The solidly "young cool" reputations of actors Matsuyama Kenichi (24) and Oscar nominee Kikuchi Rinko (28) no doubt helped them land the lead roles in the movie version of "Noruwei no Mori" (Norwegian Wood). The first big screen adaptation of Murakami Haruki's legendary 1987 novel was first announced last summer. Under the eye of Vietnamese-born French director Tran Anh Hung, filming of winter scenes already took place back in February and full-scale filming is set to start on June 1. The novel's protagonist is a businessman looking back on the loves and losses of his university days in the 1960s, when he was more interested in American fiction than in the student radicalism of the time. It has sold over 9 million copies in Japan alone and has been translated into 36 languages. But Murakami is famously protective of...


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