The ninth episode of the TBS Sunday Theatre drama " Mikami Sensei " (Sunday 9pm), starring actor Tori Matsuzaka , will air on March 16th. In this drama, Ministry of Education bureaucrat Mikami Takashi (Matsuzaka) is dispatched to the private preparatory school Rintoku Gakuin, where he teaches class 3-2 and asks the students to "think" about social issues that have arisen in their neighborhood. Matsuzaka said, "This is the first time I've been involved in a drama that has been so meaningful," and talked about his role in this drama. He also talked about the message he wants to convey to his own children after becoming a father in 2023.
◇ "The tension you can only get from playing a teacher" When you stand at the podium, all eyes are on you
The drama is an original "great reversal education revival story" in which Takashi Mikami (Matsuzaka), a Ministry of Education bureaucrat with a desire to change education in Japan, takes the podium at a private high school and leads an 18-year-old high school student living in the Reiwa era while standing up to authority. The script is written by Roba Shimori, who will be teaming up with Matsuzaka for the first time since the film "The Journalist" (2019). Kazutaka Iida, who has been in charge of popular Sunday Theatre dramas such as "VIVANT" (2023), is the producer.
The interview was conducted on the set after the broadcast of the sixth episode, in which Mikami confessed the story of her brother. Looking back on the first half of the drama, Matsuzaka said, "It feels like we've finally passed the halfway point, but there's still so much left, like what Shimori wants to say, the message that Producer Iida wants to convey, and what the directors in charge of each episode want to show, so I really can't let my guard down until the very end."
Regarding the scene in episode 6 where Mikami confesses his brother's story in front of the students of Class 3-2, she says with a smile, "When we were shooting the expressions on each student's face, the director wanted to 'keep it fresh,' so we asked him if we'd do it again from the beginning, and we acted out the same scene several times for each student we were filming, and it was the first time in a long time that I was so tired."
In playing the role of Gojo, he paid particular attention to the scenes where he stands at the podium. "The direction of my gaze in the classroom. I made sure to give a proper lecture to each and every student. I made sure to look at each student individually, not just vaguely as if I was looking at the whole class. I was conscious of trying to act as if I was really giving a lecture," he said.
He revealed that scenes where he speaks at the podium "use a lot of calories. When you stand at the podium in front of the students, and I think only those who have stood there can understand this, but all of their eyes are on you. When that happens, it feels like a sudden sense of tension enters your mouth and into your stomach, and you feel the kind of tension that you can only get from playing a teacher."
◇ Takashi Mikami: "We can't just be cool."
Although Mikami Sensei appears cool at first glance, he is a passionate person inside. When acting, Matsuzaka said, "I participated in this project because I thought that I definitely couldn't be all cool."
"I don't think it would take that much energy to portray him in a one-dimensional way. He just needs to be cool. You could describe the Emperor himself as a bureaucrat, an elite, cool and cold-hearted, but that's not all there is to it. If you think about what it means to be a decent human being, I think he should be multifaceted. No matter who a person is, they have many different sides to them. I want to express those many sides, the depth of the Emperor."
Regarding his portrayal of Migami from multiple angles, he said, "Rather than creating this character on my own, the person of Migami Takashi was formed through acting with each of the cast members," expressing the many facets of Migami through his interactions with others.
What is the breadth of Mikami's character? "At the root of it all is his strong desire to change his education, and what led him to this idea was the incident involving his older brother. The reason he is so attached to his brother is because he respects and admires him... In digging deeper like this, I was able to express Mikami's own depth."
◇ His outlook on life changed after he was told to "think"
While playing the role of the emperor, the most memorable line for me was the word "think."
"The scenes in which Mikami gives lessons to his students in every episode really left an impression on me. In every scene, Mikami always says, 'Think.' It's only three letters, but the nuance of it changes a little bit depending on the scene. As the story progresses, the nuance of 'think' changes little by little as I watch the students' acting. It was a first-time experience for me, and it left a big impression on me."
He said the word "think" changed his outlook on life.
"Thinking about it may not yield an answer, but thinking and thinking and thinking until it is complete. I believe that the ability to think is something that each of us needs in the life we lead. The world today is a place where an immense amount of information is flying around, and with so many truths and lies, it can easily turn against you. In this information-driven society, we need the ability to think for ourselves, to use our imagination, and not be misled by information that only shows one side of the story. This work reminds us that. It was a great learning experience for me personally."
Matsuzaka will become a father in 2023. "Now that I'm a father myself, I'm really curious about what the educational environment in Japan will be like in 10 or 20 years," he says with a fatherly face.
"Above all, if we could create an educational environment where students themselves could think independently, take responsibility for what they say, and approach things in a proactive manner, I believe the world would become a very different place," he says emphatically.
When asked what words of the Emperor he would like to pass on to his children as they grow up, he answered, "Think."
"Although they are still at an age where they don't understand the words very well, I have decided to keep telling them, 'Let's think about it together.' I don't think it's that difficult for parents to come up with an answer based on their own life experiences, but this work taught me once again the importance of thinking while growing together with my children, so I think I need to keep what I learned from this work firmly in my own life."
"Mikami Sensei" has influenced Matsuzaka's own outlook on life. As the lead actor, he is determined to "combine messages and entertainment to deliver to the viewers," and the ninth episode will air today (March 16th). I want to watch until the final scene to see how "Mikami Sensei," which will surely become a drama that will be passed down for generations, will end.
