To the Shining You：Sakura Yoshiyanagi's first taiga drama: the role of Chigusa, who later writes the "Sarashina Diary"; after appearing in the morning drama "Boogie Woogie"

The new cast of the NHK Taiga drama "To You, Shining" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring Yoshitaka Yuriko, was announced on the drama's official X (formerly Twitter), and it was revealed that Sakura Yoshiyanagi will play Chigusa/Takasue Sugawara's daughter. This is Yoshiyanagi's first appearance in a Taiga drama.

Yoshiyanagi was born on April 22, 2004, and is 20 years old and from Tochigi Prefecture. She won the grand prize at the 2016 "Horipro Talent Scout Caravan" (Horipro TSC). In 2017, while still in her first year of junior high school, she became the youngest person ever to star as the 10th Peter Pan at the age of 13, which became a hot topic.

She also attracted attention for her role as young star singer Mizuki Ayumi in the NHK morning drama "Boogie Woogie" in the second half of 2023.

Chigusa, who she plays in "To You, Shining," later writes "Sarashina Nikki." Her aunt is the mother of Fujiwara Michitsuna. Yoshiyanagi has admired "The Tale of Genji" since she was a child when her father was working there. After returning to Kyoto, she was so moved that she finally got the whole set and read it to the point of reciting it by heart.

Yoshiyanagi commented, "First of all, I'm very happy to have the opportunity to work with Yoshitaka Yuriko, who I co-starred with when I was 18, and screenwriter Oishi Shizuka again. Chigusa is a big fan of the well-known story of "The Tale of Genji," and she is also a girl with excellent literary talent. I would like to fully portray the love and sparkle of Chigusa, who speaks of her passionate feelings."

"To You, Shining" is the 63rd taiga drama. Set in the aristocratic society of the mid-Heian period, the protagonist is Murasaki Shikibu (Mahiro), who later wrote "The Tale of Genji," said to be the oldest novel written by a woman in the world. The script was written by Oishi Shizuka, who will be writing a taiga drama for the second time since "Koumyo ga Tsuji" in 2006, and depicts the glittering world of Heian aristocrats and the life of a woman who lived, wrote and loved with all her heart.