The NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 am and others), starring Mio Imada , will begin airing in the first half of 2025 on March 31. The "first episode viewing party" was held in Kochi Prefecture, where the drama is set, and Nanako Matsushima , who plays Tomiko Yanai, made an appearance.
The venue was Takashi Yanase's alma mater, Kochi Prefectural Kochi Otemae High School. Ms. Matsushima, who plays Tomiko, the mother of Takashi Yanai(Takumi Kitamura), who Yanase is based on, said, "I had the opportunity to come across 'Anpanman' when I was in junior high school, and I remember being deeply struck by the lyrics of the theme song, wondering if they contained the answer to the meaning of life. This time, I had the opportunity to confront it again in depth, and Yanase's words, 'Life is a game of making people happy,' gave me a hint as to the answer to the meaning of life."
Matsushima added, "I myself am still at the halfway point of my life, and I strongly feel that I have a lot more to look forward to," and added, "I believe ' Anpan' is a work that is able to express Yanase-san's cheerfulness, strength and kindness. I am very nervous because the work depicts Yanase-san, who is so cherished by the people of Kochi, but I will do my best to perform it, so I hope everyone will watch it with kind eyes."
A total of 563 people attended the event.
"Anpan" is based on the married couple Takashi Yanase(1919-2013) and Nobu Komatsu(1918-1993), the manga artist and picture book writer who created "Anpanman." It is a "story of love and courage" that will make you feel the joy of living, depicting how these two, who were once nobody, overcame all sorts of rough seas to become "Anpanman," the embodiment of "unreversible justice."
