Kawado Asuka is garnering attention for her role as Sada Yumi, the daughter of the protagonist Torako (played by Ito), in the NHK morning drama series "Tora ni Tsubasa" (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8am, etc.), starring Ito Sari. In 2014, she won the grand prize at a model audition for fashion magazine "nicola" (Shinchosha), and 10 years after starting her entertainment career, she has finally achieved her long-held goal of appearing in a morning drama. We spoke to Kawado, who said, "It's only recently that I've started to feel like the dots are finally connecting and forming a line."
◇Morning drama as a goal: "I want to come back here again"
Kawado is 22 years old and was born on July 10, 2002 in Fukuoka Prefecture. After working as a Nicola model (Nicomo) and appearing in a corporate commercial for Sekisui House, she made her screen debut in the 2019 film "Pier: What Connects the Town" (directed by Ayabe Shinya), and also appeared in the spin-off drama of the morning drama "Natsuzora" that aired in November of the same year. In 2022, she was also cast in the film "Silent Parade" (directed by Nishitani Hiroshi), part of the "Galileo" series starring Fukuyama Masaharu.
In the currently airing "Wings of a Tiger," she will appear as Yumi from the 24th week, "Will Three Women Ruin Your Money?" (September 9-13). She adds color as the protagonist's daughter to the drama as it heads towards its climax.
"Being in a morning drama was my goal, so it was unexpected timing, but I was really happy when I found out I was going to be in it. I feel like the dots are finally connecting and forming a line. I had always felt like I was just standing still, but I think this production made me realize that wasn't actually the case."
This time, she joined the production towards the end of filming, but she expressed her gratitude, saying, "It was a really warm team, and each and every cast and staff member treated me with love."
"I thought, 'I want to come back here,' and I feel like I have another reason to work harder from here. It's not like I want to be the heroine next, but I feel like I've found another reason to want to improve my acting."
◇Recently, I have a strong desire to become a better actor
Kawadoko is currently a fourth-year university student. She said, "I was determined to go down this path (= acting), and then I met 'Wings on a Tiger,' and I feel like I got a push in the back."
She also revealed, "Rather than thinking about what kind of productions I want to appear in or what kind of roles I want to play in the future, I feel that I have a strong desire to become better at acting recently. I've started thinking about how I should spend my daily life in order to improve my acting and bring out the breadth and depth of my acting."
Kawado-san also voluntarily takes on part-time jobs as part of her social experience that she can use in her acting.
"I'm the type of person who can only draw on my own experiences when it comes to acting. In that sense, I think that social experience will become more necessary in the future. As a student, I've been able to have the same experiences as the people around me, but in the future, I'm sure there will be more opportunities to play roles that I haven't had before, such as as a working adult, so I want to continue to cherish increasing the experience I need."
Kawado-san also smiles and says that part-time work is "a good experience for me in terms of learning about visible results, such as how much I earn working an hour, and the value of things." Finally, when asked about her current state of mind, nearly 10 years after her debut... "It's already been 10 years, and next year will be 11, so I've been doing this job for almost half my age. It's not because of that, but I've come to accept that this job has become my identity, even though I hated it when I started, and I feel like I've started to find it honestly enjoyable."
