The winners of the "53rd Blue Ribbon Awards", chosen by reporters from the seven major newspapers in Tokyo, were already announced one month ago, but the actual ceremony to honor all of the great actors and movies just happened today.

Tsumabuki Satoshi won "Best Starring Actor" for his amazing acting in "Akunin", and Ikuta Toma received "Rookie of the Year" for his first movie, �Ningen Shikkaku� (The Fallen Angel), but both of them were in a difficult situation today. Even though the Blue Ribbon is one of the most respected awards for an actor in Japan, they both had to show up for their stage plays at 7 PM.

Ikuta is currently starring in "Mishima Double", whereas Tsumabuki is playing the lead in "Minami e" (To the South). Considering the preparation of the costumes and the make-up, both actors were pressed to leave the ceremony at 5 PM.

However, host Shofukutei Tsurube decided to do things at his own pace and didn't stop talking about Tsumabuki's role in "Akunin". Tsumabuki tried to hurry things along by asking,�"Aren't you exhausted already? Please follow the script~!" The audience knew about their conflicting schedules and laughed at his funny attempt at stopping Shoufukutei from wandering off the point.

After receiving the awards, there should only have been a short session for photographs, but Tsurube decided to turn it into a mini interview event. In the end both actors were only able to leave at 5:20 PM, which was a little late, but they still made it in time for their performances.

Note: No official picture of Ikuta due to Johnny's Entertainment policy.

Source: Sanspo