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According to
Honoh Shizukani © Takeshi Yamaguchi 1990 In December 1987, Japanese producer Yousuke Mizuno received a phone call from screenplay writer Renaldo Schrader. He was told, "Michael Douglas will make a movie located in Japan and he needs your help." In Japan, BLACK RAIN began with this phone call. The project started officially in late February 1988. Director Ridley Scott and the film's producers came to Japan. Scott was not satisfied with Tokyo as a location because it was too different from his image of the Far East. Also, obtaining permission to shoot on the streets of Tokyo seemed too difficult. In April, they decided to shoot in Osaka, which is the biggest city in the western area of Japan. When Mr. John Lone appeared in Year of the Dragon, Yusaku Matsuda was shocked and touched because Mr. Lone was an Asian who played an equal role with American actors. In April 1984, the Japanese film The Family Game screened at the New Directors/New Films Festival in New York City. Director Yoshimitsu Morita and leading actor Yusaku Matsuda were invited to attendand they were interviewed by many American reporters. This film received a fairly high evaluation and was released in big cities in the States. For Yusaku, his goal of stardom in America was coming into range by this success. Auditions for BLACK RAIN began in Japan in June 1987. Ken Takakura had already been offered a role, but more than 200 Japanese actors auditioned. Actors who reach a certain level of fame and success do not expect to have to audition or do a screen test anymore - it is an insult. However, many actors auditioned for BLACK RAIN. Still, some famous actors were afraid of injuring their pride by failure. On 22 June, Yusaku met with the American casting director at the Imperial Hotel. Yusaku did not know it, but he did not pass this first audition. However, the Japanese casting director was in favor of Yusaku and so he sent him to audition for Scott. On 9 July, Yusaku met Scott and producer Stanley Jaffe. Scott says, "I knew intuitively HE IS SATO! the first moment I saw him, even before we talked. It was the same feeling I had when I first saw Rutger Hauer." On 5 September 1988, the three final candidates for the role of Sato auditioned with Michael Douglas. Scott had already decided on Yusaku but he needed the agreement of Douglas and Jaffe. Yusaku asked Douglas to lend him his necktie, explaining, "I'd like to use it instead of handcuffs. Actually, I would like to tie my hand with yours." Douglas was surprised, but impressed. That night, Yusaku told his wife, "It was great! Michael Douglas was really wonderful! He was getting absorbed in his performance. He took off his jacket, and then continued to play. I did my best playing with him, though much of what we did was ad-lib. I feel, even if I lose the part, tonight was enough." While he was at a rehearsal for a TV drama, his producer and manager, Mitsuru Kurowasa, called to tell him he had won the part of Sato.    These pictures are taken from the final audition tape which shown on a TV special about Yusaku after his death. Yusaku was hospitalized the night of 29 September. He underwent emergency surgery for an obstruction of the bladder and consequently received a thorough medical check-up. Two days later, he was told he had cancer of the bladder. Yusaku asked his doctor, "Is it possible to postpone treatment for one year? I'm working on an American film and I've been hoping for this chance for a long time." Yusaku decided to give the film priority over the cancer treatment. After he left the hospital, he had costume fittings on 12 October, and he had a meeting with Scott in Osaka on 14 October. Scott wanted to get to know Yusaku better, and he asked him (and all Japanese cast members) to correct any mistakes in the screenplay, since the writer was not Japanese. 
On 25 October, a press conference was held to publicize BLACK RAIN. Michael Douglas, Ken Takakura, Yusaku Matsuda, Andy Garcia, Ridley Scott, Stanley Jaffe, Alan Pool, Mataichiro Yamamoto and Yousuke Mizuno were present. Yusaku said, "I'm glad to appear in an international film. Movies are the common language of the world. I'm happy to be working with a director who understands my nuance. I'm honored to co-star with, not only Mr. Takakura, whom I have always respected, but also Mr. Andy Garcia; I'm a big fan of his." Filming began on 28 October 1988. There were many difficulties between Japanese society's system and American shooting system. Some members of the film crew were replaced. Jan De Bont joined the film as director of photography at this time. Shooting in Japan was finished on 8 December, and moved to the States. Shooting in New York was scheduled in January and in Los Angeles in February. 
Yusaku flew to New York on December 16. He often returned to Japan and then came back to the States. On 12 February 1989, Yusaku and Ken Takakura were invited by Douglas to the Lawrence of Arabia preview. They were introduced to the media. The same night, they ran into Scott at the hotel bar. Scott introduced Yusaku to Harvey Keitel and said, "Yusaku, you'll be working with Harvey soon." Douglas was fond of Yusaku. He introduced him to the film company executives, advised him about getting an agent in the States and invited him, with other top cast and crew members, to his home. Photo on the right is Lawrence of Arabia preview.(Douglas' comments)
During shooting, Yusaku became friends with Andy Garcia. Andy was surprised and impressed by Yusaku's comment at the press conference that Yusaku mentioned him more than big name Douglas. They would often talk through the night. Andy brought his wife to meet Yusaku. Yusaku said, "Andy will be a great and very successful actor. He understands me very well. He is my best friend!" On the last weekend of shooting, Douglas invited eighteen members to the restaurant. Japanese were Yusaku and Ken Takakura, because they were the only member who attended shooting from the beginning (at Osaka) to the end (at Napa). Douglas made T-shirts as surprise present. The black shirts was printed "Survival From BLACK RAIN", and the back had all shooting places ; Osaka, Kobe, New York, Hollywood, Napa, and one more. In March of 1989, the climax was shot in a suburb of San Francisco. Ironically, there were Japanese lacquer trees everywhere. Upon his return to Japan, Yusaku went to Thailand with his family. Soon after that he was hospitalized again. He knew about his cancer the previoius year, but he did not think it was incurable. He had not told his wife, perhaps because he saw no reason to worry her, even though he continued to have blood in his urine during shooting. At this time, the doctor told Yusaku's wife the truth, but she also believed that the cancer could be cured. In July, Yusaku went to Hong Kong for dubbing of BLACK RAIN. It took only one day. He was surprised by the sound effects used for the film. Tomisaburou Wakayama (the Yakuza boss) could not speak English at all, so they found someone who had a similar voice and he recorded Wakayama's dialogue. Next they added a Japanese accent, but kept it easy for Americans to understand. These elements were mixed and processed by the computer. Yusaku saw a few parts of the film for the first time. Also, he was asked to come to the States for a re-take. They needed one more shot, but he refused. Four months had passed since the film finished shooting and the character of Sato had left Yusaku's mind and body. Yusaku was optimistic about his future. He got a license to drive a car (until this time, he had only had a motorcycle license). He also felt he would need English lessons in order to express the nuance. He was inspired by the American filmmaking system, and he planned to move to the States with his family, or at least to live half the year in the States and half the year in Japan. Actually, he was tired of the Japanese filmmaking system. Yusaku starred in a TV drama with Florence Joyner, the Olympic gold medalist. Soon after that he was hospitalized again. BLACK RAIN was shown at the Tokyo Film Festival on 5 October 1989. He couldn't appear on the stage. He attended the party but left early due to pain in his back. He re-entered the hospital. On the same day, Mitsuru Kurosawa got an offer from Hollywood for Yusaku. The project sounded great. Sean Connery was directing, his daughter was producing, and Robert De Niro was to star. He told Yusaku that the script was being sent to him. Yusaku asked, "No audition this time?" He looked very happy.
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The staff and cast were bothered by the poisonous leaves. Then they had a problem regarding Sato. The character was so evil that they ultimately felt they had to kill off such a villain at the end.
They shot one more sequence. Nick and Sato fought. Sato fell on a stake and died. The fight was coordinated by Yusaku. (When BLACK RAIN was released, however, Sato's story line had changed. The shot where he appears to be impaled on the stake disappeared, but a still photo of the scene in its original form was shown on a television special about Yusaku after his death.) On March 14, shooting was finished. It had taken four and a half months.