A three-hour-long period drama about kabuki, a centuries-old form of Japanese theater, doesn’t exactly sound like box office gold. But star Ken Watanabe — a veteran actor known for Hollywood movies like Inception and Detective Pikachu — initially didn’t think it was a good idea. There’s Kikuo Tachibana (Ryo Yoshizawa), the orphaned son of a yakuza boss who is taken on as an apprentice by legendary kabuki actor Hanjiro (Watanabe). “My role was to watch these two characters from being a child to becoming these great kabuki actors, so I was this watchful eye throughout their careers,” Watanabe explains. Then maybe a month later, we couldn’t believe the success.”Despite his initial reservations, working on Kokuho has been a rewarding experience for Watanabe.