Kenichi Matsuyama at Hiroshima Station

After passing through the ticketed gates to wait to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Kyoto at Hiroshima Station, first I was excited to see my Fab Five [link] , and then immediately to the right was a small waiting area before you then go on to the platform. I was also thrilled to see this Matsuken huge standee. Our guide for that day, who I'd especially bonded with as the tour only had seven people, explained he was an extremely popular actor in Japan who was going to film a project in the region.

He was pretty surprised when I told him I knew who he was, as I've seen a couple of his films here in America... I told him earlier in the year my best friends and I went to the US premiere of GANTZ at our local theater where he appeared live via satellite from Hollywood before and after the movie.

The reason he's holding a gigantic rice scoop, and I'll post more pics of that aspect later, I think, is that Miyajima, where we had gone earlier in the day, is known for making those.