It has been revealed that Ota Hikaru of the comedy duo "Bakusho Mondai" will be appearing in the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sunday 8pm and other times), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama . He will play the role of a popular physiognomist and lucky charmer who Tsutaju invites to Koshodo. This will be Ota's first time appearing in a Taiga drama. He will reportedly appear from episode 41 (scheduled to air on October 26th) onwards, and a photo of him in costume has been released.
It was also announced that entertainer Hideyuki Nakayama and Kabuki actor Tsubame Nakamura will be making their first appearances in a taiga drama. Nakayama will play the role of Kato Chikage, a calligrapher and scholar of Japanese classics who visits Tsutaju, while Tsubame Nakamura will play the role of Manjiro, the second son of Urokogataya, who is adopted into Nishimuraya and becomes the second generation of Manjiro. Like Ota, this will be his first appearance in the 41st episode onwards, and photos of him in costume have also been released.
" UNBOUND (Berabou)" is the 64th taiga drama and depicts the life of Tsutaya Juzaburo(or "Tsutajyu" for short), who is said to have laid the foundations for Japan's media industry and pop culture. The script was written by Yoshiko Morishita, who is known for her work on the highly talked-about "Drama 10: Ooku," which aired on NHK two years ago.
