It was announced on June 4th that screenwriter Kankuro Kudo will be writing the script for NHK's Asadora drama series "Hon no Mokichi" for the first half of 2028. This marks Kudo's first time writing a Asadora script in 15 years, since "Amachan" in the first half of 2013. He attended a press conference held at the NHK Broadcasting Center in Shibuya, Tokyo on the same day, where he spoke about the changes he has felt over the past 15 years and his aspirations for the new series.
"Hon no Mokichi" is the 118th installment of the NHK morning drama series. It tells the story of the "most estranged couple" in the history of Asadora, modeled after the poet Saito Mokichi and his wife Teruko. Although based on real people, it is boldly reconstructed and presented as fiction. The characters' names in the drama are Mori Teruko and Mori Mokichi. The main character, Teruko, is played by Yuumi Kawai.
Miyato expressed surprise, saying, "I can't believe it's already been 15 years since 'Amachan' aired," and added, "Back then, it aired from Monday to Saturday. But somehow it's now only on Fridays. So the amount of airtime has decreased a bit. I think that's a pretty big deal."
"Even with 'Amachan,' we couldn't fit all the episodes in, and the story just kept expanding beyond what we initially envisioned. So, it never caused any problems with the plot development, but rather, it made me think about which parts to pick out," he revealed.
While "Amachan" was set in Iwate Prefecture, this work will depict Yamagata Prefecture, the birthplace of Mokichi Saito. Kudo himself is from Miyagi Prefecture in Tohoku, and when "Amachan" was airing, he received many requests from people in Miyagi to write a work set in Miyagi. Now that he has decided to depict Yamagata, he appealed to viewers by saying, "When I went there, I realized that it's almost like Miyagi. I think people from Miyagi will watch it thinking it's a drama about Miyagi."
