It has been announced that actor Nao will star in the drama series W-30 "Beauty Salon Inside Prisons" (Fridays at 11pm), which will begin airing on WOWOW on August 22nd. The drama is based on the novel of the same name (Futaba Bunko) by Sakurai Mina, which is modelled on a real beauty salon operating inside a prison. Nao will play the lead character, Komatsubara Haru, a prison inmate and hairdresser.
The drama is set in the "Aozora Beauty Salon" in a women's prison where inmates cut the hair of regular customers. Through her encounters with various people, Haru herself comes to terms with the crime she committed and her future life.
With the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice's Corrections Bureau, the drama was produced in an actual prison. Nao, who takes on the difficult role of an inmate and hairdresser, visited Kasamatsu Prison in Gifu Prefecture, the model for the original novel, to observe the hairdressers at work. She practiced under the guidance of hairdressers and even tried her hand at cutting and styling hair herself.
Regarding her role in this production, Nao commented, "To me, a prison is a place that is connected in the sky, but is separated from everyday life by walls. But by acting in this production, I realized it is a place that I can actually be involved in."
"I think there are things that can be conveyed because it is a real place. Of course, people can enjoy it as a story, but by learning that 'there is a beauty salon like this,' I think it will make people think about what we can do and make it feel closer to their own lives. I hope that many people will come and see it," he said.
The screenplay will be written by Kyoko Inukai, who has worked on films such as "Wind Phone" (2020) and "Egoist" (2023). The director will be Kana Matsumoto, who has worked on the drama "Danchi no Futari" (NHK BS/BS Premium 4K, 2024) and the serial drama W "Fence" (2023), which won the Grand Prize in the TV category at the 61st Galaxy Awards.
The series will have seven episodes in total and will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand. The first episode will be broadcast for free.
