The new cast for the NHK Asadora drama "Kaze,Kaoru ," starring Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , which will air in the first half of 2026, has been announced on the official NHK drama website (@nhk_dramas), revealing that actress Yoneko Matsukane will be joining the cast. She will play Oya Toyo, a neighbor in the tenement house where one of the main characters, Oya Naomi (Uesaka), lives. This will be Matsukane's third appearance in a Asadora, 18 years after "Non-chan's Dream" in the first half of 1988 and "Hitomi" in the first half of 2008.
Matsukane commented, "A serial TV drama is created over a long period of time with the involvement of many staff members and cast members, and the relationships between them feel more like a community - like a 'family' - rather than just 'work colleagues'. I wonder if my character's relationship is not as close as family, but more like that of a 'neighborhood aunty'? Ah! That's certainly true. My character is that of Naomi's neighborhood aunty. I look forward to your support, everyone."
"Kaze,Kaoru" is the 114th serial TV drama. Set in the Meiji era, it is a buddy drama featuring two trained nurses, Ozeki Chika and Suzuki Masa, as its two protagonists. The two graduated from the same nursing school, but struggle with how to interact with patients and doctors, and grow through clashes, eventually becoming the "strongest buddy." Mikami plays the other protagonist, Ichinose Rin.
