Masahiro Motoki and Ryoko Hirosue will star in Yojiro Takita's newest film, "Okuribito." The story is inspired by author Shinmon Aoki's "Coffinman," the tale of a man coming to grips with his new job of preparing bodies for coffins. Motoki plays the lead character in the movie, while Hirosue plays his wife. Tsutomu Yamazaki has been cast as Motoki's boss.

Television writer Kundo Koyama is in charge of the script, his first for a movie. Shochiku is handling distribution. Filming ended in the middle of this month, and a release date has been set for next year.