Riverbed Asuka：In "Wings of a Tiger," she plays Yumi, who is mistaken for her "mother" Sari Ito, giving her confidence. When she passed Jiro Sato in the hallway, she thought he was Sari.

Kawado Asuka will be appearing in the NHK morning drama "Wings on a Tiger" (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 a.m., etc.), starring Ito Sari. From the 24th week, "Will Three Women Ruin Your Estate?" (September 9-13), she will be playing Sata Yumi, the daughter of the main character Torako (Ito). The popular role of Yumi has been taken over by child actors Kanai Akira, Takezawa Sakiko, and Maita Nonno, and she talked about her thoughts on appearing in the final stages of the drama, as well as a behind-the-scenes episode that gave her confidence.

◇When she was chosen to play the role of Yumi, she felt like she was in a dream.

Although Kawado has appeared in a spin-off of the morning drama "Natsuzora" in the first half of 2019, "Wings on a Tiger" is her first main role. She started her entertainment career as a model for the fashion magazine "nicola" (Shinchosha), but she was originally a TV fanatic. Appearing in a morning drama has been her goal for a long time, and when she was chosen to play the role of Yumi, she recalls, "It felt like a dream."

"I've been watching every episode of 'Tiger and Wings' at home since April, and it was the kind of show that made me think, 'I'll do my best tomorrow,' and I was thinking, 'I want to work hard,' so to come across a show that makes me feel that way, so it felt like a dream to be able to appear in 'Tiger and Wings.'"

As of the 24th week, Yumi, who she plays, is living with Torako, Koichi (Masaki Okada), and Nodoka (Maka Osaki), in the Hoshi household and is researching parasites in graduate school, but... Yumi is calm and thinks things through, and sometimes expresses her opinions frankly to Torako, but Kawado, who has "always watched" Yumi's growth as a viewer, how did she create the role?

"In other works, I would act while thinking about what my character's childhood was like, but this time, I already had a huge amount of video material, so that was very reassuring, and it was a new experience to have a clear picture of what Yumi was like at that time. Also, Yumi's arrow always seemed to point towards her mother, so I looked back at the video and tried to incorporate that into my role. I really felt that Yumi was a very consistent character, or rather, a little philosophical, and I've often been told that I'm "adult-like" since I was young, so I can't say with confidence that this applies to Yumi, but I think I was able to act without having to prepare too much, thinking that I "understand something." ◇ "Anxious" about joining the role of the protagonist's daughter towards the end So, what does Yumi think of her mother, Torako? "I'm aware that I'm receiving unconditional love," says Kawadoko. "As she gets older, there's no doubt she's a mother, but I wondered if there would be a moment when her position would change. Yumi is strong and has a philosophical outlook, so I guess you could say that there was a moment when Yumi became like Torako's mother. I think she was like that when she was a child, but that's why she didn't behave strangely like an adult, but rather that her opinions are not shallow and are unwavering, so I thought that in the end she would appear more mature than her age, so I played the role without being too conscious of appearing mature."

Kawado confesses that she was "really nervous" about taking on the important role of the protagonist's daughter in the highly anticipated TV drama "Tora ni Tsubasa" towards the end.

"But when I was trying on the costume, Ito-san said to me, 'I'm your mother,' and I felt relieved. Some people said to me, 'You look alike, don't you?' That also gave me confidence. When I was in the costume, I passed by Sato Jiro in the hallway of NHK, and he mistook me for Ito-san and greeted me. Sato-san realized his mistake and said, 'I'm sorry, I thought you were Sari-chan!' (laughs). But I was happy, and it gave me confidence, and it gave me peace of mind, making me think, 'It's okay.'"

With two weeks left in the drama, Kawatoko reveals her thoughts, "I hope that viewers will once again realize that the fact that Yumi was raised by many people, including her mother, and not just her mother, but also Hanae-chan, and that she has a large family, is what makes her the person she is."

"I had seen this series from the outside before and thought it was interesting, but after participating in the filming, I understood why it is loved by so many people. It was a really warm and friendly set, and I felt that each and every one of the cast and staff was really passionate about the work, so I think that will be felt even more as we get closer to the final episode."