Letters from Naoko Iijima

Even though I check my letterbox daily for a letter from Naoko Iijima I don’t actually have any yet. I just thought that the title sounded cool, a play on words from the movie Letters from Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood and starring the legendary Ken Watanabe.

The last time I tweaked a movie title for an article heading I managed to pick up the scraps of the internet traffic looking for The Deer Hunter. Talk about Search Engine Optimisation. That’s me, aficionado of all things SEO.

Anyways, in the spirit of Letters from Iwo Jima, I would like to ‘raise a flag’ for my first love of Japan, Naoko Iijima. But first, a bit of background…

My first exposure to Japanese cinematography was the 1999 movie Messengers. It is a movie about a turf war between the bicycle messengers and motorbike messengers as they tear through the streets of Tokyo.

Messengers

This movie had some sentimental value to me as in a few scenes they rode down a street in Hatsudai that I lived in. Also, I fell in love with Naoko Iijima, the main actress in the movie. Here is a trailer for Messengers:

After I met my lovely wife zoomz I asked her politely if I could lay down a ground rule and she said okay. Thus, I told her that although we had an exclusive relationship, if I was ever propositioned by Naoko Iijima then Naoko Iijima had priority. zoomz agreed to my delusion.

I was rating myself at a 10 million-to-1 chance. The point being is that there was a chance, however slight. Then in 2001 Naoko Iijima announced that she was divorcing her husband (the lead singer of the J-Pop-rock band Tube, Maeda Nobuteru) after 3 years of marriage. My chances for an indiscretion had now effectively doubled, I now put my odds at 5 million-to-1.

Naoko, if you are reading this, me and you, one night, I have permission.

No shrine would be complete without some vital statistics about Naoko Iijima.

Naoko Iijima

Naoko Iijima (飯島直子) is a Japanese actress, born on February 29, 1968 in Yokohama, Japan. That’s right, a leap day baby.

Naoko Iijima

She is a talented actress who has starred in j-dramas such as ‘Wedding Planner’, ‘Bus Stop’, and ‘Otousan’.

Naoko Iijima

Naoko Iijima

In 1994 she appeared in Georgia Coffee advertising.

Naoko Iijima

Naoko Iijima

Apparently she is also a talented vocalist and was a member of the B’z cover group W-NAO.

Naoko Iijima

And finally, I leave you with this video. The showering assassin.