Once, he belonged to Toshiro Mifune's production company. Selected filmography Films *' ...

as Yuji Ishihara * Ryo as Yasue Sato

Release

After its premiere at the

on November 4, 2020, the film was released in Japan on November 20, 2020. It was set to be released in Hong Kong and in

on May 6 and June 18, 2021 respectively.

Marketing

''Food Luck'' was announced on November 29, 2019 as the first film directed by

, while it was revealed on the same time that it would be a film based on his rich experience in food and focus on yakiniku. On July 29, 2020, Naoto and

was announced to star the film together, with the arrival of the first trailer.

, Satoru Matsuo,

, Hakuryu and Ryo was also announced to appear in the film. The poster was released on August 29, and

Ketsumeishi is a four-member Japanese pop and hip hop group that incorporates singing and rapping into their music. They have had several major hits in Japan, including " Sakura", which reached number two on the Oricon yearly chart for 2005 and was featured ...

was announced to sing the theme song. On November 4, 2020, Naoto,

, and director

attended the premiere of the film after they attended the red carpet event of

on October 31. A greeting event celebrating the release of the film was held in Tokyo on November 21, 2020, with Naoto and

and

attending. On November 29, another special greeting event that celebrated the release of the film was held in a cinema in Tokyo. Naoto and

attended the event together, both wearing Studio Seven, a fashion brand ran by Naoto himself.

Reception

Critical Review

The film was well-received by the public and critics, ranking No. 1 in

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

Movie Reviews and Ratings for the week of its release. Freelance writer Tatsuya Masutou agreed with many of the audiences, stating that it is a film that make you want to go to "

" (grilled meat), and film critic LiLiCo praised the film for it would "lead you to such a wonderful life of deliciousness and fun!" Just as writer Youzo Kawai concluded about the film: "And as a foodie and a director,

's presentation of the manner of "yakiniku" (grilled meat) will surprise you."

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, tt13181596 2020 films 2020s Japanese-language films Japanese drama films Cooking films Films about chefs Films about families 2020 drama films Films about food and drink