‘Bullet Train Explosion’ Director Shinji Higuchi Talks Casting Singer-Actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi & The Film’s Moral Questions

Directed by veteran filmmaker Shinji Higuchi and starring singer-actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Bullet Train Explosion is the latest lively, highly-charged tentpole title on Netflix‘s Japanese slate. Bullet Train Explosion follows a ‘shinkansen’ (bullet train) bound for Tokyo, which soon comes under a bomb threat. The American films from the 1970s still have a big impact on me.”Higuchi says that he has wanted to make Bullet Train Explosion for nearly 20 years. Casting Kusanagi in Bullet Train Explosion — a former member of SMAP, one of Japan’s most popular boybands from the late 1980s to the early 2000s — took nearly 20 years, partially due to issues with Higuchi’s former management agency. “When you’re making film in Japan, there are limitations and rules that you have to follow,” says Higuchi.