Riho Yoshioka:In "Mikami Sensei," he plays assistant teacher Koreeda, who says, "There were times when I felt weak myself." Will he reveal his true feelings in the final episode?

Actor Riho Yoshioka plays Fumika Koreeda, assistant teacher of class 2, 3rd year at Rintoku Gakuen, where Mikami (played by Matsuzaka) is the homeroom teacher, in the TBS Sunday Theatre drama " Mikami Sensei " (Sundays at 9pm), starring Tori Tori Matsuzaka . Koreeda is a "listener" who suppresses his own feelings and grows little by little. We spoke to Yoshioka about the role of Koreeda, who said that he himself has also "become weak" at times.

◇ Koreeda: "The key point is that it's not easy to grow."

The drama is an original "great reversal education revival story" in which Takashi Mikami (Matsuzaka), a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology who wants to change education in Japan, teaches at a private high school and leads 18-year-old high school students living in the Reiwa era while standing up to authority. The script is written by Roba Shimori, who will be teaming up with Matsuzaka for the first time since the movie "The Journalist." Kazutaka Iida, who has been in charge of popular Sunday Theater shows such as "Anti-Hero" (2024) and "VIVANT" (2023), is the producer.

Yoshioka describes Koreeda as "playing the role of 'uke'" which makes him stand out from the others.

"There are almost no scenes where she reveals all her feelings or shows her weaknesses, so she keeps it all to herself... But because she's an adult, rather than belittling or lamenting it, she even suppresses it, faces the students with a positive attitude, and reflects on herself every time she hears Mikami Sensei's words, and is a character who really grows little by little. I'm conscious of not putting my character forward too much, as I also play a role in highlighting the students and Mikami Sensei."

Compared to the speed at which his students grow, Koreeda's growth is sluggish. This may be due to the fact that he is an adult and that he was suppressed by his parents during his childhood.

Yoshioka said, "With the roles I've played up until now, I would have been able to grow at a faster pace, but I think the key to Koreeda is that he can't grow easily. I think it's very realistic that people who are shaped by the education that's instilled in them since childhood and the words they've been exposed to can't change easily, and I want to experience that reality, so I'm doing my best to grow little by little over time."

◇ The classes taught by Yuichi Kudo, who influenced the formation of Koreeda

When Yoshioka was about to start filming, he took a class taught by Yuichi Kudo, who was in charge of the school education for the drama, and was deeply impressed by it.

"It was a very down-to-earth lesson on how far behind the rest of the world Japan is, and what kind of education Japanese education has, and how far behind it has fallen. I realized how huge the gap between Japan and the rest of the world is, and that the classes I was taking were lacking in many areas. As a result, I wanted to play Koreeda as someone who represents the perfect embodiment of Japanese education. He has worked very hard, he is serious, and it's not that he can't do his job, but in order to fly higher, he needs to put in the effort, and there are things he is lacking, so if I could effectively express that, I thought I could portray (Koreeda) effectively in a story that includes many lines that are somewhat challenging of the current state of Japanese education."

He also said, "At the end of Kudo's class he said, 'We are falling behind, but 'but we are just getting started.' He said, 'If we just reevaluate our education, we can catch up,' so I wanted to show how that catch-up can be achieved." This gave him a new perspective.

◇A drama that calls for change even for adults. What would you like to change about yourself?

Koreeda is said to have a "viewer's perspective," and for that reason, he says he "thinks about moments that make you gasp."

"The most important thing is the moment when I have doubts about the values ​​and personality that I have cultivated and that have become rigid as an adult, such as my own personality, and realize that there was a way of thinking like that, and I never thought of it that way. I receive these lessons from Mikami Sensei, but I try to receive them from my students as much as possible. I think it's important not to miss the energy that my students send to me, as I feel that I am being changed thanks to them."

It requires a great deal of concentration, and he reflects, "I don't have many lines, but even so, I'm actually extremely concentrated. I'm so concentrated that my head gets tensed, my stomach gets tensed. It's a new discovery for me, that there is a way to put together a work like this."

The drama conveys the message that adults, along with students, need to change, but what is one thing that Yoshioka herself would like to change?

"I think it's the awareness that there's a difference between humility and belittling yourself. When I'm on set, I feel like I'm really expected to be myself, bring out my strengths to the fullest, and take pride in that, and have confidence in it. Because my role is Koreeda, I can't help but feel a bit inferior, thinking that I'm not as good as Mikami Sensei, or that I can't be of any help to the students, but I try not to fall into that trap. I think it's important to have the strength to incorporate new elements into a dignified humility, and I'm not going to run away thinking I'm just me, but to take on challenges boldly, to change, and I'm particularly conscious of this time around, making the effort to change with confidence."

Is there any inner conflict in playing the role of Koreeda?

"There are a lot of them. But I believe in the aesthetic of suppressing them. I think that the fact that I'm feeling these emotions is proof that I'm facing this role, so I want to cherish the feelings of weakness in body and mind, or of regret."

Koreeda said that this is a special role unlike any he has played before, saying, "I've played scenes of reflection and feeling inadequate, but Koreeda is really special, and it feels like that continues for 24 hours. There is a scene in the final episode where Koreeda reveals his true feelings, and leading up to that point, witnessing the growth of his students and seeing how something sparkling and shining is created by Mikami Sensei, has made me feel that I too have to change."