Actor Hayato Ichihara appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which aired on October 23rd. He spoke about his role as the blind millionaire UNBOUND Yumebanashi."
When asked by Tetsuko about the reaction to the taiga drama, Ichihara revealed, "To be honest, I really don't have any time off right now. I don't have the time to feel the reaction at all. I'm still worried about whether it's getting across properly, but it was really difficult."
He searched for ways to become closer to Toriyama Kengyo, and volunteered to visit the Support Center for the Visually Impaired. "I had the opportunity to talk to people who are actually blind and those who support them. I listened to all sorts of stories and learned a lot," he recalled.
She also participated in an event where she experienced darkness. "It was very scary when it became pitch black in this unique world. There were a lot of people around me, but I felt like I was all alone, like everyone was getting farther away. I wondered if this is the kind of life Toriyama Kengyo, the character I played, has lived. When people nearby nodded or spoke to me, I felt their kindness and it made me very happy," she said.
He requested to wear contact lenses to make his eyes cloudy. "I acted in a state where I could barely see. It was unique and really difficult," Ichihara said. "I thought that not giving an answer was one answer. Toriyama Kengyo is a character who is said to be both evil and good. I wanted to project the way he is thinking, a character whose thoughts are hard to understand, into the play, and I hope that I was able to convey that properly."