The fourth and final day of the 10th Okinawan International Movie Festival on April 22 featured a red carpet event, where movie fans could not only see their favorite stars, but even get autographs and take selfies together.

Sudden heavy rain and thunder caused a delay, but hundreds of fans lined both sides of Naha’s historic Kokusai-dori street, patiently waiting for the rain to let up. When the call was made for the event to go ahead, stars began to appear on the red carpet stretching from Mutsumibashi Intersection down to Tenbusu Plaza. There were also representatives from sponsors such as Orion Beer and Nihon Terebi, NGOs and local municipalities.

Young female fans screamed with delight when they saw actor Jun Shison from the film Dolmen X. Everyone was excited to see revered rakugo comedian and TV presenter Katsura Bunshi VI, greeting him with his catch phrase “iirasshai!” meaning “welcome.”

Akiko Oku, the director of the Japanese comedy When A Beautiful Woman Tries Joining Marriage Hunting walked down the carpet with her cast, including lead actress Mei Kurokawa and actor Tomoya Nakamura. There were teams from several Okinawan-set films, including Memories of Whale Island, Jimami Tofu and Born Bone Boom. Fans cheered when they saw the director of Born Bone Boom, Toshiyuki Teruya, an Okinawan-born comedian well known on Japanese television and a familiar presence at the 10th Okinawan International Movie Festival where he has served as MC at several events.

Toshiyuki Teruya was not the only Okinawan star to walk the red carpet. There were also actor Shogen, from the wild drama Smokin' On The Moon, Rino Nakasone from the food drama Jimami Tofu and actress Meisa Kuroki, who got a huge reaction from the crowd with her first appearance at the Festival. “It took 10 years for me to be invited,” joked Kuroki, who hosted a new event at the festival named “My Favorite Movie.”

Popular actor Hiroshi Abe took time to shake hands and sign autographs along the red carpet, saying “I am so thankful people are here to support us even in the rain.”

• Tweet