Ryuhei Matsuda plays Emperor Showa in NHK drama marking 80 years since the end of the war

It has been revealed that actor Sosuke Ikematsu will star in the NHK special drama "Simulation - Defeat in the Summer of 1941" (General TV), which will be broadcast on August 16th and 17th to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, with Ryuhei Matsuda playing Emperor Showa and Koichi Sato Koichi playing Hideki Tojo.

The drama is based on Naoki Inose's best-selling non-fiction book "The Defeat in the Summer of Showa 16." In April 1941, eight months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, young elites from all over Japan were gathered at the "Total War Research Institute" under the direct control of the Prime Minister. They created a mock cabinet, collected confidential information from their former government agencies and companies, and simulated every possible scenario in which Japan would go to war with the United States. The young people, having come to the conclusion that Japan would suffer an "overwhelming defeat," then faced off against the military and the real cabinet, which were pushing forward with the outbreak of war... This is the story.

Ikematsu plays Yoichi Ujita, the head of the investigation department at the Central Bank of the Industrial Cooperative (now the Norinchukin Bank). He is nominated as the "Prime Minister" in the mock cabinet. He was reluctant to participate in the simulation due to his antipathy towards the military, but after learning the harsh reality, he begins to act, believing that "we must avoid war."

The cast includes Nakano Taiga as Domei News Agency's political reporter Kabashima Shigeo, Iwata Takanori as Navy Lieutenant Commander Takanori Iwata, Nakamura Aoi as Army Lieutenant Commander Takagi Genichi, Miura Takahiro as Planning Agency's Price Bureau clerk Minegishi Soichi, Nikaido Fumi as Ujita Yoichi's sister Sayuri, Sugita Rairin as Yoichi's younger brother Eiji, and Bessho Tetsuya as Ujita's boss Igawa Tadao.

Additionally, Kitamura Yukiya will play Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro, Okuda Eiji will play the Emperor's closest aide Kido Koichi, Kunimura Jun will play Major General Itakura Daido, Sato Ryuta will play Lieutenant Colonel Seko Akira, Nakano Hideo will play Major General Muto Akira, and Eguchi Yosuke will play Lieutenant Colonel Nishimura Yoshiho.

The script, editing and direction are handled by Yuya Ishii, who is attempting a war drama for the first time. Both parts will be broadcast from 9:00 p.m.