Yui Okada:Played the role of a “superlative” prostitute in the NHK drama “Amagi Goe” starring Erika Ikuta

It has recently been revealed that actor Yui Okada will be appearing in the NHK special drama "Going Beyond Amagi," starring Erika Ikuta. She will play Kikuno, the highest-ranking prostitute at the Shuzenji brothel "Utamaro."

Kikuno is a beautiful woman with a strong competitive spirit, and looks down on the other prostitutes. Whenever there is trouble, she puts the blame on Hana (played by Ikuta), whom she hates. This is because she fears and is jealous of Hana's charms...

Also announced to appear in the film are Goro Kishitani, Masato Hagiwara, and Mayumi Wakamura. Kishitani will play Teizo Tajima, a local police detective who oversaw the Amagi construction worker murder case 30 years ago. Hagiwara will play Jiro Mochizuki, who, fed up with his stifling home and ran away as a boy, met a beautiful prostitute in Amagi, where he was attracted to her and fell in love for the first time. Wakamura will play Hana Otsuka, a former prostitute who traveled from Yoshiwara to Izu, Atami, Ito, and Shuzenji, and is now living a quiet life 30 years later.

Wakamura said, "Perhaps Hana, who became a suspect in the murder case, pinned her hopes on the boy's future. The script includes a scene where the two meet again for the first time in 30 years. It does not depict how harsh Hana's life had been, as she hums the same song she did when they first met, but as the two of them stood on the beach, I felt like I could see warm blood flowing beneath the scars from 30 years ago. In fact, it was the first time that I had acted together with Hagiwara Masato, who plays Mochizuki, in 30 years, so it was a very moving scene."

"Going Over Amagi" is a timeless masterpiece by Matsumoto Seicho that has been adapted into a film and a TV drama in the past. The story is set in 1956. Mochizuki Jiro, who runs a printing business in Shizuoka Prefecture, is asked by Detective Tajima, who is nearing retirement, to print out "criminal investigation materials." Among the criminal cases is a description of the murder of a construction worker whose statute of limitations has expired. The case involves Otsuka Hana, a "prostitute from Shuzenji," and a 14-year-old boy who was spotted near the Amagi Tunnel. As Mochizuki reads the materials, memories that he had sealed away come back to him. The "boy" was himself 31 years ago...

The drama will be broadcast on NHK BS from 9:00 pm on June 14th. It will also be broadcast on BS8K from 9:00 pm on March 23rd and BS Premium 4K from 7:30 pm on May 10th.