The final episode (episode 48) of the NHK Taiga drama "Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e)" (General TV, Sunday 8:00 pm and others), starring Yuriko Yoshitaka, "Monogatari no Saki ni (Beyond the Story)", will be broadcast on December 15th with an extended 15 minutes. In the episode, actress Sakura Kiryu will appear as the daughter of Chigusa/Takasue Sugawara. This will be Yoshiyanagi's first appearance in a Taiga drama.
Yoshiyanagi was born on April 22, 2004, and is 20 years old and hails from Tochigi Prefecture. He won the grand prize at the 2016 "Horipro Talent Scout Caravan" (Horipro TSC). In 2017, while still in his first year of junior high school, he made headlines when he starred as the 10th Peter Pan at the age of 13, the youngest in history.
She also attracted attention for her role as young star singer Ayumi Mizuki in the NHK Asadora drama "Boogie Woogie" airing in the second half of 2023.
Chigusa, who plays the role of Chigusa in "To Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e)," later wrote the "Sarashina Diary." Her aunt was the mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna. She admired "The Tale of Genji" since she was a child when her father was stationed there. After returning to Kyoto, she was so moved that she finally got the entire series and read it through to the point where she could recite it by heart.
Yoshiyanagi commented, "First of all, I am very happy to have the opportunity to work again with Yoshitaka Yuriko, who I co-starred with when I was 18, and screenwriter Oishi Shizuka. Chigusa is a big fan of the well-known story, The Tale of Genji, and she is also a girl with excellent literary talent. I would like to fully portray the love and brilliance of Chigusa as she speaks of her passionate feelings."
"Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e)" 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 Komyo 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.
