It has been announced that actress Riho Yoshioka will be appearing in a live-action drama that will be broadcast this fall on NHK General TV's "Yodora" time slot (Monday to Thursday, 10:45 a.m.), which is part of a project to adapt Keigo Shinzo's manga "Hirayasumi." She will play Yomogi, a woman who works at a real estate company and whom the main character Hiroto meets by chance.
It was also announced that Natsumi, Hiroto's cousin who has come to Tokyo to attend art school, will be played by Nana Mori. It has already been announced that Amane Okayama will play the main character Hiroto.
"Hira Yasumi" has been serialized in "Weekly Big Comic Spirits" since 2021. It is a slice-of-life manga set in a single-story detached house, and was ranked third in the "Manga Taisho 2022" awards, and was also nominated for the Manga Taisho Award at the 27th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize in 2023, which has been a hot topic. The total number of copies of the comics published up to volume 8 has exceeded 1.1 million. Volume 9 was released in July.
The story follows 29-year-old part-time worker Hiroto, who inherited a single-story house from a neighboring grandmother, and begins living with his 18-year-old cousin Natsumi, who moved to Tokyo from Yamagata. People who are struggling with life's challenges gather around them...
Comments from the cast and staff are as follows:
◇Comment from Riho Yoshioka(role of Yomogi Tachibana)
I will be playing the role of Yomogi in "Hira Yasumi." The title, which combines "flat-story house" (hirayasu) and "rest," is already great. "Hira Yasumi" is a work that brings healing and an important realization that maybe it's okay for you to take a little rest, as it weaves together Hiroto and Nacchan's "style of not rushing through life."
I love Shinzo Keigo's work "Typhoon Day," and I have fond memories of bringing it with me when I moved to Tokyo. That's why I'm so happy to be able to take part in this production.
I hope that people who are overwhelmed by their daily lives and working too hard will watch this.
◇Comment from Nana Mori (role of Natsumi Kobayashi)
The ordinary days they spend in a single-story house. But that's why they laugh and cry, and the little things that make the days special. It's so heartwarming, and I love this work.
I feel a bit of pressure to embody Natsumi, who is one of my favorite characters, but I will do my best to expand the world of the manga by filling in every frame and every gap, so that fans of the original work can enjoy Hirayasumi again in a new way.
If you have time, please come visit us at Hiraya for 15 minutes on a weekday evening.
◇Comment from Amane Okayama (role of Hiroto)
With the help of our kind and wonderful staff and cast, I am excited every day to see "Hira Yasumi" come to life in the real world.
As Ikuta Hiroto, I am striving to find out how I can exist in that wonderful place. Since reading "Hirayasumi," I feel like my life has become a little better than before. I would be happy if the same emotions I felt after reading the original work can be conveyed to everyone through the night drama "Hirayasumi."
◇Comment from Koji Sakabe (Production Director)
When I read the manga "Hira Yasumi," I thought, "If it were to be made into a drama, I'd want these people to play the roles!" The people appearing in the drama are all people who have a great respect for the original "Hira Yasumi," and based on the bond that has been forged between the original work and its author, Shinzo Keigo, both the staff and cast are continuing to work on creating a great drama.
Okayama Amane, Mori Nana, and Riho Yoshioka all seem to have jumped out of the manga, yet they are living in the "real" world, with exquisitely difficult acting. I think that this is a perfect fit for the world of "Hira Yasumi," which seems like it could exist somewhere, but doesn't seem like it, and yet maybe it does exist after all.
We hope to be able to bring you a "day break" that can only be achieved through live-action, so please wait a little longer until autumn.
◇Comment from Kana Matsumoto (Chief Director)
Shinzo's characters are full of humanity, and the scenery is filled with light and wind. I was excited but also a little nervous about bringing this beloved world of "Hira Yasumi" to life on film, but as I worked up a sweat and had fun filming in a small, one-story house with Okayama Amane and all the other actors and staff, it seemed like something really interesting was coming together... Please look forward to it until autumn!
◇Comment from Yoko Yonaiyama (screenwriter)
I didn't become the adult I had imagined I would be as a child.
But life goes on, so we have no choice but to live life even if things don't go as planned.
If possible, I would like to go through life lightly, humming along, but that's not always possible, and I often find myself exhausted and on the verge of collapsing to my knees.
"Day Break" is a piece that offers a small plastic bottle of water at times like these.
A 250ml can of beer would work, or even a piece of a five-pack of snack food would work.
I hope I can share this unobtrusive kindness with everyone.
Please look forward to it.
