A photo of Sakura Kiryu in costume as Chigusa/the daughter of Sugawara no Takasue in the NHK Taiga drama "Dear Radiance" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring Yuriko Yoshitaka, has been released. Chigusa is a new character who will appear in the drama, which has three episodes remaining.
Kiryu was born on April 22, 2004, and is 20 years old and from Tochigi Prefecture. She won the grand prize at the 2016 "Horipro Talent Scout Caravan" (Horipro TSC). In 2017, while still in her first year of junior high school, she became the youngest person ever to star as the 10th Peter Pan at the age of 13, which caused quite a stir.
She also attracted attention for her role as young star singer Ayumi Mizuki in the NHK morning drama "Boogie Woogie" in the second half of 2023.
Chigusa, who she plays in "Dear Radiance," later writes the "Sarashina Diary." Her aunt is the mother of Michitsuna Fujiwara. Kiryu has admired "The Tale of Genji" since she was a child when her father was working there. After returning to Kyoto, she was so moved that she finally got the whole set and read it to the point of reciting it by heart.
Kiryu commented, "First of all, I'm very happy to have the opportunity to work with Yoshitaka Yuriko, who I co-starred with when I was 18, and screenwriter Oishi Shizuka again. Chigusa is a big fan of the well-known story of "The Tale of Genji," and she is also a girl with excellent literary talent. I would like to fully portray the love and sparkle of Chigusa, who speaks of her passionate feelings."
"Dear Radiance" is the 63rd taiga drama. Set in the aristocratic society of the mid-Heian period, the protagonist is Murasaki Shikibu (Mahiro), who later wrote "The Tale of Genji," said to be the oldest novel written by a woman in the world. The script was written by Oishi Shizuka, who is writing a taiga drama for the second time since "Koumyo ga Tsuji" in 2006, and depicts the glittering world of Heian aristocrats and the life of a woman who lived, wrote and loved with all her heart.
New visuals of Fujiwara no Michinaga (Emoto Tasuku), Fujiwara no Tametoki (Kishiyama Goro) and Fujiwara no Takaie (Ryusei Ryo) as well as an updated overall relationship diagram have also been released.
