Ryusei Yokohama:Always eager to act, and taking inspiration from his beloved martial arts, he takes on the challenge of the taiga drama "UNBOUND" with "input"

Actor Ryusei Yokohama will be starring in the 2025 Taiga drama " UNBOUND " which will start on January 5th. At just 28 years old, Yokohama is taking on the role of lead in a taiga drama with over 60 years of history and a distinguished cast. He is always greedy for acting, and says, "There are many areas where I still lack. Because I still have a lot to learn, I think that if I'm satisfied, that's the end, and I live each day with a stronger desire to improve." We asked him about his current thoughts ahead of the broadcast.

◇Just think about making a good piece of work

" UNBOUND" is the 64th taiga drama, depicting the life of Tsutaya Juzaburo(or "Tsutajyu" for short), who is said to have built the foundations of Japan's media industry and pop culture. The story is billed as "a man of great talent, born with nothing - no parents, no money, no artistic talent - who became the darling of his time as the 'media king of Edo.'"

This is Yokohama's first time appearing in an NHK drama. Although he has suddenly become the lead in a historical drama, he said, "I'm not nervous about that."

"I've always put my all into every project I've worked on to create something good, and being able to devote a year and a half (of filming) to this role is a luxury and a blessing. There are a lot of characters in ' UNBOUND,' so I think I'll be able to act with a lot of different people and absorb a lot from them. I'm just thinking about how I want to create a good work."

Among the long-running taiga dramas, "UNBOUND" will be the first to depict the mid-Edo period, and naturally it will be a period unrelated to Yokohama's life so far. However, he does not seem nervous about this, saying, "There's a lot I don't know, but every work is always a challenge."

The script was written by Yoshiko Morishita, who is known for the highly talked about "Drama 10: Ooku," which was broadcast on NHK two years ago. She revealed, "The most important thing is for me to live as Tsutaesu in the world that Morishita-sensei created, so that's what I'm focusing on with all my energy right now."

"There are a lot of characters this time, but Morishita-sensei has really dug deep into the depths of humanity, so it's fascinating that they don't get lost in the mystery. It's not just the pretty things, it's the other side of things too, so I think it's entertainment that allows you to sympathize and empathize even more."

◇Everything lives in the play, so cherish the time you spend taking in information

At the center of the fascinating characters in Morishita's script is Tsutaya Juzaburo, played by Yokohama.

In order to prepare for the role, Yokohama "researched Tsutaeju, went to the place where he was born and raised, felt the atmosphere, read historical documents, watched the works that were the subject matter, and met with expert teachers," and even "talked to" Abe Hiroshi, who played Tsutaya Juzaburo in the film "HOKUSAI" (2021). He revealed his desire for acting by saying, "I think about the work every day."

"Everything in our work is reflected in the play, so we value the time we spend thinking, 'This is something Tsutae would do, this could be used in the play,'"

Originally a karate boy, Yokohama, who won an international karate tournament in 2011, is a "martial arts fan" who passed the professional boxing test and obtained a C-class license through the movie "Falling in Spring" (2022), in which he co-starred with Sato Koichi. This time, it seems that he is trying to gain something from martial arts in order to play the "human"Tsutaya Juzaburo...

"Martial arts really brings out the human element, but I want to pursue even more realism, so seeing and learning about what goes on behind the scenes has become a recent hobby of mine. Martial artists are in the public eye, but they live in a different world from the way we express ourselves, and they're more human and don't put on airs. When I see that, I think, 'So this is what a human would feel when they're in this situation,' or 'This is what they would make an expression like,' and it makes me think, 'I could use this in my acting.'"

Yokohama once again stated, "I hope I can live freely as Tsutaju without being bound by conventions." Look forward to the first episode airing on January 5th.