Emoto Tasuku plays Fujiwara no Michinaga in the historical drama "Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e)" (NHK General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring Yoshitaka Yuriko. Episode 45 (broadcast on November 24th) depicts Michinaga becoming a monk. Emoto, who shaved off the natural hair he had been growing for about a year and a half since filming began at the end of May last year, said of his shaved head, "It's extremely comfortable, and I'd prefer it this way if possible. I don't feel lonely with my long hair either." We spoke to Emoto about the drama, which has three episodes left, and Michinaga.
◇Michinaga "didn't realize" that Kenko was his daughter
In episode 45, Michinaga decides to become a monk because he wants his eldest son, Yorimichi (Watanabe Keisuke), who became regent in his place, to be independent. Prior to this, Mahiro (Yoshitaka) had told him she was going on a trip and had also revealed that Michinaga was Kenko's (Minami Sara) father.
Did Michinaga really know before that Kenko was his daughter? Emoto responded, "He hasn't noticed."
Even if viewers had the feeling that Kenko had "actually noticed" in the lead-up to this scene in episode 45, Emoto's stance on set was consistent: "Kenko hasn't noticed."
"I thought that I would notice things about Kenko, and I thought that I might be a little 'huh?'... But the chief director Nakajima (Yuki) told me that 'Michinaga won't notice anyway,' so he didn't notice. That's how it felt during filming, but the impression changes with music, camera angles, and editing, so when I saw the finished product, I thought 'it doesn't seem like he hasn't noticed that much,' but anyway, Michinaga didn't notice."
Not just about Kenko, Emoto also revealed, "I wanted the viewers to be free to interpret the drama as they see it." As for Michinaga's "two wives," Rinko (Kuroki Haru) was a "workmate," and Akiko (Takiuchi Kumi) was an "oasis after a hard day at work."
"So there's a dispute between him and Noriko, so he goes to Akiko's place, but there's also a dispute at Akiko's place, so he ends up staying at the Imperial Palace. He doesn't go to either place (laughs). In this work, Michinaga doesn't face either side. I think this is bad, but it can't be helped because the script is written that way, and anyway, the directors told me that Michinaga doesn't notice it either way. So I was hoping that the boyish, natural, generous nature that Michinaga has would connect to that."
◇Michinaga in "Anyway, Mahiro" - No sense of it being over even after filming has wrapped
What was clear about Michinaga was "Anyway, Mahiro" and his attitude of "against Mahiro or against the rest of the crowd."
"I think that's what Oishi (Shizuka)-sensei had in mind when he wrote the script, and after Mahiro went to the Imperial Palace, it was written in the stage directions in the script that, 'When it comes to Mahiro, Michinaga loses sight of what's going on around him.'"
So Emoto-san's view is that Michinaga's decision to become a monk is not unrelated to Mahiro's departure.
"He became a monk pretty soon after Mahiro left, so that's the only way you can think of it. He told Noriko that he wanted to take a break, but that he was just exhausted. The shock of Mahiro's disappearance and the political situation led him to say, 'I want to take a break.' I think Oishi-sensei created a down-to-earth Michinaga who is by no means a respectable character, and I thought that was really good and wonderful."
He recalls the scene where he actually shaved off his long hair, which was a symbol of the filming period of about a year and a half, as a "strange experience."
"The moment the hair fell and hit the back of my hand, I was hit with a strong feeling, like I really felt that I was shaving and that my hair was falling off. It felt really strange to be able to do this in a film."
The drama has already wrapped up filming, but to be honest, it "still doesn't feel real."
"I don't want it to end anywhere, and there are still broadcasts to come, so to be honest, it's not over yet. I feel sad that the filming is over, but I also feel like it's still going on."
