Ryo Yoshizawa appears at the first week preview screening of "Bakebake"

On September 8th, actor Ryo Yoshizawa attended the first week preview screening of the NHK morning drama "Asadora ," which starts on September 29th, held at the NHK Broadcasting Center in Shibuya, Tokyo. He spoke about his role and what to look forward to.

Yoshizawa plays Yuichi Nishikori, an English teacher who has a major influence on the lives of Toki (Akari Takaishi) and Heaven (Tommy Bastow). He is Matsue's most brilliant student and is nicknamed "Daibanjaku" (Great Rock). He teaches English at Matsue Junior High School and provides both professional and personal support to Heaven, who has come to Matsue as a foreign teacher. His role involves him becoming acquainted with Toki through a strange connection and becoming deeply involved with him. The character is based on Nishida Sentaro, one of Matsue's great figures from the Meiji period.

Regarding his role, Yoshizawa said, "I'm modeled after Nishida Chitaro, a brilliant man from Matsue who was known as 'Oiwansoku,' so I wanted to play a brilliant man so as not to disappoint the people of Matsue. But he doesn't really seem like that kind of brilliant man, actually," he said with a laugh. "He is a man who is constantly being manipulated by Heaven, but I'm doing my best to make the role enjoyable for everyone, so I hope you will look forward to the broadcast."

He also prefaced his post by saying, "This might be a spoiler, but there will be an episode that's just about skipping. Are they going to delve that deeply into skipping? I really loved that episode, and I really hope everyone will look forward to it." He added, "I think it's amazing that something that everyone experiences in their daily lives, laughing at silly things, can be made into a drama. I read the script with a grin on my face every time."

Takaishi, Tommy Bastow, Takashi Okabe, and Chizuru Ikewaki also attended the press conference.

"Bakebake " tells the story of a couple who, together with her foreign husband, love ghost stories and shed light on the "nameless people" who had been forgotten in Meiji-era Japan as it became increasingly Westernized, and who acted as spokespeople for them. Takaishi, who stars in the film, plays the heroine, Toki Matsuno , the daughter of a fallen samurai from Yakumo Koizumi, modeled after Lafcadio Hearn 's wife, Setsu. The script is written by Fujiki Mitsuhiko, who has worked on NHK's "Asagaya Sisters' Laid-Back Life" and WOWOW's "Shooting Break Series," among others.